Any confirmation of H.J. Marseille crash in France in summer 1940 ?

[gilles collaveri]

Has somebody ever heard of H.J.Marseille crashing (belly landing) in France with a 109, somewhere in summer 1940 ?

It allegedly took place in Vendée near Chantonnay, which is near the Atlantic coast.

Any confirmation of this crash ?

Thanks for your advice.

GC

[Oberst]

I can only think of while returning from a bomber-escort mission on 23 September 1940, his engine failed after combat damage sustained over Dover, he tried to radio his position but was forced to bail out over the sea.

[ouidjat]

Salut Gilles,

1/ This thread: http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=21555
2/ Where did you find this belly landing in Chantonnay? Ferry Flight? Erg. Unit? Location seems strange.

Regards, Franck.

PS: No news of our friend?

[gilles collaveri]

merci to both of you

en effet, I shall remind him.

All best to you

Gilles

[gilles collaveri]

I forgot to answer your question as to why I asked this:

local witnesses between Chantonnay and Pouzeauge said they saw an airplane belly land in summer 1940, that they rescued the pilot who was unhurt,

after that, they allegedly recognized H.J.Marseille in "Adler" in which he was pictured.

I have a slight doubt, but that is why I asked the question.

all best

Gilles

[Chris Goss]

Gilles: This surely was a very very unreliable source??!! He wouldn't have featured in Adler until a year later and in any case, what would a non-aviator or for that matter non-Luftwaffe member know?

[CJE]

Salut le Toulousain,

Marseille was a member of 1.(J)/LG 2 at that time, a unit that operated from Calais-Marck, out of reach of Vendée however strong the wind was.
He was shot down three times in September 1940 but always in the Calais area. He said he was treated each time by the same surgeon who became suspicious about his mental health.

[gilles collaveri]

This is crystal clear, guys, again merci à everybody.

GC

[NickM]

Originally Posted by CJE

Salut le Toulousain,

Marseille was a member of 1.(J)/LG 2 at that time, a unit that operated from Calais-Marck, out of reach of Vendée however strong the wind was.
He was shot down three times in September 1940 but always in the Calais area. He said he was treated each time by the same surgeon who became suspicious about his mental health.

Interesting; these little factoids were not mentioned in his 'Star of Africa' bio; sure there was the usual commentary from his commanding officers in France who found him 'rather eccentric & lacking in discipline' but I never heard anybody mentioning he might be 'whacked'...got any details/anecdotes to share?

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Back in the 1960s there was a booklet published by, IIRC, Heinz Nowarra, that had a front view of a belly landed 109E that was captioned as one of Marseille's BoB FL. It might have been a publication called "Star of Africa." I'll have to look for my copy of this and I'll post it if I can locate it. I seem to remember seeing a couple of views of this same a/c in Jochen Prien's unidentified 109 file as well. I have no proof that this was really one of Marseille's FL, but that's what Nowarra's caption said. JFV Volume 4/II (Battle of Britain period), by Prien et.al. does not have that photo in it for coverage of I.(J)./LG2 so it seems that Dr. Prien's team must have had some skepticism as to the identity of this FL 109. However, there is a photo of Marseille standing by the nose of his a/c in that volume. No markings really visible.

I would very much like to document one of Marseille's a/c from his BoB period, but to my knowledge nothing definitive has ever come to light. I think I also once exchanged emails a few years ago with Dr. Jim Kitchens, who published a book on Marseille's 109s, and his comment was that no verifiable photos of M's a/c from the BoB had ever surfaced to his knowledge.

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator