belly landing near Vimy, May 18th 1940

[RudiS]

Hi all,

He 111 B3+JT of 9./KG54 made a belly landing on May 18th 1940 N of Vimy in a field near the "Bois de l’Emprunt". The crew was killed by French troops.

I'm trying to locate this Emprunt forest without any luck. Does anyone have an idea where this forest is located?

[Pieter H]

If you Google you still find references to it, but unfortunately Google Maps nor Michelin mention it. But I assume it is the wood SW of Vimy where the WW1 trenches are running. That's the only wood near Vimy.


Cheers, Pieter

[TigerTimon]

Originally Posted by RudiS

The crew was killed by French troops.

Murdered by French colonial troops from Senegal...

Sources:
Radtke, KG54, page 344; Cornwell, BoF, page 317

[Chris Goss]

Having seen the photos of the exhumations and the evidence, it was locals who were found guilty one of whom was executed in 1941

[focusfocus]

Hello

See:Geoportails.gouv.fr
enter vimy

The "chemin de l'emprunt" ,entry of "bois de l"emprunt" of the same name, is along the SNCF track (in black on the map) at the beginning "les blockaus".

Among civils that day who shot the crew were also french soldiers of 42°RI
michel

[RudiS]

Thanks everyone for your help. Very much appreciated.
So it looks like there isn't much wood left of the "bois de l'emprunt" but now at least I know where about this a/c came down.