Battle of France – Evening of June 18, 1940

[Henofred]

Hello/Bonjour,

I need some assistance because I cannot find my answer through books (French or English) I have read. So, I am looking for the German unit involved in the evening of June 18, 1940 in a raid over a French village, La Chapelle d'Angillon - or the units susceptible to be in this area, a village located between Bourges and Gien (Centre of France). This village, a crossroads, was defended by soldiers of the 107th Infantry Regiment and those of a Divisional Reconnaissance Group (units belonging to the 23rd Infantry Division). The village was in German hands on 19 June, after some fighting. The city of Gien was also bombed that same day.

I thank you beforehand for your help.

Best regards,
Frederic

[sidney]

Frederic,

On 18 June 1940 I./JG 3 was based at Mereville, while Stab/JG 27, I./JG 27 and I./JG 1 were based at Auxerre.

Both airfields are located some 100+ km from La Chapelle d'Angillon, so any of the above fighter units could have carried the task.

Since Stab/JG 27 and its subordinated units I./JG 27 and I./JG 1 were in formation with the mighty VIII. Fliegerkorps, which spearheaded the Westfeldzug, on the balance of probability, I would think that it is more likely that these fighter units were involved in the ground attack on the French positions.


Regards,
Sinisa

[sidney]

Both I./JG 1 and I./JG 27 were reported to have been active over the Châteauroux area between 17 and 19 June 1940, and La Chapelle d'Angillon lies approximately half-way between Auxerre and Châteauroux, in straight line.

So, I guess that would answer the query.

[Henofred]

Hello/Bonjour Sinisa,

The collective memory speaks of bombers and I myself was not thinking of single-seat fighters. Your answer is very interesting - thank you for this new track of research. I have translated an excerpt from a local newspaper (from the Bourges area), probably with overstated terms - we are in June 1940.

Here is what a witness said in a newspaper of the time "La Gazette Berrichonne" (August 3, 1940): "Shocked, dotted with huge holes, there were corpses everywhere, dozens of horses struck, cars overturned, burnt, trees broken. Thirty houses in the village were destroyed in whole or in part. The main wing of the chateau was bombed and the roof collapsed. It is impossible to estimate the exact number of casualties. A total of 104 bodies were found and buried, of which only 5 belonged to people of the village. However, many bodies were pulverized and shredded and the large number of skulls, limbs or isolated fragments that were collected makes it possible to affirm that the number of dead is not less than 120, of which only 53 could be identified. The exact number of wounded is not known, the least wounded having fled, but it is not unreasonable to fix it at about fifty."

Best regards,
Frederic

[sidney]

Hello again Frederic,

My apology. The only clue that you provided as to which type of aircraft you were looking for was "The city of Gien was also bombed that same day." And... I missed that.

Now, if the aircraft involved in the raid were dive bombers, which perhaps is not that unlikely considering that the target was a village, they indeed may have belonged to the VIII. Fliegerkorps.

The article from the local newspaper brings to the fore the real cost of the campaign in terms of the civilian lives lost in the bombing raid.


Best Regards,
Sinisa

[Henofred]

Hello/Bonjour Sinisa,

No problem. Considering the damage caused to the village, and the casualties, in my point of view it is more likely to be bombers than fighters.

Best regards,
Frederic

[sidney]

Hello Frederic,

Considering that the village was bombed, the responsible party would be either conventional bombers (i.e., Do-17 or He-111s) or dive bombers (i.e., Ju 87 or Hs-123s).

During the Westfeldzug the Luftwaffe fighter aircraft (i.e., Bf 109 Es) were not equipped with the bomb racks, so they could not have caused the damage as described in the local newspaper's article.

Regards,
Sinisa

[Henofred]

Hello/Bonjour Sinisa,

Thank you for these details. Investigation carry on...

Best regards,
Frederic

[Henofred]

Hello/Bonjour,

Here is a new excerpt from a report that seems to confirm that the raid was carried out by bombers. It is also referred to torpedoes (?). Isn't the number of aircraft involved excessive?

"On June 18, 1940 at about 19h (7:00 pm), about 40 bombers arrived northbound at an altitude of about 2,000 meters. They slightly overshot the area, flew over it in a south-westerly and north-easterly direction and immediately dropped their bombs in three waves, all this along with bursts of machine-guns. The bombardment lasted about 5 to 6 minutes and the planes left again in direction of road RN726 (note: national road 726), on the edge of which they dropped the rest of their loading, 3km from La-Chapelle-d'Angillon. The number of projectiles dropped in the area can be estimated at about a hundred, including about fifty torpedoes." (La-Chapelle-d’Angillon Mayor's report to local authorities (excerpt).)

Best regards,
Frederic