A Galland mystery – Historical question to experts including J. Prien: Galland’s two victories won on 3 June 1940

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You would think that Adolf Galland’s victories won 1940 are well-known but there is a mystery – or is there?

In his own book “Die Ersten und die Letzten” (The First and the Last), first published 1953 in German (in Buenos Aires, Argentina), Galland wrote that on 3 June 1940 he took part in operation “Paula”, a massive bombing operation in the Paris area with fighter escort. Its aim was the destruction or paralysis of the French aircraft industry and of airfields in this area. Galland was Ia, the operations officer of JG 27; normally he was not expected to take part in combat missions like all his comrades, which made him quite envious and frustrated. He flew his Me 109 around Paris: “I was flying with Captain Ankum-Frank” (actually von Ankum-Frank). So it seems that these two pilots were flying just as a pair (German: Rotte), so to speak as free-lancers looking for trouble in an area where a powerful reaction of the French fighters was to be expected (on this day 250 of them were gathered to repel the German attack for the French knew about it in advance).

Galland: “I had just shot down something indefinable [unknown to and never seen before by him], somehow similar to a Curtiss [about 120-140 Curtiss H-75 fighters equipped four French fighter “Groupes de chasse” or GCs] as we met two Morane squadrons. There was a terrific turmoil and there were only the two of us.” Galland shot down two Moranes and did not quite succeed in avoiding a collision with his first victim, bending a propeller blade and the top of the fin, and losing the radio mast, “which was perhaps 60 cm long” (23.6 inches). “This fellow flew well but his plane was inferior to mine.”

The second one was not officially confirmed “because the other Moranes were “bothering” him” and he was not able to witness its crash in spite of a heavy black smoke trail. This one was destroyed all right too as is shown by Paul Martin’s loss list in the book “Invisibles vainqueurs” (Éditions Yves Michelet 1991), page 332, middle of column (3 June): those Moranes which were Galland’s victims had the production numbers 693 and 1022, the first one being flown by Polish pilot sergent Stanislas Popelka, who was killed (buried in Ozoir-la-Ferrière cemetery, East of Paris, not far from Lognes, see below), the second one by French pilot sergent V. Jost, who was seriously wounded when he bailed out and hit the tailplane, and after that again when his parachute was entangled in some high-voltage cables and he fell heavily on the ground.

A few remarks: 1. These “two squadrons of Moranes” were in fact a wild bunch of fighters of this type belonging to GC I/6 based at Lognes-Émerainville airfield about 15 km East of Paris. They had taken off in an emergency, as best they could, the direct warning of a German air attack having come much too late, like everywhere, because the sly Germans were heavily jamming the special radio transmitter (installed on top of the Eiffel tower, 300 m high) which sent the take-off order.

2. The “something indefinable, somehow similar to a Curtiss”, was certainly a Bloch 152. Not one single Curtiss fighter was shot down in the Paris area but at least ten Bloch 152s were - with 6 pilots killed, 3 more badly wounded or burned, or both (totalling 9/10, or 90 %, shot down and killed or badly wounded), and only one pilot unhurt. They, too (GC I/1, II/1, I/8 and II/9), were taking off in an emergency when their airfields were bombed and machine-gunned by German fighters, so that they were sitting ducks during take-off (or even before) and climb. The surviving Bloch 152s belonging to these units scored 6 “certain” victories including three Me 109s (all the wrecks came down on French-held ground).

3. The Moranes, in particular those from GC I/6 fought by Galland, were not quite helpless for sous-lieutenant Raphenne (GC I/6) shot down two Me 109s during this sortie, making this score even in spite of the Me’s superiority in power, speed and climb (but not in armament). Raphenne (5 certain victories) was the last French fighter pilot killed (by Flak) late on 24 June when some Moranes were ordered to strafe German columns on roads (!) near Romans (close to Tournon and Tain-l’Hermirage on the banks of the Rhône, slightly North of Valence, south of Lyon) – this was the last day of the 1940 French Campaign. Raphenne’s Morane was n° 1056.

To sum up, Adolf Galland himself wrote in his book that on 3 June 1940 he had shot down “something somehow similar to a Curtiss” (later erroneously confirmed as a Curtiss but it was a Bloch), then two Moranes, of which one was not confirmed. Most probably he wrote this in 1952 (and it was published 1953). I think we can trust this version for he was aged 40, and 1940 a combat mission close to Paris was something very special to any German soldier, Paris then being quite a legend even to German people. He probably had a glance or two at the Eiffel Tower or at its location if cloud hid it. I consider it extremely unlikely that Galland could have possibly mixed up these 2 (actually 3) victories close to Paris with other victories won on some other day. So in my eyes he did win these victories on 3 June 1940 not on 9 June or else. One “Curtiss” (in fact a Bloch 152) and one Morane were confirmed.

What’s more, he confirmed this version 1985 in the new, unshortened, very accurate French edition of his book, “Les premiers et les derniers” : the list of his 14 first victories (won during the French Campaign, 10 May-24 June 1940), supplied by himself to his French publisher, contains this version for June 3 with such details, like precise times (for example 15.55 hrs) and places (“13 km from Meaux” – a city east of Paris), that can only have been found in his own logbook or other wartime-documents (like his own combat reports and victory confirmations by RLM). Galland was very anxious to have a book published which was as accurate as possible (this is how he corrected the passage about his all-important first two victories on May 12: the “Hurricanes” he shot down were not Belgian but British (he got a third one later on the same day). He checked the French translation of his book very exactly including chapter 9 “Pilote de chasse (Fighter pilot) pendant la Campagne de France”, in which he described how he shot down two Moranes in great detail. About the second one, which was not confirmed, he added: “It would have been my thirteenth” (victory).

But this is not the end of it. 1996 the first “authorized biography” of Adolf Galland was published by David Baker. This had not been previously possible or permitted by Galland. The title of this book reads:

ADOLF GALLAND
The Authorized Biography

Unfortunately I was able to read it only once, and alas very quickly, up till now. This was 1996 or 1997. I remember a good and very interesting book with many new things which were not known before numerous secret documents were released, for example on Galland’s attempt, in the last few days of WW II, to join US forces with his entire unit, Jagdverband 44 (JV 44), equipped with Me 262 jets. (This attempt failed.) Had even one single SS-man heard of this, the SS would have killed Galland immediately as a “traitor”, no matter how well and bravely he had fought for Germany for over 7 years including one very active year in Spain.

In this book released 1996, too, the Galland version of 2 (3) victories is repeated on page 82 (chapter 8). Galland died in February of this same year but of course the text, in particular of the first chapters, was written and edited long before this happened.

There is even a fourth book, released 1990 in the USA (Toliver-Constable version) and 1992 in Germany. The latter is the Galland version because the Toliver-Constable version was simply terrible, full of errors, and a not-too-pleased Galland himself had to correct and edit the whole book; he is the actual author of “ADOLF GALLAND – Biographie” (published in German). By the way, this shows how seriously he looked at the contents of “Galland-books”, for he rewrote this one entirely while lying in a hospital bed after heavy heart surgery. He was very exact as usual and he did not change his version of the events on June 3, 1940. This German book was translated into English and became a large volume containing numerous photographs and documents.

To sum up, Galland reported his 2 (3) victories on 3 June 1940 during the German operation “Paula” in the PARIS area in no less than FOUR books released 1953, 1985, 1992 and 1996. Contrary to his first victories (May 12) on “Belgian” Hurricanes which actually were British he never changed his version until he was about to die (he was very ill).

We can find the same version in the English “translation” of Galland’s book (The First and the Last), on pages 50-51, but this “translator” changed the fin of Galland’s 109 into its undercarriage. I call this supreme aerobatics!
I guess Adolf Galland knew best what he did, or did not do, on this date, shooting down a Bloch 152 (confirmed as a Curtiss) and two Morane 406s (one not being confirmed but French sources confirm it beyond any doubt).

In the meantime a very different version has appeared in several books and probably in articles too, possibly emulating each other – otherwise quite good or even excellent books. According to their authors Galland did not score at all on June 3 and exactly the same two confirmed victories were won by… captain Werner Mölders! This is fully possible for on this day the French engaged Morane 406s, Bloch 152s, Curtiss H-75s and the deadly Dewoitine 520s of GC I/3, which German fighter pilots almost always misidentified as “Moranes”. At the time Mölders claimed victories on two misidentified Allied fighters: one “French Curtiss and one British Spitfire” (sic). No Spitfire took part in this particular fighting but D.520s did so most probably Mölders shot down one Bloch 152 and one D.520. Mölders’ version from 1940 can be found on page 132 of his book “Mölders und seine Männer” (and his men), released 1941 and signed by his cousin Fritz von Forell, who posed as the author because Mölders wanted to dodge the official propaganda, which he couldn’t stand, and censorship.

A large part of my documents is still buried in some moving boxes but I think several authors “give” Galland no victory on June 3 but two on some other day(s) like June 9. Some authors ignore any Galland-victory on June 3 but do not explain how he reached his final total of 14 confirmed victories (for May-June 1940) on June 14 without the two victories which simply have vanished. In this version there is a gap of two and Galland’s final score in June would be 12 not 14. The 2 confirmed victories from June 3 he reported four times from 1952 to 1996 were his 11th and 12th. Without them his final score of 14 cannot be explained.

By now (2019) everybody knows, or ought to know, that Adolf Galland was not a phoney but “a honest claimer”. This makes me believe even more strongly that his version of events on June 3, 1940, is the only correct one. I can’t see any reason why Galland could have been wrong on this or even could have invented the whole story so stubbornly, giving his version in no less than four different books, the second one being the French translation (released 1985) of his own book, a translation scrutinized very thoroughly and very exactly by a very exacting Galland and by his German publishers too.

WHO THE HELL ARE WE ANYWAY to pretend to be able to correct Galland's own account of two of his own victories? He was there, we were not. Most of us had'nt even been borne yet.

In “The JG 26 War Diary”, volume one 1939-1942, Don Caldwell mentions that Galland was ordered on June 6 to join JG 26 to become the new CO (Gruppenkommandeur) of III. Gruppe, “…having gained twelve air victories since the start of the Western campaign.” These twelve victories obviously include those from June 3 even though Don Caldwell doesn’t mention this.

Jochen Prien’s JFV (purple series), volume 3 dealing with the 1940 Norwegian and French campaigns, mentions no Galland-victory on June 3 either but on some other day, possibly June 9.

In “The Battle of France Then and Now” (BFTN) Peter Cornwell mentions no victory for Galland on June 3 but two MS 406s (Moranes) of GC I/6 s/d by Mölders, both over Ozoir-la-Ferrière. So these two victories confirmed to Mölders match exactly Galland’s own story over two Moranes shot down there. I consider it impossible that both Galland (JG 27) and Mölders (JG 53) were flying exactly at the same place on June 3. As already mentioned I believe Galland's version, which he published no less than four times 1953, 1985, 1992 and 1996. Mölders most probably shot down other French fighters at some other place.

Still in BFTN, author PC reports a victory won by Galland on June 9 (only one) over a Curtiss H-75 of GC III/2 and on June 14 one Blenheim, possibly two, for his last victory(ies) in June 1940. See page 469, bottom of 2nd column (the two last AC in this column).

I don’t remember Hans Ring’s version in J. Prien’s JFV volume 3, have to unearth my copy of this book (archaeology).

According to some authors Galland was ordered on June 6 to take over III./JG 26 and arrived there on the same day. Other authors report his arrival on June 9… Don Caldwell: “According to his logbook Galland flew his first mission with the Third Gruppe (III./JG 26) on this date” (June 11 not 9), an uneventful late-evening escort sortie (…).”

I have to say, that whole business really is much ado about two victories but it involves the two German fighter pilots who probably are the most famous ones.

Who knows more?