Seeking info/photos on two Bf109 Phoney War crashes in France on 20.4.40

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Following up further on the Phoney War/Sitzkrieg LW Losses on French soil, I'm seeing photos, eyewitness reports, etc. of these two incidents.

"20 April 1940: "20 April 1940: 7./JG53 Messerschmitt Bf109E-1. Shot down by F/L Walker of No.1 Squadron in combat south-east of Diedenhofen and crashed at Kédange-sur-Canner, 15 km south-east of Thionville 12.30 p.m. (Ff) Lt Fritz Sievers killed. Aircraft 100% write-off."

20 April 1940: 2./JG54 Messerschmitt Bf109E-3. Shot down by Sgt Boillot of GC II/7 in combat north-east of Belfort and exploded east of Lachapelle-sous-Chaux 6.55 a.m. (Ff) Lt Helmuth Hoch killed. Aircraft 100% write-off."

Can anyone help?

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

Off board, Robert has sent a download from a website showing the smashed remains of the tail of Lt Helmuth Hoch's aircraft. This aircraft obviously was smashed to pieces. Does anyone have anything further on either of these crashes?

[Karsten]

Date of Birth

Sievers 25.10.1916

Rüdiger

[Snautzer]

Sievers grave eBay: http://www.ebay.de/itm/ws/eBayISAPI....m=381755779904

[Larry Hickey]

Snautzer,

THANX for watching out for this. I've picked up on this for an illustration relating to this loss. This doesn't look like it is a field grave near the crash site, due to the background, and the fact that there are other graves to the right and left, and Sievers was a single crewman for a Bf109. Perhaps this was an interim regional gravesite in France where losses were consolidated early in the war?

Can anyone help explain this photo, particularly the when and where of it?

I'd still like to locate a photo of either Sievers or his crashed Bf109. We've made huge progress in pinpointing exact crash sites of LW a/c in France during the Phoney War, and actually have photos that relate to about 2/3 of them. We've corrected many errors in the records, and identified almost all the photos we know of LW a/c from that period. But still some to go.

Thanx for everyone's help that has been working on this PW problem.