WW2 DESERTER OR PATRIOT?
193919391939
then by Flt Lt John Scoular and Sgt
John Winn of 73 Squadron, after
which it crashed at Sancy-le-Haut
at 1.10pm, killing all of the crew. It
was KG 2’s first combat loss since
the Polish campaign ended.
Of the four other Do 17
reconnaissance losses that occurred
earlier in the day, the first was a
Do 17 P of 1.(F)/123 which was
shot down by Lt Maurice Bissoudre
and Sgt Robert Tourné of GC II/3
east of Besancon. It crash-landed at
Côtebrune at 9.45am after which
Fw Leo Knoch and his two other
crew crossed the Swiss border where
they were interned. Around 30
minutes later, ‘Cobber’ Kain of 73
Squadron shot down a Do 17 P of
3.(F)/122, which was engaged on a
reconnaissance mission in the Reims
area. It crash-landed near Raucourt-
et-Flaba where Ofw Baptist Schlapp
and his two crew were captured.
Half an hour later at least
four Hurricanes of 1 Squadron
intercepted a Do 17P of 4.(F)/122,
which was carrying out a
reconnaissance of the Cambrai area.
Two of the crew baled out, one
was killed and the other captured,
whilst the Do 17 crash-landed at
Moirement with pilot Uffz Arno
Frankenberger being captured. One
of the Hurricanes, flown by Fg
Off C D ‘Pussy’ Palmer, was
damaged by return fire from
the German aircraft and had
to force-land not far from
the Do 17.
The final loss of the day was
a Do 17P of 5.(F)/122 flown by
Uffz Hans Schrutek which was shot
down by 2/Lt Robert Martin and
Adjt Pierre Le Gloan of GC III/6
and crashed at Bras-sur-Meuse,
north of Verdun; all three of its
wounded crew were captured.THE PUSH
TO THE WEST
The severe weather experienced in
the winter of 1939-1940 curtailed
air operations and it was not until
January 11, 1940 that the next Do
17 was lost when Lt Edmond Marin
La Meslée and 2/Lt Jean Rey of GC
I/5 shot down a Do 17P of 3.(F)/11
near Haucourt-la-Rigole – all three
crew were captured. Two days later
one of the three Do 17S-0s built,
Werk Nummer 2502, and operated
by 1.(F)/Aufklärungsgruppe
Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe,
was shot down during a high-
altitude reconnaissance sortie over
southern Britain by Capt Bernard
Barbier of GC II/4. It crash-landed
near Calais. The Do 17’s pilot,
Lt Theodor Rosarius, recalled the
incident some years after the event:
“During one of my first missions,
I had to photograph shipping over
the English Channel when five
Spitfires at an altitude of 30,500
feet attacked me. To make matters
worse, a flight of French Moranes
then attacked at 16,000 feet. I
crash-landed on the Channel coast
near St Omer with 312 hits in my
aircraft and I was taken prisoner...”
Just one more Do
17M, from
2.(H)/13
and
flown
byFw Paul Auer, was lost in January
1940 when it was shot down by GC
II/5 near Wiernsheim, Germany, on
January 19, with the deaths of all
three crew.
It was not until March 2 that the
next Do 17 shoot downs occurred.
Losses were suffered by 1.(F)/22 and
4.(F)/121, with two crew members
killed and four captured. Another
Do 17 from 1.(F)/22 returned
damaged by French and Belgian
fighters, and Plt Off John Mitchell
and Sgt Francis Soper of 1 Squadron
shot down a Do 17P of 4.(F)/11
commanded by Oblt Adolf Leupelt.
The German aircraft crashed at
La Petite Pierre but not before it
had damaged the Hurricane flown
by Mitchell, which subsequently
crashed, killing the New Zealand
pilot.
Just one more Do 17P would
be written off in March 1940. A
machine commanded by Lt Felix
Böcher of 4.(F)/121 crashed for
unknown reasons at
Mancourt on March
28.Below
Plt Off Dicky Martin
was also involved in the
November 8 combat,
but had to force-land
in Luxembourg and was
briefl y interned.114 FLYPAST June 2018