CHAPTER THREE
After the fall of France, the Wehrmacht found a great deal of plunder. The defeated country had been split in two with a ‘Zone Libre’ (Free Zone) under the Vichy Government in the south. Many French planes escaped there or reached North Africa (controlled by Vichy) before the capitulation. Nevertheless, German troops seized some aircraft industries and large numbers of intact French planes which never arrived on the front following the disorganization of the last days of the western campaign, or sabotage by French communist workers who, linked by the German-Soviet Pact of August 1939, disturbed the deliveries to the front line units.
The French Armeéée de l’Air had a lot of different planes, some modern, some totally obsolete.
· the beautiful bomber LeO 45 was captured in small numbers (it was produced in Southern France and Germany could not seize its factory) and seems to have been transferred to school units where the machine was well appreciated.
Many LeO 451 bombers were destroyed in combat against the Luftwaffe in May/June 1940.
This LeO was captured while being overhauled in its hangar.
This good French bomber will enter in some numbers into the Luftwaffe.
A LeO 45 used in a German flying school.
This Potez 63-11 was captured on a local airfield.
· the Potez 63-11, a good machine (mainly used in recce), was captured in large numbers. In fact, many were destroyed in the May/June fighting, but German troops found many more on Méaulte and Les Mureaux airfields. Around 100 of those planes entered flying schools or the Luftdienstkommandos attached to the airfields. Later, some were sold to the Romanian Airforce.
But many other Potez 63 will be found in airfields near factories such as here (probably at Meééaulte).
Some Potez will enter the Luftwaffe.
Three Po 63s ready to be transferred to a Flugschule.
German troops recovered not only complete planes but also vital parts of damaged/destroyed aircraft.
This is why the engines of this Potez 63-11 No. 585 are dismantled.
The more modern French fighter, the D.520, was engaged very late in the western campaign, losing some numbers in the bitter combat.
· the sleek fighter Dewoitine D.520 operated for a long time in the new German flying schools, mainly at the recent Flugschule of Villacoublay. It was well appreciated by its pilots, who liked the modern machine. It was nevertheless too under-armed to enter in the German front units.
Survivors that fell into German hands were transferred to flying schools. Here pupils pose on a D.520.
D.520 No. 78 at Villacoublay air school.
Examining the engine of a D.520 at Villacoublay in 1942.
Bloch fighters were sometimes found intact on captured airfields. This Bloch 152 of GC I/8 was force-landed by its Czech pilot near Douai on 18 May 1940.
The planes of the French Armée de l’Air were partly under Vichy control. Here at Tours airfield, German and French officials inventory the aircraft.
· the Bloch fighters, considered too heavy to enter the German Airforce, were used in Flugschulen, where they were not as popular as the D.520. In 1941, many were transferred to Luftdienstkommandos to tow drogues for the training of Flak crews.
A Bloch 152 is dismantled to be ferried to Germany. These fighters were attacked by the new owners for being too heavy.
Nevertheless some Bloch were assigned to German flying schools, including this Bloch 152 photographed at Neudorf, base of FFS A/B 116.
12th March 1941. Crash of Bloch 151 ex No. 372 in a wood near Neudorf.
Its inexperienced young pilot had neglected to fill the tank of his machine.
A Bloch 152, probably in a hangar in Germany.
At Bourges, the Germans found many Curtiss H-75s ordered by the French Armée de l’Air from the USA.
· in Bourges (where they were assembled) and on the different airfields, the Luftwaffe captured many American Curtiss H-75s, in addition to those already discovered in Norway. Some were still in crates, having just been delivered to French harbours. The H-75 was a very good machine and German High Command ordered the transfer of around twelve of them to Döberitz (Berlin) to equip III./JG 77 (the ex-II./Tr.Gr. 186). As before (with the Avia attempt), the project was a failure, a few planes being damaged in the training. III./JG 77 quickly saw the US planes replaced by the ‘good old Bf 109’. Three pilots of the units nevertheless flew H-75s painted with Polish markings to operate alongside ‘Polish Avias’ in Ritter’s Kampfgeschwader Lützow. The Curtiss’ were transferred to flying schools but soon most of them were sold to Finland, the new ally of Germany.
This plane still wears the insignia of the French GC (fighter group) I/4.
Curtiss H-75s were no newcomers, as some had already been captured in Norway a few months before.
Facing the relatively large numbers of this modern American fighter, III./JG 77 was temporarily equipped with Curtiss H-75s This plane bears the notice ‘Unklar’ indicating that it is not fit to fly.
In September 1940, three pilots of III./JG 77 were required to play the role of the ‘enemy’ in the propaganda film Kampfgeschwader Lützow. A camera is installed in the nose of the H-75 manned by Leutnant Herbert Höhne.
False impacts were painted on the front of the canopy.
A still of the film ‘Kampfgeschwader Lützow’ showing the attack of an ‘enemy’ H-75.
Soon Curtiss H-75s were transferred to flying schools. Kurt Hammel (future fighter ace of JG 5 and JG 77) was one of the few pupils to be trained on this type of plane, the majority of which were later sold to Finland.
· a handful of Morane-Saulnier 406s, the second useful French fighter, entered the Flugschulen, but its value was too great to let it end its career in schools. At the end of 1940, ten MS 406s had been sold to the Finnish Airforce and others would follow. Later, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, MS-406s were given/sold to the new Croatian Airforce.
These MS 406s, repainted with black crosses, have already received Stammkennzeichen (factory codes) on the fuselage.
A Morane Saulnier 406 found in a very bad state by the German troops on Maubeuge airfield.
A beautiful shot of a German MS 406. Possibly one of the planes sold to Finland.
A Caudron C-445 found at Issy-les-Moulineaux.
· the Caudron C-445 was a very good multi purpose plane well appreciated by the French crews. It entered flying schools and some front units (such as Jagdgeschwader) as a hack machine. As the factory Caudron was at Issy-les-Moulineaux (near Paris) in the German occupied zone, the plane was produced by the new owners (at least 62 machines in 1941 and 334 in 1942). With the admiration of many German pupils, C-445 was one of the best French planes used in the Luftwaffe.
The yellow band painted around the fuselage of C-445 PO+CF was a typical mark of some flying schools.
Pupils and flying instructor in front of a C-445.
On the nose of this C-445 the insignia of FFS A/B 61 can be seen.
Photographed in May 1941 on Plantlüne airfield, this Caudron wears the insignia of FFS A/B 33, previously based at Seerappen.
A C-445 made a belly landing without too much damage, as the plane was sturdy. The insignia could be the one for Fluglehrerschule, the school for flying instructors.
Modern enough to be used in front units, some C-445 served as hack machines in some Jagdgeschwadern. This one, photographed in North Africa, may have been attached to JG 27, or to a local command.
At Escoublac, German troops found many training NAAs recently arrived in France.
· in the captures made in France, the Luftwaffe acquired another type of US plane. In February 1939 the French government had ordered around 400 NAA trainers (the Armeéée de l’Air didn’t have enough pilots and so tried to accelerate the training of the pupils). Many NAAs were destroyed in May/June 1940 in incidents and bombing of airfields, but more than 150 planes were found intact (for example in Escoublac where the planes were mounted). The two types (NAA 57 and 64) were transferred to flying schools, being considered by its pilots as ‘Amerikanisch’ (i.e. modern) with its large cockpit, a very good vision and a powerful engine. Trainer planes NAA 57 and 64 were, as with the C-445, well photographed on the airfields
Just captured, this NAA received a cross on the fuselage. Swastika and Stammkennzeichen will later be painted on.
An NAA in flight. This American plane was valued by future German pilots.
Having just received their pilot’s insignia (pinned at the breast), young pilots want to take a photo in front of their beloved training machine. Note antireflection black paint in the front of the cockpit.
A bad landing in the snow (in German pilot’s slang: a Fliegerdenkmal). This view gives an idea of the large size of the NAA.
Formation flight of NAA in Toul airfield. This school often painted a large yellow band around the rear of the fuselage of its planes.
Grottkau flying school. The large canopy with its good visibility was appreciated by the young flyers.
· during the invasion, German forces also captured a lot of ‘old’ planes from the 1930s. Many were scrapped, but the lack of planes was so severe that some types were saved. So MS 230 were for a time used in flying schools or second line units. Breguet 693 was tested by the Luftwaffe (following photos showing transfer to Germany) as were other types (e.g. Bloch 174). Many were
Some French planes of negligible value entered the Luftwaffe, including this Caudron Simoun liaison plane photographed at Bourges.
An obsolete Dewoitine D.510. It will probably soon be sent to the furnace.
quickly scrapped. The Caudron C-714 had showed its failures in the western campaign and was considered a very bad fighter. Six planes were nevertheless sold to Finland, but the other ones were scrapped (or placed as decoys on false airfields, the so-called Scheinflugplätze).
In the Western campaign, the Luftwaffe did not only capture French, Belgian or Dutch planes. Some RAF aircraft lost on the mainland were also seized: bombers which could not be blown up by their own troops, or fighters forced to land after a combat. We know that a few Hurricanes were captured intact; probably either one or three. The same went for Blenheim light bombers. The first complete Spitfire to have fallen into German hands seems to be ZD-A of No. 222 Sq. whose pilot, F/O Falkus, was forced to land on Le Touquet airfield on 1 July 1940 after a fight with Messerschmitt Bf 109s and 110s. Tested and repainted, this plane will become the ‘hero’ of a famed propaganda film at the time of the Battle of Britain.
The MS 230 also entered second line units.
This obsolete MS 230 was given to a Hitler Jugend unit to tow gliders.
To find spares for the numerous captured French planes, dumps were visited, as with this one on the border of Cazaux airfield, south of Bordeaux.
French planes were not the only ones to be found or captured in France. RAF machines were also discovered. Here a destroyed Hurricane is examined by curious local youths and some Germans.
Wrecks were exposed in various exhibitions in Germany to emphasise the ‘Great victory in the West’. This Hurricane, photographed at Leipzig, was definitely scrapped afterwards.
Some fighters were also found in an excellent state. This Hurricane of No. 97 Sq., in its box made of sandbags, seems not to have been blown up by mechanics.
A Hurricane in German markings photographed at the end of 1940. It is difficult to give the number of planes of this type which flew in the German Airforce.
This Blenheim of No. 114 Sq. was captured near Calais.
A Blenheim of No. 11 Sq. in use in the Luftwaffe.
Not all the wrecked planes found were scrapped. Some of these planes, lavishly repainted in German markings, were used as decoys on fake airfields (Scheinflugplätze). This Fairey Battle will end its career this way.
On 1 July 1940 after a dogfight, F/O Falkus of No. 222 Sq. was forced to land on Le Touquet airfield.
His ZD-A was probably the first Spitfire to have fallen intact into German hands.
Pilots of JG 26 were proud to be photographed in this – at the time – rare machine.
Tested and repainted, ZD-A will be used in a propaganda film, and this photo of a (fake) dogfight will be published in the renowned magazine Signal at the time of the Battle of Britain.
Arriving at Villacoublay airfield in June 1940, III./JG 26 find numerous French planes, including some prototypes such as the transport plane Air Wibault 100. As usual, the project will be studied by German engineers before being abandoned soon after.
