ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 240241
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| Date: | Thursday 1 April 1948 |
| Time: | 09:10 |
| Type: |  Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk IX |
| Owner/operator: | EC 2/30 'Normandie-Niemen' Armée de l'Air |
| Registration: | |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 3 km from Tifelt, Kenitra, east of Rabat -
 Morocco
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | BA Meknès, Meknès-Tafilalet Region, (MEK/GMFM) Morocco |
Spitfire LF. IX, EC 2/30 'Normandie-Niemen', Armée de l'Air: Crashed 1-4-48 3 km from Tifelt, Kenitra, Morocco from high altitude. Pilot Commandant Yves Mourier killed. According to a rough translation from French into English of his biography on Wikipedia (see link #4 for the original French text)
"At the end of 1947, he had two choices: a career on the staff as a military attaché in Ottawa, or to continue his career as a fighter and take command of the 6th Fighter Wing in Rabat (consisting of the glorious "Normandie - Niemen") after a period of refresher. He did not hesitate for a moment and left for Rabat.
In the meantime, Valin placed him on the promotion table for the rank of lieutenant-colonel. On 19 January 1948, he received his mission order, was appointed second in command of the 6th Wing and arrived in Rabat on 5 February 1948. He flew intensively on Bell P-63C and Spitfire IX in Meknes from February 9, 1948, then in Rabat on Mosquito (twin-engine fighter).
Until March 30, he writes that he flies excessively but that he enjoys Spitfire IX which is really "hairy" and that his internship will soon end...Meanwhile, like his comrades, he was proposed for the rank of Commander of the Legion of Honor.
But, on April 1, 1948, shortly after 9 a.m., during a combat training with Lepage, it crashed 2.5 km south/southwest of Tiflet in the Rabat region, probably victim of a malaise. He and his plane are pulverized. He was 35 years old, and flew 1,300 hours.
His remains were brought back to Fabrezan in the family vault on 20 April, where Yves Mourier now rests. On July 25, 1948, the former pilots of the "'Normandie-Niemen'" came to lay a commemorative plaque to their comrade appreciated by all".
Tifelt (Berber: Tifelt, ⵜⵉⴼⴻⵍⵜ, erroneously rendered as Tiflet in French; Arabic: تيفلت) is a town in northwestern Morocco, west of Khemisset and east of Rabat. Tifelt is between the cities of Rabat and Khemisset
BA Meknès (Base Ecole 708) "Commandant Mézergues" is a former base of the French Air Force, located in Meknes (Morocco), dissolved in 1961. It had been home to the "Christian Martell" fighter school since 1947. After the transfer of the activities of the fighter school to the 705 Tours Air Base "Commandant Tulasne" the facilities of the Meknes air base were handed over to the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces and became the airport of Meknes-Bassatine also named "2nd Air Base of the Royal Air Forces".
Sources:
1. La Vigie marocaine 2 April 1948: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k51449955/f1.image
2. https://www.aerosteles.net/stelefr-fabrezan-mourier [French text]
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tifelt
4. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Mourier#L'apr%C3%A8s_guerre [French text]
5. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_a%C3%A9rienne_708_Mekn%C3%A8s [French text]
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Aug-2020 06:55 | TB | Added |
| 06-Sep-2020 18:53 | TB | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 11-May-2023 17:00 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [[Source, Narrative]] |
| 20-Aug-2023 09:39 | Nepa | Updated [[[Source, Narrative]]] |
| 24-Aug-2023 20:21 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [[[[Source, Narrative]]]] |
| 25-Aug-2023 17:24 | Nepa | Updated [[[[[Source, Narrative]]]]] |
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