ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 220299
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| Date: | Monday 16 October 1939 |
| Time: | 17:15 |
| Type: | Potez 637 |
| Owner/operator: | GR II/52 Armée de l'Air |
| Registration: | 42 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Kleiner Hundsberg, south of Heltersberg, Rheinland-Pfalz -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
On 16 October 1939 the GR II/52 flew two photo reconnaissances over Kaiserlautern and Landau to check the enemy activity on roads. One of the two aircraft, the Potez 637 n° 42, did not come back.
It took off at 1615 hrs from Herbevillier airfield and was supposed to be covered by 6 Curtiss H-75 of GC II/4 but their action was not well coordinated and the Potez was alone when it was attacked by five Bf 109 of 3./JG 51 in Kaiserslautern area. At this time the Potez was flying at 7500 m and was turning back towards Primasens where the Curtiss were patrolling when the Bf 109 were seen about 1000 m above it. The gunner, Sergent-chef André Vergé, raised alarm and tried to fire his guns but they were frozen and only fired after three attempts. The German pilots attacked several time while the Potez tried to escaped in a dive. A shell destroyed the camera and Vergé was wounded by shrapnel in the foot, but continued to give warnings to the pilot when the fighters attacked. The German fighters cut the retreat towards France and continued to attack and Vergé was again wounded, this time in the left leg, and almost passed out. Suddenly the left engine was on fire and he felt the aircraft falling. He managed to baled out with difficulties and lost consciousness, recovering later in a German hospital.
The Potez crashed and burned out at about 17.15 hrs near Heltersberg on the hill called “Kleiner Hundsberg”. The pilot, Lt. Jean Marie Pinczon du Sel, had received a deadly shot in the head, and the observer, Capt. Henri Marie Gabriel Belbeze, was also found dead in the wreck. They had been shot down by Hauptmann Erich Gerlitz who claimed it as his first victory.
The two dead fliers were first buried on the Hauptfriedhof (Central Cemetery) in Kaiserslautern and were, in 1947, temporarily transferred to Speyer from where they were taken to their home towns. Since 1948 Pinczon du Sel rests in St.-Germain-des-Rives (Saône et Loire), Belbeze rests in a family grave in Montbrison.
Sources:
http://www.flugzeugabstuerze-saarland.de/html/body_zweibrucken.html#Heltersberg
http://www.flugzeugabstuerze-saarland.de/Heltersberg_Potez_Rapport_Verge.pdf
Luftwaffe claims files, by Tony Wood and Jim Perry (http://www.lesbutler.ip3.co.uk/tony/tonywood.htm, no more online)
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heltersberg
https://mapcarta.com/28858300
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Dec-2018 10:00 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 24-Dec-2019 16:28 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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