ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 89809
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| Date: | Saturday 18 May 1940 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Fairey Battle Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 5/III/3 Aéronautique Militaire Belge |
| Registration: | T-64 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Aalter Airfield, East Flanders -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Belcele, Belgium |
This aircraft participated in the raid on Veldwezelt, on 11 May 1940. Alex Binon, the T-64 pilot, later said:
“Tracking grenades were fired at our formation in the Leuven area. Fortunately nobody was hit. It was our own troops that bombarded us. They could not distinguish a friendly aircraft from enemy. At Tienen we were shot again. Once Tongeren passed the roads were completely deserted, but soon the first German columns appeared and with their machine guns they bombarded the formation with tractors. There was no doubt about it, the enemy had made a good breach in our line of defense of the Albert Canal. I gave the order to prepare everything for the bombing. I was the third in line in line after the leader, Captain Glorie, and my friend, Franz Delvigne. I saw the eight bombs well under the wings of my comrades and I anxiously awaited the appearance of the bridge and the bombing of my predecessors. Soon the bridge of Vroenhoven appeared intact. We immediately fell under an incredibly dense fire. "
The gunner was corporal GH Legand.
Only this T-64 was able to carry out a bombing. Alex Binon:
“With all my strength I pressed the command button of the horn, which I heard and which gave me a certain relief. Then I felt the plane getting lighter. No doubt about it, my bombs had fallen. I saw them explode on both sides of the bridge. I surrounded the target. I immediately swiveled in a westerly direction and dived in the direction of the ground and then did a shaving flight. "
The projectiles of the T-64 fell just beyond the edges of the bridge into the water. While Corporal GH Legrand shot at everything that moved, Binon managed to fly the T-64 back to Aalter at 7:35 am.
Sources:
1. https://www.luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be/content/fairey-battle-t-64
2. http://ww2f.com/threads/the-fairey-battle.669/
3. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/belgium/af/5_III_3.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Feb-2011 14:20 | ThW | Added |
| 29-Jun-2019 19:52 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-Jun-2022 04:26 | Ron Averes | Updated [Date, Location] |
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