Comper Swift F-AOTP (ex G-ACDS)

Having used the hyperlink in the thread concerning the Comper Swift and the Air-Britain Information Exchange, and having noted the information concerning this Swift in Malcolm Fillmore’s production details file, I hope that he has no objection to me cutting and pasting the relevant details to this thread as it sheds more light on the subject in issue .

“Regd G-ACDS [CofR 4177] 13.2.33 to Mark Antony Lacayo,
Hooton [Comper Sales Manager; regd as nominee]. CofA 3839
issued 5.4.33. Dd Evreux 28.2.33 and operated in France in UK
marks. Crashed in France and regn cld 1.34. Rebuilt and regd FAOTP
[CofR 4612] 4.3.36 to Aero Club de l’Eure, Evreaux. Regd
1.39 to Lucien Jules Francois Lecoq, Guyancourt. Reportedly flown
by Lecoq to Marchwood, nr Southampton early 12.42; Lecoq [not as
sometimes reported a German-sponsored agent] and attempted to
join RAF but detained in Camp 020 instead. Allocated to
unidentified ATC unit 8.3.43; probably locally and reportedly
abandoned and partly buried after WWII. [Lecoq was repatriated
after D-Day and given Hawk Trainer N3802/F-BCDU in
compensation in 1949].”

Camp 020: MI5 and the Nazi Spies — The Official History of MI5’s Wartime Interrogation Centre / Oliver Hoare – PRO 2000 ISBN 1-903365-08-2″

If anyone has this book and would care to scan and post copies of pages 216/217 I, for one, would be interested to read what it says.

Pretty please, Ian!

Many thanks Avion Ancien. I have only just seen your last post and I have now checked the Camp 020 book which does give a good account of Le Coq’s activities.
Best
Ian

So nobody’s got the MI5 book. C’est dommage!

I took the liberty of posting the relevant details on a French aviation forum together with a request for more information. Unfortunately it has not yet produced a great deal of response but, Ian, the following may be of interest to you unless you have already been here. Frederic Henoff posted the following:

“Au sujet de M. Lecoq, Peut-être un début d’information dans ce livre (Pages 216-17)

Camp 020: MI5 and the Nazi Spies — The Official History of MI5’s Wartime Interrogation Centre / Oliver Hoare – PRO 2000 ISBN 1-903365-08-2″

If anyone has this book and would care to scan and post copies of pages 216/217 I, for one, would be interested to read what it says.

Sorry, Martin, I missed the 1954 entry when I looked at the details for F-BBCN on the DGAC website. Lucien Lecoq’s 1954 address was the same as that in 1958.

Lecoq is mentioned twice in connection with F-BBCN,
Mon 12 Jul 1954 and Sat 15 Mar 1958
http://www.aerotransport.org/php/go.php?q=register+F-BBCN

Thanks Longshot for the Air Britain extract. He landed on a field at Marchwood which was occupied by a Barrage Balloon company but it isn’t yet clear if he was making for Southampton Newforest.
Thanks for posting the French article Wieesso and the translation l.garey. It makes interesting background material.
I am looking into the the reason why he was able to make the trip without German or RAF intervention but, as you say avion ancien, this seems to be the only one which slipped through the net which is why I am researching it. I think the trip had German approval and the RAF missed it probably, as you suggest Longshot because he was flying low and not leaving a large enough radar signature.
I don’t have any info on Le Coq’s post war activities so his 1958 ownership of the Falcon is very useful avion ancien.
Regarding the Swift being impressed the only info I have is that an enquiry was made in January 1943 by a Flt. Lt Marks. Since I have no more info on Marks that isn’t particularly helpful.
Regards
Ian

an aside

Swift G-acag, constructers number s32/10 was used in France between 20/11/32 and 6/11/33 mostly by Flt Lt Lacombe but also Regineuse, Grandeau and Zulolf. .
It flew mostly at Orly but also to Geneve and other spots.
It was then sold to australia as VH-UVC and this is from the origional log.

F-AOTP G-ACDS….mystery Comper Swift

I left out the early bit from Archive……Regd G-ACDS 13.2.33 to Mark A Lacayo (as nominee , Comper Sales Manager) CofA 3839 issued 5.4.33. Delivered to Evreux 28.2.33….if the Comper Swift was wooden built it wouldn’t have had much of a radar signature, probably would have flown very low anyway….Comper story starts in the Winter 2003 Archive, I think

Sometimes I’m amazed that the old grey matter can still work so well. But now I know why, as the aeroplane referred to below has been of interest to me for many years and all my lines of research concerning it lead up the same dead end road!

Lucien Lecoq obviously survived the war because between 15 and 27 March 1958 he was the registered owner of the famed Miles M.3A Falcon F-BBCN (which apparently survived at Lognes Emerainville until the early 1970s before disappearing like a visitor to the Bermuda Triangle). In 1958 his address was 15, ave. Georges Clemenceau, 94300 Vincennes. A search against his name, on the DGAC website, might throw up something of interest to you, Ian

Just for the sake of completeness, Jackson (British Civil Aircraft 1919-72, Vol. II, p.392) says:

“5.4.33 M.A.Lacayo, Hooton; delivered to France 16.4.33; crashed 1.34; rebuilt as F-AOTP in 1936”.

What puzzles me about this story is that a Swift could fly from France to Britain in 1942 without, apparently, being spotted by the German authorities when flying toward and then away from the French coast and, perhaps more so, without being picked up by British radar or otherwise identified as an unidentified intruder and also without being intercepted by the RAF. Other “aerial escapees” seem to have been intercepted by the RAF and escorted back to Britain and, perhaps in consequence of this, their stories seem to be well documented and subsequently recorded. It seems strange that this one appears to have largely slipped through the net. But then, perhaps this is why you are researching it, Ian!

Finally the name Lucien Lecoq is ringing post-war bells with me. I’ll see what I can ascertain about him.

Wrong plane but right pilot. Who was he? His Luciole was at Issy in 1934, and he flew it from Guyancourt. So did he have 2 planes or was he a professional?

Laurence

Thanks Laurence,
what a pity it wasn’t the Swift 🙁

Martin

A Caudron Luciole I see.
F-AMSB Caudron C.272 Luciole 6822.40 F-AMSB Rene Caudron /Issy >Aero Club de la Cote d’Or /Dijon >Aero Club Vosgien /Epinal 01.02.34 3669
Laurence

Sorry, my Internet is playing up, so I am limited to short messages!

Do what was F-AMSB, and was Lucien Lecoq employed at the Guyancourt school? So ill at age 21?

Laurence

Maybe I can offer a translation.

A plane flies low over the Palais Bourbon (the National Assembly)

The pilot was taken ill

Paris 23 April (1934)

A plane registered F-AMSB flew very low this afternoon, between 16.15 and 16.30, over the Place de la Concorde, the Champs Elysee and the Palais Bourbon.
According to first announcements from the Air Ministry it was piloted by Mr Lecoq from the Civil Aviation School at Guyancourt.
An enquiry has been opened by the police and the Civil Aviation Dept of the Air Ministry.
The plane landed at about 16.40 on the lawn of the Bagatelle (a palace near the Bois de Boulogne).
The pilot, Lucien Lecoq, landed because he felt ill. He was not injured and the plane was apparently undamaged.
It was because he felt ill that the pilot, aged 21, flew low over Paris.

Laurence

Hope that AA can give us a translation…
http://www.normannia.info/opdf/11/5501/61_72_53/1934-04-24_61_72_53_0001.pdf

So we could surmise that the Swift was flown from France in December 1942, presumably having been hidden during the occupation and landed at Marchwood (which has never had an airfield) possibly aiming for Eastleigh?

Any more news of Monsieur Lecoq, seems he has a lot to answer for?!

F-AOTP G-ACDS….mystery Comper Swift

History in A-B Archive Winter 2004……’.operated from Evreux, France in UK marks from 28.2.33. Crashed in France and UK regn cancelled.Rebuilt and regd F-AOTP.to AeroClub de l’Eure, Evreux 4.3.36. Regd 1.39 to Lucien Jules Francois Lecoq. Reportedly flown by Lecoq to Marchwood, nr Southampton early 12.42. Lecoq accused of being a German-sponsored agent,had attempted to join RAF,but detained instead.Swift reported to have been impressed but no record of this has been found and its fate remains a mystery’.
…. Don’t appear to be any photos of it…Comper history runs fromSpring2004 to Autumn 2005 in A-B Archive

….

That’s interesting and new to me. I thought that its last owner was Lucien Lecoq from January 1939 when it was based at Guyancourt. It would be interesting to hear when, why and how it returned to the UK during the war. I think that, hardly surprisingly, all the Swifts were fit for, during the war, was impressment as ATC instructional airframes or storage for the duration (with the exception of G-ABPE and its colourful wartime career). However this is not one of the two Swifts listed in ‘Cadet Corps Airframes’ (MCAS). I assume that you have had a look at Air Britain Archive of Summer 2005 in which, I understand, there was an article entitled ‘The Comper Lightplanes’, by Jack Meaden & Malcolm Fillmore, which might offer more information relating to this Swift. I can’t help with this as I do not have a copy.