French teen flew old aircraft across Channel escaping Nazis

Hi
from the davidstow mmor website which now seems dead ?
cheers
Jerry

01-02-1941

1745hrs
Caudron Goeland F-BAAX landed near a Searchlight Post close to Tregantle Farm. The occupant was Andre’ Edmond Bruist Colin aged 25, he stated that he was a native of Belfort, France. He has been a Sgt Pilot in the French Air Force from 26th August 1939 until 25 August 1940. He left Vichy at 12:30 hours on the 1st February 1941 and landed in Brittany, he took off again for England. Monsieur Colin is being detained at Liskeard Police Station, his aeroplane is being guarded by men of the 11th Battalion Devonshire Regiment.

http://www.rafdavidstowmoor.com/pages/crash_log/crashlog41.html

Slight thread drift but just thought I would mention Jean Demozay…he escaped from france in style…via Bristol Bombay – it had been left behind with a u/s tailwheel,he got it fixed and flew 16 groundcrew home in it .
I had forgotten that he was killed in an accident in ’45 🙁

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=RAF+pilot+demozay&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbm.org.uk%2FDemozay.htm&ei=hlakT5XqLYOp0QWs_omOBA&usg=AFQjCNEYVo4a7kf-gAm3HpjhWWJZEi1ksA

Interesting info coming in. So there are two candidates for the story in November 1940, which seesm about right for the date.

I’m afraid i have no idea what was being said in that French film but it was really well made, I liked the style of it. I did note the second Hurricane photo with the pilot giving the thumbs up was a photo of my late friend Bill Kane, who lived in my hometown of Cambridge, New Zealand. He was a Hurricane pilot with No. 73 Squadron in France, 1939-40. I wonder what the connection was in the story? Did Maurice Halna du Fretay have a connection with No. 73 Squadron RAF?

This thread on 12oclockhigh forum was as far as I got searching
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/archive/index.php?t-9119.html
hinting at a Morane 230 F-AROD coming over in November 1940…any thoughts?

The video also shows, briefly, the title page heading of the Evening Standard – so maybe a report there – and it occurs to me that a search of the British Pathé website (http://www.britishpathe.com) might be rewarding.

Hello Dave ,

I think you are talking about Maurice Halna du Fretay , who escape from Brittany on 15 Nov. 1940 , flying a Zlin aircraft to UK . He was later killed during the Jubilee raid on 19 Aug. 1942.

Here’s a link ( in French ) :

http://videos.france5.fr/video/iLyROoaf8Io7.html

Zorglub.

I think Dave, that Zorglub is probably on the mark with this. One can assume that given a week or two for debrief and censors to pass the story, an arrival in November 1940, may not have been reported to newspapers until January perhaps?

Whether this is the man you are seeking or not, the video link above makes interesting and poignant viewing.

It appears that, Dave, whilst tales of similar flights have been recounted, no-one yet has been able to respond to your initial enquiry. Sadly neither can I, but it may be that those who have access to one or more of the online UK newspaper archives can check the ‘dailies’ for 31 January 1941, or the following few days, or you may have more luck if you post your enquiry on http://www.aerostories.org/~aeroforums/forumhist/index.php.

p.s. except those who do whilst I’m typing my contribution!

A Fokker test pilot flew a Fokker G1 to the UK in 1941 with a member of the Board of Directors in the back. They escaped the chase plan by ducking into the clouds.

It appears that, Dave, whilst tales of similar flights have been recounted, no-one yet has been able to respond to your initial enquiry. Sadly neither can I, but it may be that those who have access to one or more of the online UK newspaper archives can check the ‘dailies’ for 31 January 1941, or the following few days, or you may have more luck if you post your enquiry on http://www.aerostories.org/~aeroforums/forumhist/index.php.

p.s. except those who do whilst I’m typing my contribution!

Hello Dave ,

I think you are talking about Maurice Halna du Fretay , who escape from Brittany on 15 Nov. 1940 , flying a Zlin aircraft to UK . He was later killed during the Jubilee raid on 19 Aug. 1942.

Here’s a link ( in French ) :

http://videos.france5.fr/video/iLyROoaf8Io7.html

Zorglub.

Interesting stuff. So this makes three cases of such a flight to freedom, from France, Denmark and Belgium. No doubt there were others too.

That Danish story would make a good film by the sounds of things.

On 4th April 1941 4/4/41 Belgian pilots Michel Donnet and Leon Divoy escaped to the UK in a Stampe SV4B biplane.

I seem to recollect they were reunited with the actual aeroplane at a Biggin Hill Air Fair some years ago?

I haven’t read the book, but here is the publicity blurb for Donnet’s memoirs, Flight to Freedom, published by Ian Allan:

“When the Germans invaded Belgium in May 1940, Michael Donnet had just completed his training as an officer cadet in the Belgian Air Force. After a desperate one sided battle against the might of the Luftwaffe which ended with Belgium’s surrender, Donnet and his friend Leon Divoy were determined to carry on the fight, -in the air. Under the very noses of the Germans at an ammunition depot in the Foret de Soignes outside Brussels, they discovered a small biplane of ancient vintage apparently immobilised for the duration of the war. How Donnet and Divoy repaired the aircraft, collected the petrol and eventually took off for England all within earshot of a German garrison, is an escape story in the classic mould. It is told here in enthralling detail by Michael Donnet himself.

“But the story did not end with the arrival in England. Donnet and Divoy both became Spitfire pilots in the Royal Air Force and though Divoy crashed in spectacular circumstances and became a prisoner of war for the second time, Donnet became one of the leading RAF fighter pilots of the Second World War. Taking part in fighter operations from continuously from 1942 until VE Day, he tells a gripping account of the day to day life of one member of that gallant band of exiles who added so much to the lustre of the Royal Air Force.This unique personal story is lavishly illustrated with many original photographs from the author’s personal collection.”

Thanks for that link….the real event happened some months after the NBC broadcast in the first post so it must relate to another flight….my creaking brain recalls a flight from France in 1940? landed near Brighton?

Thanks for the tip. 🙂

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornet_Flight

One interesting aspect of the (real) story is that the Danes (Thomas Christian Sneum and Keld Peterson) had brought with them film footage of a German radar antenna in operation in Denmark. This film footage had been taken by them at great risk but the British intelligence services managed to ruin the film when processing it! 😮

This is recounted in ‘Most Secret War’ by Dr R.V.Jones…..which I highly recommend.

Thanks for the tip. 🙂

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornet_Flight

type Hornet Flight into google and look up the wikipedia entry, you will get the actual events and also the ref to the Ken Follett novel which is a good read and based on this actual flight.

Danish, Hornet Moth, it had I believed belonged to a Doctor.

John

I seem to remember a case where two Norwegians (or Danes?) flew an aircraft (Tiger Moth?) they had rebuilt, to Britain. The most amazing part of the story was that they rebuilt the engine but couldn’t risk test-running it because the noise would alert the Germans to what they were doing; so they started the engine, taxied out of the barn where they had rebuilt the aircraft, and took-off immediately across the North Sea. That takes some guts!