Yorkshire Airman – geoffrey warnes
Hi Guys – Wing Leader by Johnny Johnson has a lot in it about Geoffrey Warnes – and how an Australian F/O Tuff baled out to help him – both being lost – I will happily type it out if anybody wants it. To cause more upset – it was 602 (City of Glasgow) squadron of 125 Wing who shot up Rommel (Squadron Leader Johannes “Chris” Le Roux, D.F.C.**; with 18 kills to his credit, the top scoring British pilot since D-Day over Normandy. He left on a flight to England on 29 August 1944 in PL155 and, tragically, never arrived.) On Monday 17 July 1944 Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel, the commander of the German Forces in Normandy, visited Sepp Dietrich, commander of the 1st SS Panzer Corps. Afterwards he was driving back to his HQ at La Roche-Guyon, when his Horch staff car was sighted by twelve Spitfires of 602 Squadron, who were on an armed reconnaissance near Flers.
The commanding officer’s (Sqn Ldr “Chris” Le Roux) section had carried out a bounce on six Bf109’s, Le Roux attacking one which crashed before he could open fire. He then strafed a staff car and a motorcyclist; on this mission Flt/Lt Manson was shot down by flak. Upon sighting the car Sqn Ldr “Chris” Le Roux had called in his section and lined up his sights. His rounds ripped through the car killing Daniel the driver and seriously wounding Rommel, as a result.
He was dragged off the road, and taken to hospital, where it was thought that he would not survive. When Rommel came to a day later, he was in a French hospital being looked after by a French medical team. They feared for his life: he had suffered a quadruple skull fracture. A couple of days later, Rommel was evacuated to a rear hospital for a long slow recovery.
Later he later put under close arrest after the 20 July bomb plot to kill Hitler and, on 14 October 1944, two generals (General Burgdorf and General Maisel) visit Rommel at his home in Herrlingen and hand him a cyanide capsule and a message from Hitler: commit suicide and be buried with honours or stand trial for high treason and be hung, which implies the loss of his family’s honour. He bids farewell to his wife and son, and is driven off in an army car, where, having swallowed the capsule, Rommel is buried with full military honours and is bid a hero’s farewell.
At this time they were operating from B.11 Longues-sur-Mer – which was about a quarter mile from the Le Chaos gun battery – I have an airfield location map – so when you guys go there in June you can visit the site of the ALG. cheers Allan
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