5/III/3, 5e Escadrille 'Faucon Egyptien' / 5de smaldeel 'De Egyptische Valk' / 5th Squadron 'Egyptian Falcon'
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5/III/3 was a bomber squadron, equiped with Fairey Battle's. On 10/05/1940 the unit had 14 aircraft.
Peacetime base: Evère
Wartime base: Belcele
F/L Maurice Arthur Leon
Balasse, KIA on 23/01/1945, flying with 41 Squadron RAF, started the war in 5/III/3.
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Losses, ex. ground losses of planes (incomplete)
11/05/1940 - Albert Canal Bridges. 6 Planes lost, 5 KIA, 4 WIA
18/05/1940 - 1 Plane destroyed on ground
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11/05/1940 - Albert Canal Bridges
Shortly before 07.00 hrs on 11 May 1940 nine Belgian Fairey Battles of 5/III/3 were dispatched to bomb the Albert Canal bridges, which had fallen intact into German hands. Six Gladiators of 1/I/2 were to escort them. The Gladiators flew in two sections.
The crews of the Battles were from 9/II/3 and 5/III/3 and were at their emergency airfield at Aalter, having escaped the destruction of their home airfields at Brussels-Evere and Belsele. The Battles took off at 0600hrs, flying in three flights of three, and headed for their rendezvous with the Gladiators. The flights were as follows:
Veldwezelt Bridge
T73 - Capt Pierre/Lt Cloquette
T60 - Adj Verbraeck/Adj Dome
T58 - Adj Timmermans/1st Sgt Rolin-Hymans
Vroenhoven Bridge
T70 - Capt Glorie/Sous Lt Vanden Bosch
T64 - Adj Binon/Cap Legand
T61 - Adj Delvigne/Sgt Moens
Briegden Bridge
T62 - Adj Jordens/Sgt de Ribaucourt
T68 - 1st Sgt Wiesler/ Adj de Coninck
T71 - Adj Vandevelde/ Cap Bergmans
As the Battles approached their targets they were hit by fighters and AA. T60 had already been shot down not long after take off. Two Do17s attacked the formation of Battles and concentrated on T60. With both crewmembers wounded the Battle crash-landed near Dendermonde and both crewmembers were taken to a local hospital. T58 was shot down near Hasselt with no survivors. T73 arrived over the target and made one pass, then coming round for a second through murderous flak scored a near miss before escaping at low altitude.
The second flight had been fired on by friendly AA over Leuven and Tienen. As the three Battles made there attack T70 and T61 suffered hang ups, while those of T64 fell into the Canal. The two Battles came in for another pas but the intense flak knocked them out of the sky, only Vanden Bosch managed to bale out. His parachute opened too low and he suffered serious injuries.
The last flight were also fired on by friendly troops near Lier. T62 was also hit and set on fire. Both crewmembers being forced to take to their parachutes, only to be shot at by Belgian infantry who had mistaken them for Germans. They were able to convince the troops that they were indeed Belgians. This left T68 to carry out the attack, which it did. Unfortunately the bombs missed their target and the Battle was hit by flak. Wiesler carried out a forced landing inside friendly territory only to discover that some of his bombs had hung up. His gunner de Coninck suffered a broken leg.
Type: Fairey Battle
Serial number: ?, T-58
Unit: 5/III/3
Mission: Bridges Albert Canal, Veldwezelt
Lost: 11/05/1940
Adj Gustave Timmermans, pilot (KIA)
1Sgt Rolin-Heymans [ or: Rolin Hymans], observer (KIA)
Based at Aalter (or Belcele?). Shot down by Me Bf-109 Oblt Wolfgang Redlich I./JG27 at 07.40 hrs. Crashed at 's Herenelderen 'Molsterveld'.
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Type: Fairey Battle
Serial number: ?, T-60
Unit: 5/III/3
Mission: Bridges Albert Canal
Lost: 11/05/1940
Adj Verbraeck - wounded
Adj Dome - wounded
Shot down not long after take off. Two Do17s attacked the formation of Battles and concentrated on T60. With both crewmembers wounded the Battle crash-landed near Dendermonde and both crewmembers were taken to a local hospital.
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Type: Fairey Battle
Serial number: ?, T-61
Unit: 5/III/3
Mission: Bridges Albert Canal Vroenhoven
Lost: 11/05/1940
Adj Franz J.C. Delvigne, pilot (KIA)
Sgt Alexandre Moens, observer (KIA)
Based at Aalter (or Belcele?). Shot down by flak. Crashed at Vroenhoven - Veldwezelt 'De Kip'. The crew are buried at Erepark Evere, Brussels. Adj. Delvigne Row 1, Grave 18; Sgt Moens Row 1, Grave 17.
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Type: Fairey Battle
Serial number: ?, T-62
Unit: 5/III/3
Mission: Bridges Albert Canal
Lost: 11/05/1940
Adj Jordens
Sgt de Ribaucourt
Shot down. After bailing out,the crew was taken prisoner by Belgian troops.
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Type: Fairey Battle
Serial number: ?, T-70
Unit: 5/III/3
Mission: Bridges Albert Canal Vroenhoven
Lost: 11/05/1940
Cpt André Glorie, pilot, KIA
OLt Jean Vanden Bosch, observer - injured
Based at Aalter (or Belcele?). Shot down by flak. Crashed at Vlijtingen (Lafelt). Cpt Glorie is buried at Erepark Evere, Brussels, Row 1, Grave 16.
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Type: Fairey Battle
Serial number: ?, T-68
Unit: 5/III/3
Mission: Bridges Albert Canal
Lost: 11/05/1940
1st Sgt Wiesler - safe
Adj de Coninck - injured
Hit by flak; force-landed inside friendly territory
Sources: Alex Crawford, Golden Era Biplanes 1919-1939; Håkan Gustavsson, The Gloster Gladiator in the Belgian Air Force; Alain Rosseels.
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18/05/1940 - destroyed on ground
Type: Fairey Battle
Serial number: ?, T-73
Unit: 5/III/3
Mission: (-)
Lost: 18/05/1940
This Battle survived the mission of 11th May 1940 on the bridges of the Albert Channel. It was used the following days for observation missions. On 18th May, it achieved the last mission of the squadron and was destroyed on the ground in the evening by German bombardment.
Source: BAHA - Belgian Aviation History Association
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Sources
Aeropedia / Belgae Gallorum Fortissimi
Alternate Views on Adolf Galland's WW2 Kills
Ancien Bulletins du CLHAM
Aircraft ued by the Belgian Armed Forces
Aéronautique Militaire Belge - Order of Battle, 10th May 1940
Belgian aces and notable pilots of WW2
Belgian Armed Forces, 1940
The Belgian Army at the outbreak of WW2 (doesn't state sources)
Belgian Aviation History Association
Belgian Gloster Gladiator by Alex Crawford
Belgian Hawker Hurricanes controversy - www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/
Belgian War Cemetery Willemstad (English)
Belgian War Graves (1914-1918; 1940-1945)
Belgian Women in Uniform 1940-1946
Biplane Fighter Aces - Belgium
The Campaign of the Belgian Army in May 1940
Chievres Air Base History
Dodenakkers.nl: Erehof Willemstad (in Dutch)
The Fiat CR.42 in the Belgian Air Force
France, 1940
The Gloster Gladiator in the Belgian Air Force
Rodolphe Count de Hemricourt de Grunne
The Maidenhead Register
De Slag om de Grebbeberg (Dutch)
Go2war2.nl: Fall Gelb (Dutch)
Slagveld Sloedam (Dutch)
The Stampe
War over Holland (English)
Wings to Victory (Dutch)
Prisoners of War captured in Europe 1940
RAF - Campaign Diary - The Battle of France (May-June 1940)
RAF Museum: British Military Aviation in 1940
The Second World War - a day by day account
The War in France and Flanders, 1939-1940, by Major L.F. Ellis, 1954
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Books
The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium The Official Account of What Happened 1939-1940
Brian Bond, France and Belgium, 1939-1940
Peter D. Cornwell, The Battle of France, Then and Now, 2008
Cynrik De Decker en Jean-Louis Roba, Mei 1940 boven België: de luchtstrijd tijdens de achttiendaagse veldtocht, De Krijger, Erpe-Mere, 1993
Major L.F. Ellis, The War in France and Flanders, 1939-1940, 1954
J.Fabribeckers, La Campage de L'armee Belge en 1940
Telford Taylor, The March of conquest
Jean-Luc Wauthy and Florimond de Neve, Les Aéronefs de la Force Aérienne Belge (3e partie : 1920-1940), Le Fana de l'Aviation magazine n.306, Mai 1995
General Wetzel, Der Angrif der 255. Division über die Lys
Michael Wiesner, "Wer die macht hat, hat recht". De Belgische krijgsgevangenen in Duitsland en de Conventie van Genève, 1940-1945, 2005
Zoho Creator: Books Belgian Aviation
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Links
Avianet.nl (in Dutch)
De Belgen in Engeland 1940-1945 (in Dutch)
Belgian Aviation History Association Archaeological Team
Belgian Aviation History Association
Belgisch Nationaal Herdenkingscomité / Comité National Belge du Souvenir
Bunkergordel.be: Bruggenhoofd Gent (in Dutch)
- contains lists of Belgian and German casualties, Gent area, May 1940
Deaths in deportation
Gefusilleerden & gedeporteerden uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog / Les Fusillés et les déportés de la deuxième Guerre Mondiale, Belgium (in Dutch and French)
Discussion Groups
Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
War over Holland Discussion Forum
Other
Abbreviations used in the Royal Air Force
Code Names & RAF Vocabulary
Air Aces
Airwar over Denmark
Allied World War II Casualties in the Netherlands
Australian Wargraves
Axis History Factbook
Battle-of-Britain.com
British Aircraft Directory
British Aviation Archaeological Council - Books and research links
Canada's Air Force History
HMS Cavalier
Ciel de Gloire (in French)
RAF Squadrons
CWGC Cemeteries Germany
CWGC Cemeteries Netherlands
Czechoslovak airmen in
the RAF 1940-1945
Danish WW2 Pilots
Dutch Pilots in RAF Squadrons
Eagles Squadrons (American pilots in the RAF)
Foreign Aircraft Landings in Ireland 1939-1946
Håkans aviation page (from Sweden, in English)
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death, poem by W.B. Yeats
Jagdgeschwader 27 (in German)
Luchtoorlog ('Arial War', in Dutch, with many photos)
Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth
The Luftwaffe, 1933-1945
Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum
The National Ex-Prisoners of War Association
Naval History.net
Nordic Aviation during WW2
Pilotfriend.com: aircraft of WW2
Polish Air Force 1940-1947 Operations Record Books
RAF Battle of Britain
RAF Upwood
RAF WWII 38 Group Squadrons Reunited
Warbird Alley
War over Holland
World War II Aircraft wrecksites in Norway
www.bomber-command.de
The Aerodrome -
Aces and Aircraft of World War 1
WW1 Cemeteries
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This page is dedicated to the Belgian airmen who lost their lives in May 1940.
With special thanks to Alain
Rosseels
© Bart FM Droog / Rottend Staal Online 2008. Permission granted for use of the data gathered here for non commercial purposes, if this source is mentioned with a link to http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/belgium/af/index.html
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