WW2 French Death Card of Aviation lieutenant Etienne Dufossez.

[Heartfeltzero]

Etienne was in the French Air Force and was the rank of lieutenant. The card states that he fell during aerial combat on May 10th 1940 at the age of 25. May 10th was the day the Germans invaded France. A section on the back of the card reads :

“He left for an unequal fight, knowing that he was doomed, but accepting the sacrifice for the honor of his Country, the honor of his Arme, the honor of his Squadron to which he was passionately attached..”

[Willmore]

Hi there.

Another really interesting death card, thank you for sharing it with us.

Here is some information about the pilot -

Lieutenant Etienne Dufossez.

Etienne Dufossez served with the 5/III/2 Aé equipped with obsolete Fairey Fox VIs at the time of the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940.

In the early morning of 10 May the alert was sounded just before 03:00 at Shaffen-Diest airfield. Stationed on the field were the Hurricanes of Escadrille 2/1/2 (the most modem aircraft in the Belgian Military Air Arm) and the Gloster Gladiator of Escadrille 1/1/2. Also on the field were the Fairey Foxes of Escadrille 5/111/3 and 7/111/3. The Foxes were to take part in live firing exercises at Beverloo.
At 04:20hrs, the Fairey Foxes of 5/111/2 Aé took off and headed towards Landing Field No. 14 (Jeneffe) to reconnoitre German troop movements east of Liege. They were diverted in mid-flight to Landing Field No. 23 at Vissenacken.
The thirteen aircraft landed on the Field No 23 at Vissenacken at 08:35hrs.
Thirty minutes later, nine aircraft left for a fighter sweep around Dienst. Here Bf 109s quickly attacked them and three Belgian aircraft were shot down (0-111 flown by Sous-lieutenant Brel, 0-123 flown by Lieutenant Dufossez and 0-127 flown by Sergent Detal). The other six Foxes were damaged (0-117, 0-132, 0-133, 0-135, 0-139 and 0-179).
Lieutenant Dufossez claimed to have shot down a Bf 109 before being shot down. This was probably a Bf 109E flown by Feldwebel Hoppe of 3/JG 27 who died in the crash.
Belgian biplane fighter aces - Etienne Dufossez


The Belgian Aviation Hero Lieutenant Etienne Dufossez -
"El Heroe de la Aviacion Belga Lieutenant Etienne Dufossez" - El Gran Capitan


Misc information -
Belgium Aircrew Losses
Memorial Belgian Airmen - Brussel - TracesOfWar.com
German claims and Allied losses May 1940 - Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum

[Willmore]

I think this casualty card is for the German pilot that was shot down by Lieutenant Etienne Dufossez.

Name: Walter Hoppe
Rank: Feldwebel der Reserve
Birth Date: 30 Oct 1912
Birth Place: Spandau, Berlin
Military Unit: 11./Staffel Jagdgeschwader 20
Death Date: 10 May 1940
Death Place: Westl Nymwegen

I am not 100% sure on the abbreviation L A, but I would go for Gefallen: Luft Angriff (Killed in action: Air attack).

Walter Hoppe is buried in the military cemetery in Ysselsteyn, Niederlande.
Endgrablage: Block CP Reihe 5 Grab 106

Kind regards,

Will.

[Heartfeltzero]

Ahhh so Belgium, not French. Very interesting. Thank you so much for the information!

[Willmore]

I am glad to help.

Here is a little bit more information on Walter Hoppe.

Kracker Luftwaffe Archive

[BlackCat1982]

Adversaries united in death.