Warbird Information Exchange

Hi
Just a thread that the board may be interested in ,
an FW-190 has been found in a lake in france , with it's pilot still in it , but the local government won't let it be moved , even tho' the germans agree to it being recovered .
Intial board link is in french, thread on TOCH explains all.
Cheers
Jerry

http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?d ... %20High%21

Scroll down

Hi
sorry missed it, still waking up.
cheers
Jerry

Hi
The story around the FW190 pilot, link to thread below, To me it is sad , the fench government, the german government & the family want it recovered but the local government don't.....
Cheers
Jerry

Pierre BABIN
FW 190 in a lake
Sun Dec 12, 2004 18:56
81.50.183.141


Hello,

I do know this sad story of the aircraft crashed in the "lac de Grand Lieu" very close to Nantes, with - may be - the body of the pilot inside. The "Préfet" (a sort of governor of the area : "Région" or "Département") doesn't want this aircraft and its pilot were dug out of the mud (the lake is, in fact, a very large marsh), in spite of all the demands, and though the french ministry of defense is OK ! position of the Préfet (newspaper "La Nouvelle République" dated 15 October 2002) : "We can wonder what is the interest of such a thing in a world which must solve other problems ..."

Concerning the pilot buried in the mud of the "Lac de Grandlieu": he would be (it's the main hypothesis) Lt. Rudolf WELPRECHT, from 10./JG 2, based Vannes-Meucon, shot down 4th July 1943.

It's a very sad story : for 2 or 3 years the family (the brother) of Lt. WELPRECHT is waiting for a happy solution ... but it's long coming and I'm very pessimist !

Apologies for my poor english

Best regards

Pierre


http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?i ... w_parent=1


P.S.
Please copy links around other boards maybe if this is re posted / distributed around something might happen, to cause a change of mind

Hi
details for those interested , a/c believed to be :-

04/07/43 Lt. Rudolf Welprecht 10./JG 2, Fw 190 A-4, Wn 142454, 9 Blue Combat with bomber, over the sea . MIA.

cheers
Jerry

Hopefully a bit of beaurocracy can be overcome here and the remains interred properly. The German wargraves organistion are very persistant
so I'd be surprised if the local French govt didn't receive a lot of pressure from above in the near future.
As for the airframe, not much usable stuff would be produced I suspect.

Aircraft is apparently intact as the unfortunate pilot made an emergency landing but supposedly couldn't get out before it sank. With the lake being a swampy area there is every chance the aircraft is in reasonable condition, good for a museum and a memorial to JG2 and the pilot in particular..... if his family want him to have a decent burial some darn pen pusher shouldn't be able to stand in the way..I wonder if it was his brother whether he would be so apathetic

Dave

Eric Mombeek quotes his name as Lt. Rudolf Wieprecht

http://www.luftwaffe.be/miajg2.html

http://www.luftwaffe.be/ is an interesting site.. Check it out!

Hi Rob,

Well, theoretically you are correct. There was such an agreement in the fifties where all European countries promised to do their best to make sure MIA's were brought home for burial (before the EU was even thought of) IIRC. But in reality most official authorities don't feel like doing their best to make sure these cases are handled like they should. Even if next of kin apply for their case through official channels, they often are left standing in front of a closed door.
What does the trick is that locals start campaigning to have such a case solved, it takes a lot of time and footwork and you don't have to be afraid to be dissapointed every now and then. But persistence usuallty pays off. And then you start all over again next time.

I wouldn't be surprised if the French situation is similar if not worse than the Dutch.

Cheers

Cees

Well that would be good if they found a semi intact 190 as well.
With a bit of luck the crap will stop from that local govt and they can get on with it.