29 May 1943

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-5 (WNr 7233)
Laillé - "Le bois de Laillé"
(contributors : J.P. Favrais, Daniel Dahiot, Chris Goss)

Pilot
Leutnant Hans Joachim KINZEL - III./JG 2 

born March 13, 1922 in Greifswald, died June 7, 1943 of his injuries. 
Buried in the German military cemetery of "Saint-Désir de Lisieux" (Normandy) - Block 3, Row 18, Grave 549.

THE STORY

On May 29, 1943, many B-17s attacked different targets : Saint-Nazaire, La Pallice and Rennes. Focke-Wulf Fw 190s were sent to intercept them, including the Fw 190 A-5 flown by Leutnant KINZEL. We don't know so much about the conditions under which the aircraft was hit by one of these B-17s, but it appears that the aircraft was hit, it exploded and went down in flames. Its pilot bailed out but witnesses, Mr. and Mrs. BERTIN, from the Laillé region, saw him falling and screaming in pain. It was almost a human torch. His death certificate, below, however, indicates that he died on June 7, 1943, at 11:15 p.m., as a result of his injuries. He was hospitalized in Rennes, alongside the Hauptmann HEPE, shot down the same day. Leutnant KINZEL was the son of Infantry General Eberhard KINZEL. The latter, stationed on the Black Sea, quickly came to Rennes for his son's funeral.

Death certificate of Hans Joachim KINZEL
Source document Fold3 "Germany, Military Killed in Action 1939-1948" - origin Bundearchiv

AN ORIGINAL SCHOOL OUTING ! 

Jean-Pierre Festoc, from Mordelles (35), told us an anecdote that his grandfather, director of the Laillé school in May 1943, told him :
the day this Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fell, May 29, 1943, the school teacher took the pupils of his class to see the aircraft. They left the school and followed a path (see below in green dotted lines) and managed to approach the crater despite the presence of German soldiers ; they could still hear the sounds of ammunition explosions. At the same time, Jean-Pierre Festoc's father and uncle crawled towards the crater and recovered some gears from the aircraft (see photos below). The Germans claimed the aircraft was English or American. The teacher then picked up another piece (probably with an inscription) and replied that it was German. A little upset, the Germans evacuated this small group of visitors.

On the two aerial photos of Laillé above (one dating from the 1950s, the other taken nowadays), we see in green dotted lines the trip of the teacher and his pupils on May 29, 1943. The red circle represents the place where the aircraft crashed.
In addition :
A = the church of Laillé in the center of the town
B = the school (in the current photo, it is the Leonardo da Vinci public elementary school - in the black and white photo, it is assumed that this is the school at that time, much smaller
C = the cemetery

Gears of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 WNr 7233 found at the crash site on May 29, 1943 by the father and uncle of Jean-Pierre Festoc
Photo family Festoc 

On the gear of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 WNr 7233, a marking is engraved. We have not identified its meaning.
Any information on the subject is welcome : (b.paquet@orange.fr)
Photo family Festoc