1947 aviation accident in French Algeria
General Leclerc's aviation accident (French: "Accident de l'avion du général Leclerc") took place on none }} near the city of Colomb-Béchar in the western Sahara, then in French Algeria.
The B-25 Mitchell bomber, named "Tailly 2" and converted into an official aircraft for General Leclerc, crashed around noon on the Mediterranean-Niger railway line, about fifty kilometers north of Colomb-Béchar airport, which it was attempting to reach. All twelve passengers and crew members including Leclerc were killed instantly. A thirteenth unidentified body was found in the wreckage, leading to controversy regarding the causes of the accident.
Sequence of events.
Having departed on none }} from Villacoublay, in the Paris suburbs, for an inspection tour in North Africa, General Leclerc spent the afternoon of the 26th and the day of the 27th in the Arzew - La Macta region on the coast, east of Oran, to attend an interservice maneuver.
This troop movement took place in an area where potential future oil fields had just been identified by the geologist explorer Conrad Kilian, sites of strategic value for France in a world where the United States and the United Kingdom still held a near-monopoly on oil reserves.
On the morning of 28 November, General Leclerc attended a military ceremony in Arzew, then headed to La Sénia Aerodrome, where his personal aircraft, a B-25 Mitchell named "Tailly 2" ("Tailly" is the name of a commune in the Somme where the Leclerc family estate is located, and also the name of his command tank during the war), awaited him. This aircraft, originally a twin-engine medium bomber, had been converted for the transport of military authorities. It included a small office and berths. The aircraft was to take him to Colomb-Béchar, a town located 200 km south of Oran, near the border with Morocco, where he was to spend the day. The weather was bad, with the morning bulletin stating that "the Oran-Colomb-Béchar route was on the southeastern edge of a major disturbance [...]. A general worsening was expected from the west with the formation of numerous sandstorms."
The pilot hesitated but knew that General Leclerc hated delays. The plane eventually took off at 10:15, and it had enough fuel to turn back if the weather prevented it from landing at Colomb-Béchar. However, another pilot, who was supposed to make the same route on an AAC.1 Toucan, canceled the flight due to the weather. The plane was expected to arrive one and a half hours later, at 11:45. After fifteen minutes of flight, the radio operator asked Béchar for an update on the weather conditions and received a Morse code response: "Light intermittent rain, visibility six to ten kilometers. Ceiling: 10/10 at 500 meters, summits obscured. Wind: southern sector, 50 to 60 km/h with gusts". These conditions were not good but still acceptable. The plane was flying at , facing a headwind likely at .
At 11:34, the Béchar airport sent its Gonio position, but this type of position was considered unreliable by pilots at the time. A dozen minutes later, the plane flew over the Bon-Arfa station, and the crew spotted the railway line. The pilot, Lieutenant François Delluc, decided to lower the plane to a low altitude and follow the Trans-Saharan railway line leading to Colomb-Béchar (this line connected Colomb-Béchar to Oujda in Morocco, near the Mediterranean). Witnesses saw it pass, about twenty meters above the ground, at an estimated speed of 250 km/h. At this point, the railway line crossed a large desert plateau.
The landing time was postponed twice by a quarter of an hour by the crew. The last message from the B-25 stated: ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;All is well on board, we are ten minutes from the Colomb-Béchar airfield. At that moment, the railway line they were following left the desert plateau and entered the hills. The plane likely attempted to regain altitude.
An hour later, as rumors of an accident began to spread in Colomb-Béchar, a column of the 1st Saharan company of the Legion led by Lieutenant-Colonel Dudezert set out northward, following the railway line. When they arrived, they found the wreckage of the bomber scattered on either side of the embankment of the railway ( over several dozen meters. The plane appeared to have struck the embankment. The rear of the aircraft was to the left of the tracks, with the engines about forty meters further on the right. Kerosene was spilled on the ground and still burning, as were the scattered body parts.
Identification of the bodies.
The legionnaires and rescue workers began identifying the bodies on the afternoon of the 28th at the crash site. All victims had been decapitated upon impact with the ground, so the trunks were identified based on uniforms, ranks, and personal papers. General Leclerc's body was identified by his partially burned wallet, signet ring, and a piece of his cane. Once the bodies were transported to the morgue of the Colomb-Béchar hospital in the evening, thirteen bodies were formally counted before final burial by Lieutenant Doctor Paul Judeau and Commander Roque, even though the plane had only carried twelve men.
Reactions and investigations.
The twelve identified bodies arrived in Algiers by train on 2 December, then in Paris on the 6th. Leclerc was buried in the Invalides alongside Foch, Turenne, and Vauban after a day of national mourning.
The official report concluded that the crash was due to the recklessness of pilot François Delluc, despite his experience and extremely distinguished service record, and the persistence of General Leclerc, who ignored the unfavorable weather conditions.
Jean-Christophe Notin demonstrated in his book that the American-made B-25 had been dangerously modified by the French Air Force by adding a bunk at the rear, which may have caused a counterbalance and led to the crash, especially since the aircraft was known to tip backward at low speeds. He added that no other B-25 had ever been used to carry so many passengers.
Three rumors circulated about Leclerc's death, especially due to the presence of the thirteenth passenger:
Jean-Christophe Notin refuted these rumors, as the crash site matched that of the plane, demonstrating a crash rather than an explosion; the engines, carefully inspected, showed no defects.
List of passengers and crew.
In addition to the four crew members, the B-25 was carrying General Leclerc, his staff, and his aide-de-camp.
A thirteenth body, wearing an Air Force uniform with the rank of lieutenant, was found mutilated in the wreckage of the aircraft and has never been identified. During the repatriation of the bodies to France, one coffin was missing during disembarkation in Marseille, fueling rumors. However, this body was buried in the Saint-Eugène's Christian Cemetery in Algiers. The name is unknown, but Jean-Christophe Notin noted that crashes in this region were common at the time.
Notes and references.
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