Uffz. Lorenz Dessoy joined 4./JG 2 during the Battle of Britain. He was flying as Rottenführer to Gefr. Rudi Miese on the sortie on 15 November 1940 over Portsmouth/Selsey Bill when the latter was shot down badly injured and hospitalised at Littlehampton near Brighton. According to Meimberg's memoir, there were some surreal moments during the sorties over England; 'Assi' Hahn ordering the Staffel to form up closely since '..it would make a very nice photo, knowing full well that none of us had a camera' or getting out his harmonica after combat over England and ordering Dessoy to accompany him over the FT; " Dessoy, ein Lied !" Dessoy sung all the way home while we joined in.."
Dessoy was shot down over the sea during the second 'Circus' flown by the RAF on 21 June 1941 but was fished out by the Seenot off the coast of Treport. Some two years later Dessoy was still flying combat with JG 2. Lt. Christoph Dezius reported; " when I joined the 'Richthofen' during April 1943 having finished my training with the Erg. Jagdgruppe West, the most experienced pilots were tasked with perfecting our skills. Aside from Goltzsch and our Staffelkapitän, our Staffel included another veteran of the Luftschlacht over England, Ofw. Lorenz Dessoy. It was these pilots who taught us the essential manoeuvres for air combat and we flew so many training sorties that the aircraft became extensions of ourselves. I generally flew with Dessoy during this period."
Three years after joining JG 2 Dessoy claimed his first victory in combat with 7./JG 2 on 3 October 1943! Dessoy's victim was a Spitfire shot down that evening over La Haye-St-Romain during the course of a raid on the airfield at Beauvais. During the same sortie Huppertz claimed his 50th and Bühligen his 80th! Dessoy's second success in combat was a 9th AF B-26 south of Amiens during the afternoon of 25 March 1944. He flew sorties over the 'Invasionsfront' during June 1944. On 17 June his 'Hundert-neun' was shot down by P-47s in the vicinity of Bayeux but was he able to bail out more or less unscathed.
However, just two months before war's end, Dessoy was killed in an accident on 20 March 1945. He is seen here as an Unteroffizier alongside his II./JG 2 Emil...
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