Above; a freshly-built 'pre-series' LN 411 dive bomber - the so-called French Stuka - seen in St Raphael after its first flight. The Germans gave authorisation to the French to complete assembly of 24 LN 411 bombers which were on the construction line in Issy-les-Moulineaux in June 1940.
A contemporary of the Blackburn Skua, the "French Stuka" was a small gull-winged, single-engine 'strike' dive bomber conceived for the French naval air arm as the Loire-Nieuport 40; the navalised variant was the LN 401 intended for service on the French carrier Béarn and fitted with a landing hook, buoyancy 'cells' inflated with CO2 and foldable wings, while the LN 411 was a land-based variant planned to equip regular
Armée de l'Air bomber units. In the end the
Armée de l'Air rejected the type - its 600hp Hispano-Suiza engine meant that the aircraft was slow and underpowered. The 411 were thus also taken on strength by the
Marine. Both versions served in the dive bomber squadrons of the Navy, AB 2 and AB 4.
L'Aéronautique Navale -the air arm of the French navy -
la Marine Française - had four
escadrilles or squadrons of "strike bombers" - each of twelve aircraft;
escadrilles AB 1 and AB 3 were equipped with the Chance Vought 156 F while
escadrilles AB 2 and AB 4 thus flew the Loire Nieuport 401 and 411.
As the French carrier, the Béarn, was engaged in the task of transporting warplanes purchased in the USA back to France, the LN 401s were never involved in shipboard operations, being shore-based throughout their career. Escadrille AB 4 converted from the LN 401 to the LN 411 in April 1940, its LN 401s being distributed among Escadrille AB 2, the conversion unit at Lanvéoc-Poulmic, and the war reserve at Cherbourg. By 10 May 1940, AB 2 and AB 4 each had its full complement of 12 aircraft, the former being based at Berck and the latter still completing its operational training, at Cherbourg-Querqueville. AB 2 had undertaken its first sorties when the LN 411s of AB 4 joined it at Berck on 17 May. Two days later, ten aircraft were lost to flak during an attack by 20 aircraft from both escadrilles on the crossroads at Berlaimont against German tank columns driving on northern French ports. The 10 that survived the sortie to reach Berck were all so badly damaged that on the following day only three aircraft could be mustered for an attack on the Origny Bridge over the Oise, one of these being lost. On 21 May another aircraft was shot down to leave the two escadrilles with one airworthy machine.
Two views of the LN 401 flown by Lieutenant Vilbert of AB 2 and downed by flak when attacking German armoured columns advancing on Cambrai on the evening of 19 May. This was one of a number of these machines brought down by anti-aircraft fire in the particularly ill-fated action against German armour at the Berlaimont road junction
Personal accounts of LN 411 pilots in action are rare; Admiral Francis Lainé, then fighter pilot and squadron leader in the
Aéronavale, related an account of flying the LN 411 in action in the Battle of France in the review Icare # 60, "
L'Aéronavale - les marins pilotes témoignent".
In November 1939, as first lieutenant and experienced fighter pilot, Lainé was appointed to command AB 4.
But, at Lanvéoc-Poulmic, the airbase theoretically dedicated to the AB 4, only 2 pilots were appointed to his squadron without any aircraft: Some "experts", at the Ministère de la Marine, expected seriously the impossible - that this unit be operational before mid-June 1940. As Prudhomme in his history of the type explains the dive bombing sight was never fitted in these machines. Nevertheless, Lainé managed to fly 14.5 hours in January 1940, "among them, a magnificent gift of my excellent friend Jean Lorenzi, squadron leader of the AB 2, who allowed me to fly 0 hours 25 and two landings with his own Loire-Nieuport 401."
Succeeding also to transferring the AB 4 to Orly airbase, very close to the Nieuport plant of Issy-les-Moulineaux where the LN 411 were manufactured, aircraft and pilots were operationally ready in April 1940.
The training was done at Cherbourg-Querqueville. It consisted of vertical dives from 4 000 m to 800 m, also in dives at 60° or 45° from 1 200 m to 300 m with concrete bombs then with operational bombs.
Another training sortie type flown were fighter missions, firing live munitions.
During the final training sorties flown on May 17 there was a fatal crash, the pilot unable to pull up his LN 411 from the dive.
The full squadron went to Berck, to join the AB 2.
On May 19, both units (AB 2 and AB 4, some 20 Loire-Nieuports) received the order to attack German armored columns seen close to Berlaimont and were airborne at 18:30. The route chosen to reach the target was straight from Berck to Berlaimont, flying over the town of Arras. Rommel's VIIth Panzer Division had already started crossing the crossroads and the Vth were to follow..
Admiral Lainé recalled: "I was very proud to lead these 20 well armed fighter-bombers into combat. This was probably the most 'interesting' command I had in the forty three years I was in the French Navy."
The two squadrons flew at low altitude in seven sections, with 100 m between them. The "low altitude" of between 300 m and 600 metres saw the top speed of the LN 401 and 411 down to just 320 kph and their cruise speed to 250 kph.
During the 20 last kilometers, the Loire-Nieuport dive-bombers were 'shadowed' by a "Henschel 126". At 10 km from the target the French formation climbed to 1200 m. At 19:30, CO Lainé dove first, followed by the rest of the wing, exactly over the Berlaimont crossroads.
He was "warmly welcomed" by intense AA fire. Defensive fire was so dense he believed that two of his comrades were brought down straight away. Lainé’s Loire-Nieuport was also hit by a shell which destroyed his radio-transmitter.
In fact, Petty officer Téoulet had been killed instantly by a German shell, his LN 411 flew some 20 kilometers further on before crashing with his yellow painted bomb still intact. Petty officer Goasguen was downed and killed, apparently not by enemy fire at all, but by French anti-aircraft fire as he was preparing to land on his own airfield. Lainé, looking backward, saw the other sections diving tidily and, suddenly, a huge black cloud caused by the smoke of multiple bomb explosions, anti-aircraft fire and by the fire of those tanks and buildings hit by the bombs. The black cloud quickly shrouded the whole town. Lainé: "I saw a large tank park, the perfect target for some bombs, which could have caused tremendous damage, but now, I had no means to report this to any of my pilots."
Thirty two years latter, remembering his actual mood as he flew northward at very low altitude, he was filled with anger: "To see my comrades brought down like that made me mad!".
So he proceeded to shoot up anything that moved: "The gunners of a dreadful Flak 88 mm cannon, and a German motorcyclist rolling around like a shot rabbit."
Captain Vuilliez stated elsewhere that all the LN 401 and 411 of this mission escaped from the dive bombing of the Berlaimont crossroad, but that that the flak took its toll on the return flight so the losses increased gradually.
At 20:30, four LN 411 of escadrille AB 4 landed at Berck, "all more or less damaged by the Flak fire, but, also, I’m afraid, riddled by fragments issued from the explosions of their own bombs released too late…" Among the five other LN 411 bombers of this squadron, one was destroyed by French anti-aircraft fire, one by German Flak close to the attacked crossroad, the three others had belly landed with their pilots alive (2 POW). In escadrille AB 2 the petty officer Pascal was killed in flight and crashed close to his target.
Three LN 401 belly landed, their pilots becoming POWs.
Only one machine from the two squadrons, the LN 401 of ensign Faivre was attacked by four Bf 109 Emils.
Evading most of their passes, the French pilot succeeded in putting down in a rough field south of Cambrai and exited his aircraft unharmed. From the 11 Loire-Nieuport 401s of AB 2, six had returned home. According to author Arnaud Prudhomme in his history of the type, six bombs had come down squarely on the crossroads which was engulfed in a huge traffic jam. German casualties at the crossroads may have amounted to as many as 400 KIA and WIA. Two full days were needed for reorganizing and repairing this division brought to a standstill.
The following day, May 20, all the available dive-bombers of the three naval attack squadrons AB 1 (equipped with 11 Chance-Vought 156 Vindicators), AB 2 and AB 4 (with only 3 Loire-Nieuports serviceable, the others being repaired), were sent out on a new mission - the destruction of a bridge at Origny-Sainte-Benoîte (about 40 km south of Berlaimont).
The Vindicators of AB 1 took off from a distant airfield (Alprecht), so they had to rendezvous above Berck where the Loire-Nieuports were based.
Having reached Berck airfield, the aircraft of AB 1 flew directly to the bridge at Origny, without waiting for three Loire-Nieuports which were still climbing.
It is reported that the engines of these aircraft began to overheat in an attempt to catch up with the Vindicators forcing their pilots to slow down. (French aviation blogger Drix states on his page that the American and the French dive-bombers shared the same empty weight of 2135 kg so while the engine of the Vindicator delivered 825 hp, given factors such as a twin-bladed prop, larger wing area and less streamlined fuselage and cowl it is doubtful whether the Vindicator was indeed faster than the Loire-Nieuport.) The Vindicators, now alone, were attacked by twelve Bf 109 Emils. Caught by surprise and their poor weak armament insufficient protection, five of the French machines were instantly downed, including the 3 section leaders.
Two Vindicators, having evaded the Messerschmitt attack, flew to the target and unsuccessfully bombed the bridge. The AB 1 squadron leader Mesny returned safely at home but his comrade was downed inside the French lines, his gunner being KIA.
The Loire-Nieuport garnered a mixed reputation. Positive assessments were expressed by her pilots who relied on their fighter-bombers: Admiral Louis Cassé emphasised that dive-bombing required good pilot training. He also highlighted production difficulties with the bomb sight.
Criticisms of the LN fighter-bomber family came mainly from the French themselves unsurprisingly. Among them was Jacques Mordal, a Navy medical officer, on the staff of Admiral Auphan in late 1942 in Vichy. Thirty-two years later, he wrote the introduction for the Icare magazine review of the Aéronavale en 1940.
He was of the opinion that the LN 401 /411 was 100 kph slower than the Vindicator and the high loss rate demonstrated that the Loire-Nieuport dive-bomber was not suitable for attacking terrestrial targets…which of course it was not. A negative assessment was also expressed by CC Corfmat, who was one of the first French pilots to fly the Vindicator.
In his report on the Battle of France, given to Vichy authorities at the end of 1940, he expressed "the requirement to replace the obsolete Loire-Nieuport with American machines".
He said also the Loire-Nieuport was too frail and worn out.
Admiral Lainé, who conducted the 'successful' attack on Berlaimont was a supporter of the LN 411, underlining the good visibility offered to the pilots, allowing good bombing accuracy. After the war, for a parliamentary commission, he was less inclined to praise the machine. He repeated the criticisms of Captain Corfmat about the too light construction of the Loire-Nieuport. On May 21 petty officer Moulinier flew a solo fighter sortie:
he succeeded in inflicting heavy damage on a Dornier 17 bomber, setting one engine on fire, but was hit by the German rear gunner. Moulinier made a successful emergency landing.
Nevertheless, during the afternoon of the same day, he was able to fly his repaired Loire-Nieuport and to land in safety at Cherbourg-Querqueville at 19:15...
This action, as also the CAP managed by the AB2 to protect the Calais-Marck airbase, demonstrated the self-confidence of the pilots flying this fighter-bomber.
Captain Vuilliez, in his book, after having gathered the testimonies of a number of LN 40, 401 and 411 pilots, were laudatory about them.
The operational results were better than those of the Vindicator:
In the Netherlands, the Loire-Nieuport and the Vindicator flew respectively 27 and 21 sorties. In totally similar conditions, for a apparently similar bombing efficiency, none of the LN was missing, one of them even destroying a He 111 bomber...
The last delivery of Vindicators was transferred to the British government a few hours before De Gaulle flew to London, there to broadcast his 'famous' call to continue the fight. After training and some trials, the British refused to use the Vindicator, preferring to assign the crews to Fairey Swordfish. The only combat operation flown by the Vindicator in U.S. Navy service was the Battle of Midway during the Pacific War. Again, these aircraft suffered high losses while failing to achieve strikes on the Japanese ships. Maybe, the nicknames found by the USMC crews, "Vibrator" and "Wind indicator", suggest how these aircraft was unfitted to the dive-bombing role.
France had also ordered the completely obsolete Curtiss Helldiver XSBC-3 and, by pure chance, the Douglas Dauntless which was an excellent aircraft but, unfortunately, this machine was not delivered in time for the battle...
Below ; from left to right, wrecks of pre-series LN.40s, the first variant of the type, which was used to train new crews on the type; n°5 "AB 2.12", n°4 "AB 2.11" and n°3 "AB 2.9". The LN.40 n°3 and n°4 were involved in accidents on 7 April 1940. Both were cannibalised to repair other Loire Nieuport dive-bombers. The three were abandoned at Berck on 21 May 1940 when AB 2 departed this field
Above; LN 401 the navalised variant - note the arrestor hook
Subsequently, in anticipation of Italy's entry into the war, the survivors of these two units were shifted to airfields in southern France, most notably at Hyères-Palyvestre on 4 June 1940. Some sources confirm only eight of 36 LN 411 dive bombers arrived in southern France after their heavy losses. A strength report of the French naval air arm dive bomber squadrons cites the following
AB 2 at Hyères with 8 LN 401/411 of which six were serviceable
AB 3 at Cuers Pierrefeu with 12 Chance-Vought 156 F, all serviceable
AB 4 at Hyères with 8 LN 401/411 on strength of which six were serviceable
From 4 June to 25 June AB 2 and AB 4 carried out reconnaissance and bombing sorties over Italy as well as maritime convoy escort missions. Note that on 15 June 1940 following a strafing attack by 27 Fiat CR 42 biplane fighters of the 150th (or 151) gruppo, six CV 156 F bombers were destroyed on the ground. In addition during the night of 18-19 June, following a raid on Novi-Ligure, 2 LN 411 of AB 4 failed to return to base (pilots M. Billien and SM. Riquier).Towards the end of June the remaining LN 411 bombers crossed the Mediterranean with the intention of reaching Algeria. En route three aircraft were forced through engine problems to crash land en route - LN 401, n° 2, flown by SM. Le Moal and LN 411, n° 20, piloted by le M. Meheut, both from AB 2, crash-landed near the locality of Portixeddu on Sardinia (see below) due to loss of oil pressure while two days later on 27 June, LN 411, n° 8, piloted by le SM. Mehault of AB 4, also force-landed with oil pressure problems, this time on the small island of Asinara, north-west of Sardinia.
See here for more pics
http://fandavion.free.fr/LoireNieuportLN411.htm
