u/Pvt_Larry

Saw these striking photos of the French sub chaser Chasseur 9 or CH-9, beached at Malo-les-Bains, a suburb of Dunkirk, and was interested in the story behind it. By a stroke of luck I was fortunate enough to find a bit of background info, thanks to this little paperback that I picked up at a flea market, written by a French naval officer who was present at Dunkirk during the siege and evacuation during 1940. I did a quick & rough translation of the passage about this little ship, and thought I'd share it here in case it's of interest to anyone:

>We’ve seen combatants sleep despite bombardments, but who could sleep through the chaos that woke the commander of Chasseur 9 at 2300 hours? This time the machineguns tore through the sheet metal, the hull was holed and the red glow of explosions was visible from the interior. The cries and moans…

>Le Templier jumped to the ground, he was informed of multiple wounded, bombs continued to fall upon the quay… it was impossible to remain there. He didn’t hesitate and ordered the two sub chasers to cast off. This they did, with German planes still flying overhead and bombs still falling.

>After a short time, a warning: “Flooding in the forward compartment and the engine compartment, the pumps can’t keep up!”

>The commander of Chasseur 9 knew that his boat was wounded; three or four bombs had turned the hull into sieve. Onboard 11 of 23 crewman were wounded, with little Lurier in serious condition. The commander carried him to his own bed.

>The water continued to rise, the men tried to plug the holes with canvas covers but it was too much. The water reached the commanders quarters where Lurier was lying, he was carried up to navigation, and he suffered without complaint.

>The commander steered his boat towards Malo where he decided he would beach her. The beach extended towards the east, an indistinct ribbon. One could hear the ferocious scraping of the hull in the night. Here already was the hulk of l’Adroit, then that of Floride, overhead, the droning of motors.

>Suddenly, a spotlight beam illuminated the vessel just as he dropped an anchor off the rear.

>“Idiots!” shouted Le Templier, as soon as she was spotted, CH 9 was immediately bombed again, and missed…

>The tide came in, partially refloating the boat. The swells rolled her as the crew embarked the wounded in the dinghy, among them Lurier, shot through the lung, who was in agony. Then the able men jumped in the raft and two inflatables, and this pitiable flotilla was left to the mercy of the waves.

>During this time, while these unfortunates were trying their luck, ashore, in the shelter of the Faidherbe villa, a number of refugees were once again seized with terror by the bombardment, to the point where they didn’t react to the cries for help coming from the sea. Vainly, the call came again, suddenly, one woman pushed through and rushed outside.

>Granddaughter of a Dunkirk rescuer and wife of a navigator, Mme Groux knew all there is to know about distress calls. She ran towards the beach, despite the bombs, to a sailor who asked for help moving the wounded from Chasseur 9.

>Thanks to her, they were carried to the shelter where they were warmed up and bandaged by a civilian doctor all while Mme Groux and the other women rushed to extinguish the fires started by the incendiary bombs.

>When Le Templier arrived, unable to do anything, for the moment, for his vessel, he turned his attention to his men, who had the moral force to rise and say, “At your orders, commander!”… In the neighboring room, Lurier could say no more, the death rattle came, his commander bent low next to him… Poor boy! Only nineteen!

All of this occurred on 21 May 1940. Multiple attempts to repair and refloat were made in the following days, but the tightening siege of Dunkirk and the extent of the damage made it impossible under the circumstances.

August 1944: Free French troops of the 22e Bataillon de Marche Nord-Africain remove a street sign bearing the name of Marshal Pétain in Sainte-Maxime, France, during Operation Dragoon, the Franco-American landings in southern France [1229x810]

16 August 1944: D-Day +1 for Operation Dragoon, the allied invasion of Southern France. M3A3 Stuarts of 1st Squadron, 5e Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique, advancing towards Toulon after landing at Sainte-Maxime.

15 August 1944: Combat Command 1 of the French 1st Armored Division (1re DB) comes ashore at Sainte-Maxime (Var Department) during Operation Dragoon, the allied landings in Southern France.

21 June 1940: French Cavalrymen of the 20e GRCA pose in front of a SdKfz 263, knocked out that morning by a 25mm SA 34 anti-tank gun in Saint-Chamond (Loire Department). The officer on the right is armed with the rather rare PM MAS 38 submachine gun.

Vehicles of the 121e Escadron du Train of the French army at Lasalle Barracks in Lure, Haute-Saône department, 1934 [1024x774]

French gendarmes with their SOMUA S 35s, Tunisia, 1948. Note the commander's cupola, which was a wartime modification added by the Germans.

French Air Force Curtiss H-75s of GC I/4 in 1940. The fighter closest to camera, No. 99, was shot down near Antwerp, Belgium on 11 May 1940. The pilot, Sgt. Charles-Fernand Lacroix, was credited with shooting down a Dornier Do 17 in the action and received a posthumous Croix de Guerre with Palm.

A motorcycle messenger from the US 1st Infantry Division converses with a French officer in Gondrecourt-le-Château, 25 July 1917. The US troops were being trained behind the lines by French Chasseurs Alpins.

Renault Vivaquatre BDH3 van requisitioned by the French army in 1939

June 1945: A German civilian in Stuttgart barters for cigarettes with Moroccan goumiers

Ambulance drivers of the French army conduct a familiarization course with the Laffly S 15 R all-terrain liaison vehicle (VLTT) in the spring of 1940

An armored recovery vehicle built on a Schneider CA tank chassis is used to extricate a Renault FT, during exercises of the French 506th Tank Regiment at Camp de Valdahon in 1934

Still photo taken during the filming of the two-part Charles de Gaulle biopic that's currently running in French cinemas - portrayal of the M4A2 "Romilly" of Gen. Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division during the liberation of Paris in August 1944

Summer 1939: Renault Char D 2 no. 2025 "Yorktown" of the 507th Tank Regiment (507e RCC). Personal vehicle of the unit commander, Col. Charles de Gaulle.

Renault R 35 of 1st Battalion, 511th Tank Regiment (511e RCC) at Verdun in 1938. Upon mobilization this battalion became the 9e BCC, which fought a pitched night action against the SS "Germania" Regiment in Saint-Hilaire-Cottes, France, 23 May 1940.

June 1945: In French-occupied Stuttgart, Germany, a boy looks at a poster with photos of holocaust victims, entitled "Whose Fault?" [866x1280]

French Foreign Legionnaires of 1st Battalion, 5th Legion Infantry Regiment (REI) during an operation in the vicinity of Nemours (modern-day Ghazaouet), Algeria, June 1956. [1272x1280]

The fate of French navy submarine chaser CH 9, beached at Dunkirk in 1940

Effects of German bombing on the road and rail hub of Vitry-le-François, Marne Department. A 155mm GPF gun towed by a Latil TAR 5 traverses the ruined town. June 1940.

ID request: Is this a Potez 630/631? Photo is from a French operation in Vietnam in June 1951. From what I've found a small number of 630s flew in the Franco-Thai War in 1940, but does anyone know if the type was still flying this late? If not a Potez, can anyone ID?