# 'The Little Prince' / Antoine de Saint-Exupery-1944'



## Jan7 (Mar 15, 2008)

'The Little Prince' / Antoine de Saint-Exupery-1944'



_Uno de mis veteranos compañeros del Foro U-Historia nos informa de esta noticia:_

*'El Principito' / Antoine de Saint-Exupéry en 1944* 




Hans Götze said:


> Por si queréis trasladar al resto de foros de la 2GM.





Hans Götze said:


> Un aviador alemán dice haber derribado el avión del autor de 'El Principito'
> Horst Rippert, de 88 años, realizó los disparos al avión que dirigía el literato francés Antoine de Saint-Exupéry en 1944 y cuyo cadáver nunca ha sido encontrado.
> El hombre lo ha declarado al diario 'La Provence'.
> Para saber más:
> *http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/360567/piloto/derribar/principito/*


 
One of my veteran friends of the Forum U-Historia informs us of this article: 

*'The Little Prince' / Antoine de Saint-Exupery-1944'* 




Hans Götze said:


> If you want to move the rest of the WWII/WW2 forums. .


A German aviator said to have downed the plane of the author of 'The Little Prince' 
Horst Rippert, 88 years old, made the shot the plane, which was headed by the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery in 1944 and whose body has never been found. 
The man said the newspaper 'La Provence'. 
For more information: 
*http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/360567/piloto/derribar/principito/*
*http://www.laprovence.com/articles/2008/03/15/338952-Region-Ils-ont-retrouve-le-pilote-qui-a-abattu-Saint-Exupery.php*
*http://www.laprovence.com/articles/2008/03/14/338911-Region-en-direct-Video.php*




Jan.


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## Célérité (Mar 15, 2008)

Yes I confirm, all the press talking about here. It's incredible, after so many years of question...I hope that this is not bullshit, it was even so 64 years old.


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## seesul (Mar 17, 2008)

"Rippert said he had been flying a Messerschmitt Me-109 over the Mediterranean near Toulon on July 31, 1944, when he spotted Saint-Exupery's twin-tailed unarmed photo-reconnaissance F-5B Lightning:

PILOT WHO SHOT DOWN FRENCH LITERARY HERO IDENTIFIED
Received Saturday, 15 March 2008 15:58:00 GMT
BERLIN, March 15, 2008 (AFP) - A former German fighter ace identified as the man who shot down French literary hero Antoine de Saint-Exupery in 1944 said Saturday he would have held his fire had he known who his victim was.
"If I had known it was Saint-Exupery I would never have shot him down," Horst Rippert, 88, told AFP, adding that the Frenchman had been one of his favourite authors.
Rippert said he had been flying a Messerschmitt Me-109 over the Mediterranean near Toulon on July 31, 1944, when he spotted Saint-Exupery's twin-tailed Lightning.
"He was below me," Rippert said. "I saw his markings and manoeuvred myself behing him and shot him down."
Rippert, who scored 28 victories during the war, became a radio sports journalist after the war, said he only found out for sure recently who it was he had killed.
The former fighter pilot was tracked down by a French diver, Luc Vanrell, and the founder of an organisation researching aircraft shot down during the war, Lino van Gartzen.
The results of their findings are recounted in a book, "Saint-Exupery, the last secret," to be published in French on March 20.
For many years mystery surrounded the disappearance of Saint-Exupery, 44, a pioneer aviator known for his books about flying and his children's fantasy "The Little Prince."
He was serving at the ripe age of 44 with a Free French air force reconnaissance squadron based in Corsica when he failed to return from a mission to prepare for the landing of the allies in southern France.
Two years after a bracelet belonging to him was found in a fisherman's net off Marseille in 1998, diver Vanrell found remains of the Lightning, which were brought to the surface and identified from its serial numbers."


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## Jan7 (Mar 19, 2008)

Y si alguno entendéis el Francés podéis pasaros por el *INA Francés y sus audiovisuales.*.

Saint Exupéry in the *"Institut national de l’Audiovisuel -INA" Archives pour tous*



Jan.


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## mihaiatanasie (Dec 29, 2008)

Well, I wonder if Rippert could have downed Saint-Exupery ... He was a Me-109 pilot, and I think that this type of plane could not fly as high and quickly as a P-38. Can it be discussed?


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## GrauGeist (Dec 30, 2008)

mihaiatanasie said:


> Well, I wonder if Rippert could have downed Saint-Exupery ... He was a Me-109 pilot, and I think that this type of plane could not fly as high and quickly as a P-38. Can it be discussed?



In a dive, and with the element of surprise, Rippert could have quite easily downed Saint-Exupery.

If you'll notice in Rippert's comments:


> He was below me, I saw his markings and manoeuvred myself behind him and shot him down.


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## tango35 (Jan 2, 2009)

As far as we now know Mr.Exupery changed his course and he flew a recce plane and maybe he was over his highest peak as a pilot - lesser reflexes, lack of concentration,etc..
And he begged for this flight, because his higher command was thinking that he wasn´t no more good enough to handle modern aircrafts under the threat of enemy presence and wanted to ground him.

As a second point i would say that Mr. Rippert had a lucky day.

So , there are many reasons why he was shot down, but we wont found out and the only thing we know that a great poet and aviator was killed. 

greets Thomas


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