I've given file references for all my source material so that anyone who wants to can check it out for themselves. If you want to look for the elusive Jafü Süd daily report for 31 July 1944, I'd expect it to be in one of the following at the National Archives: DEFE 3/64, DEFE3/65 or DEFE 3/112. If it exists, that's where it should be, unless it was only deciphered after an exceptional delay (material from Southern France was typically broken within a day at this time). Alternatively, try files HW 5/547 – HW 5/550: I have found Jafü Süd decrypts for 30 July and 2 August in those files but drawn a blank where 31 July and 1 August are concerned.

For German speakers there is Luftwaffen-Revue issue 1/93 (March 1993) and the article »Träume und Wirklichkeit: Das Ende von Antoine de Saint-Exupéry« by Georg Pemler. (= "Dreams and Reality: the end of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry").

Pemler recounts the enquiries that were made in NAGr. 13 and with JGr. 200 and Flak units when an Allied message was heard, in clear, over the emergency frequency alerting listeners to watch out for a missing P-38 and naming the pilot. (Pemler knew Saint-Exupéry from reading some of his books). There were sighting reports from German ground echelons of a high-flying reconnaissance aircraft but nobody made any claim of shooting it down.

In France, you could check out Le Fana de l'Aviation No. 297 (August 1994) for an article by Thierry Thomassin, « Le P-38 de Saint Exupéry n'est probablement pas là où on le cherche » (= "Saint-Exupéry's P-38 is probably not where people are looking for it").

In the Czech Republic, Jan Bobek had an article published on 29 March 2008 entitled "Saint-Exupéryho nikdo nesestřelil, vyplývá z archivních dokumentů." Jan points out:

"Rippert worried about his link to death of Saint-Exupéry soon after the war. About 5 years after the war he came to conclusion that he had nothing to do with it. He was still under this impression 10 years ago."

Aero Journal Nº 6 (October–November 2008) features an article by Guy Julien, Retour sur Saint-Ex, commenting on the points made here and advancing arguments in favour of Horst Rippert's claim.

His main issues (which I hope I have translated and summarised fairly) with my article are that:

1. I placed “excessive: importance’ on Georg Pemler’s uncorroborated account.

2. I accorded ULTRA “a status of quasi-exclusivity”.

3. I treated what was heard by a single [sic] radio station in Corsica as proving that “nothing happened over Southern France on 31 July 1944”.

4. Anti-partisan operations by JGr. 200 are implausible because “in SE France at that time there was scarcely any Maquis activity such as would render an intervention by fighter aircraft necessary”.

5. Rippert may not have lodged a claim because he was “non-Aryan” and did not expect a to be awarded a credit without a witness.

6. He goes on to cite Allied encounters with German aircraft over Southern France that day including one by a Spitfire of No. 682 Squadron and another by Free French P-47s which saw two vapour trails over Manosque at 1130 (presumably 0930 GMT), estimated as being at 20–25,000 feet (6,000–7,600 m). He seems to argue that since German aircraft were in the air at the relevant times an attempt at intercepting Saint-Exupéry was “entirely conceivable”.

If I understood the French correctly—big if—M. Julien wasn’t clear that all I tried to do was set out the evidence I’d found and say where I thought it all pointed. It is up those who believe Rippert’s belated claim to produce evidence that supports it. However, I cannot pass by his assertion about Luftwaffe actions against the Maquis, having researched the matter in the years since I wrote the Rippert article. The Invasions Kalendar is unambiguous in saying that JGr. 200 flew anti-partisan sorties on 31 July while for the 30th ULTRA CX/MSS/T262/37 recorded: “0545 to 1907 hours 7 ops with a total of 15 Me 109, support of ground troops in combat with guerrillas, with mortar and a/c armament attacks.” The Invasions Kalendar likewise says that 15 aircraft operated in support of the Army against “bandits” in the southern part of France on 30 July.

M. Julien also has an article in Aéro Journal No. 85, « Liberator sur la Provence ! » about the 766th Bomb Squadron's encounter with JGr. 200 on 12 July 1944.

Thanks to Russell Guest for pointing me to the RAF Squadron involved in the action of 24 July 1944 and to John Manrho for identifying the witness to Fw. Guth's claim on 30 July as Uffz. Hans Ludwig (killed in action on 15 August).

Added in 2023, information from the following Bundesarchiv-Militärchiv files:

RL 2-IV/40 and /521: Invasions-Kalender Normandie 1. Juli 1944 bis 1. Aug. 1944 (Durchbruch bei Avranches) (5. Dezember 1944)

RL 5/1451: Abschüsse durch Flakeinheiten und fliegende Einheiten.- Tageslisten (Mai – Dez. 1944)

RL8/80: Jafü Süd, Dienstbetrieb, Personalangelegenheiten.- Tagesbefehle (Einsatz Südfrankreich) (Nov. 1943–Juli 1944)

Added in 2024, my thanks to Dean Addison, Bletchley Park Museum Archivist, for all his help during my visit and since.

So many aircraft were lost to causes other than enemy action throughout the war (and so many seemed just to have vanished) that there is just no need for Saint-Exupéry to have fallen victim to a German fighter. The limitations of 1940s aviation technology and the cumulative demands on the airmen of all nations made flying quite dangerous enough without anyone shooting at them.

PART EIGHT AND FINAL

Sources and suggestions for further reading or research.