D-ANOY
SIR,—In the last sentence of Strix's article 'D-ANOY' (SPECTATOR, March 4) there is a query regarding the fate of Herr von Gablenz and his crew. May I, there- fore, state the answer obtained from the archives of Lufthansa in Cologne?
Baron von Gablenz died indeed 'a flier's death,' but not in Russia. He crashed on a service flight with a Siebel aircraft near Magdeburg in the central part of Germany. This was on August 21. 1942. Flug- kapitaen Robert Untucht had already died years be- fore: he crashed with a Junkers Ju 90 aircraft near Bathurst in British Gambia on November 26, 1938. At that time, Bathurst was where Lufthansa planes started on the route across the ocean to South America. a service which Lufthansa had opened in 1934. Oberfunkermaschinist Karl Kirchhoff is said to have died in a crash which took place on the small island of Wangeroog in the North Sea. He and Flug- kapitaen Falke suffered a fatal crash with a Focke Wulf 116. an aircraft which was tested for Lufthansa. The exact date is unknown, but it must have been in the year 1938.
So it can be said that all these Lufthansa pioneers found their death when testing new aircraft. They gave their lives for the sake of progress in aviation.
THOMAS DE MARFFY
Lufthansa, 10 Old Bond Street, London, W1
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