Given that this site was inspired in part by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s life and passion for exploration, it seems fitting to link to a Globe and Mail article that may solve the mystery of his disappearance nearly 70 years ago.
Now, in the winter of his life, an elderly German war veteran has stepped forward to say he believes he shot down his literary idol - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of the beloved children’s tale, The Little Prince.
“If I had known, I wouldn’t have fired - not on him,” said the 88-year-old former Luftwaffe fighter pilot Horst Rippert.
[…] On that day, Mr. Rippert said, he was returning to his base when he spotted a P-38 over Marseilles, 3,000 metres below his fighter plane. He trailed it, went into a dive and fired at the wings.
The P-38 went straight into the sea, without anyone bailing out, he said.
As Saint-Exupéry’s plane was on a reconnaissance mission when it was shot down, it apparently had no guns on board — only cameras. Somehow, and for reasons I can’t seem to articulate, that seems fitting.
Thanks for the link, Theo!
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