DU MONCEAU DE BERGENDAEL, Yvan
Stats:
rank: S/Lstatus: survived
airforce: RAF (no: 87700 )
born: 1915-12-10 Fulham United Kingdom
added by: Adrian Dwyer
add
All Images:
Bio / Text:
Yvan "Duke" Monceau de Bergendael was in training at the Flying School (83rd Promotion) at Tirlemont when war broke out and the school evacuated to Morocco. Along with a number of fellow students he escaped to the UK. His training was completed at the Suton Bridge OTU and he joined 253 SQN.
In April 1941, he was posted to 609 SQN. He became flight commander with350 (BELGIAN) SQN in March 1942. The Squadron diary notes the following about the tempo of his time with 350:
"20/03/1942 - D. Guillaume takes over command of 350 Squadron. Y. "Duke" Du Monceau de Bergendael transferred from 609 (West Riding) Squadron takes over command of "B" Flight."
"09/05/1942 - Circus 168: Escort to bomb Hazebrouck: the "Duke" opens the score with one Me-109 damaged after been separated from the Squadron due an oxygen problem and heading to Manston."
"19/05/1942 - Circus 175: Evening, "Rear Support" of 6 Hurribombers to St-Omer. An engagement against 30 Me-109 and Fw-190 saw a Me-109 Damaged for "Duke" and a Probable for J. Ester. Ester's plane was hit in this frontal engagement and he had to bail out. He was rescued by the ASR. "
"01/06/1942 - Circus 176: "Target Cover" with Debden Wing over Bruges, the squadron met 20 Fw-190's (Stab, I and III/JG.26) near Ostend. "Duke" shot down one of these but Livijns and Hansez are reported MIA. Laumans was shot down (probably by Oberst Josef "Pips" Priller, Stab III./JG26) near Ostend and rescued after two days by the Germans. Made POW, he was sent to Germany."
"19/08/1942 - Dieppe: 1st mission: take off at 07.20 a.m. Above Dieppe 350 Squadron met a dozen Fw-190, resulting in a destroyed Fw-190 for the "Duke", a shared for H. Picard and E. Plas and a damaged one for L. Flohimont. H. Marchal was hit and had to bale out and was made a POW. The second sortie which took off at 11 a.m. was also successful: 3 Fw-190 destroyed (F. Venesoen, A. Boussa and R. Alexandre) and 4 and 1 shared damaged (F. Boute: 1 and 1 shared with G. Seydel and A. Boussa, R. Alexandre and the "Duke", each damaged one).The third mission at 12.20 p.m. saw a Ju-88 destroyed in co-operation by H. Smets, F. Boute, A. Plisnier and J. Van Leerberghe. The last mission of the day saw 12 Spitfires taking off at 15.15 and again the squadron were successful with 2 Fw-190 destroyed (F. Venesoen and A. Plisnier) and 4 Fw-190 and one Do-217 damaged (G. Seydel, L. Flohimont, E. Plas, R. Alexandre and J. Van Leerberghe)."
27/08/1942 - Circus 208: Whilst escorting 12 Boston’s to Abbeville/Drucat Airfield, the squadron is attacked by a dozen Fw-190 (I and II/JG.26). During the melee, the "Duke" proceeded to shoot-down one of his assailants while E. Plas damaged two others. H. Picard and M. Charlier are shot-down ( one of both was shot-down by Major Wilhelm-Ferdinand "Wutz" Galland, 5./JG26). Charlier's body was never found. H. Picard, who was wounded, was rescued by the Germans and made a POW after having spent 6 days and nights in his dinghy.
"12/12/1942 - Circus 242: A clash with Fw-190 (I and II/JG.26) in the vicinity of St-Omer results in 1 damaged each for the "Duke" and L. Collignon and 2 other damaged for A. Plisnier. Plisnier hit during this meleé, crash-landed in the vicinity of Dover. W. de Merode, also hit, had to bail out over enemy territory. He successfully evades capture in France and arrives back in the UK in April 1943. "
"29/12/1942 - S/L Y. "Duke" Du Monceau de Bergendael DFC is put on rest and transferred to HQ 81 Group. Padre Boone joins the Squadron. H. Smets and A. Plisnier becomes "A" flight and "B" flight Commanders respectively"
He was awarded a DFC in July 1942. From December 1942 till May 1943 he was instructor at the OTU in Rednal. He then took command of 349 (BELGIAN) SQN, then newly-formed. He received a Bar to hisDFC and was posted to Canada, the US and finally back to Europe in 1945; where he joined theStaff of the Belgian Section of the RAF.
He became Aide de Camp of his HRH Prince Charles , Regent of Belgium with the rank of Major. He acted then as Military Attaché in Washington and returned to Belgium in 1952 to form the 10th Wing at Chièvres. Hewent to the 2 ATAF as Colonel . He Became Staff member, Commander of TrainingCommand and finally Commander of the Tactical Air Force, retiring as Major General in1973.
Yvan Du Monceau de Bergendael died of cancer on 9 November 1984.
[Note: final rank not confirmed; date of enlistment in RAF tbc]
Known awards
Distinguished Flying Cross with Bar, Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 with 7 Palm, Fouragère 1940, Knight in the Order of the Crown, Officer in the Order of Leopold with Palm, Croix des Evadés, Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, Franch Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm, 1939-1945 Star, Air Crew Europe Star with one Silver Rose, Defence Medal, Médaille de la France Libérée,
Legion of Merit (Officer), Companion of Royal Victorian Order
DFC citation of 29 June1942:
" Has participated in many operational sorties during which he has destroyed 4 aircraft and damaged 2."
Awarded a Bar to the DFC on 25 July 1944, citation as follows:
" This officer has participated in a very large number of operational sorties during which he has destroyed at least three enemy aircraft and damaged others."
His claims in combat are :
03/07/1941 1 Bf-109F Damaged (609 Sqn) Near St-Omer
11/07/1941 1 Bf-109F Probable (609 Sqn) East of Dunkirk
18/08/1941 1 Bf-109E (609 Sqn) South of Dover
19/08/1941 1 Bf-109E Damaged (609 Sqn) Boulogne
27/09/1941 1 Bf-109F (609 Sqn) St-Omer
18/02/1942 1 Do-217 (609 Sqn) Near convoy
08/03/1942 1 FW-190 (609 Sqn) Cap Griz-Nez
08/03/1942 1 FW-190 Probable (609 Sqn) Cap Griz-Nez
09/05/1942 1 FW-190 Damaged Calais
19/05/1942 1 FW-190 Damaged Cap Griz-Nez
01/06/1942 1 FW-190 Off Nieuwpoort
30/07/1942 1 Bf-109F Probable Off Dover
30/07/1942 1 Bf-109F Damaged Off Dover
19/08/1942 1 FW-190 Dieppe
19/08/1942 1 FW-190 Damaged Dieppe
27/08/1942 1 FW-190 Le Crotoy
12/12/1942 1 FW-190 Circus 242: St-Omer
In April 1941, he was posted to 609 SQN. He became flight commander with350 (BELGIAN) SQN in March 1942. The Squadron diary notes the following about the tempo of his time with 350:
"20/03/1942 - D. Guillaume takes over command of 350 Squadron. Y. "Duke" Du Monceau de Bergendael transferred from 609 (West Riding) Squadron takes over command of "B" Flight."
"09/05/1942 - Circus 168: Escort to bomb Hazebrouck: the "Duke" opens the score with one Me-109 damaged after been separated from the Squadron due an oxygen problem and heading to Manston."
"19/05/1942 - Circus 175: Evening, "Rear Support" of 6 Hurribombers to St-Omer. An engagement against 30 Me-109 and Fw-190 saw a Me-109 Damaged for "Duke" and a Probable for J. Ester. Ester's plane was hit in this frontal engagement and he had to bail out. He was rescued by the ASR. "
"01/06/1942 - Circus 176: "Target Cover" with Debden Wing over Bruges, the squadron met 20 Fw-190's (Stab, I and III/JG.26) near Ostend. "Duke" shot down one of these but Livijns and Hansez are reported MIA. Laumans was shot down (probably by Oberst Josef "Pips" Priller, Stab III./JG26) near Ostend and rescued after two days by the Germans. Made POW, he was sent to Germany."
"19/08/1942 - Dieppe: 1st mission: take off at 07.20 a.m. Above Dieppe 350 Squadron met a dozen Fw-190, resulting in a destroyed Fw-190 for the "Duke", a shared for H. Picard and E. Plas and a damaged one for L. Flohimont. H. Marchal was hit and had to bale out and was made a POW. The second sortie which took off at 11 a.m. was also successful: 3 Fw-190 destroyed (F. Venesoen, A. Boussa and R. Alexandre) and 4 and 1 shared damaged (F. Boute: 1 and 1 shared with G. Seydel and A. Boussa, R. Alexandre and the "Duke", each damaged one).The third mission at 12.20 p.m. saw a Ju-88 destroyed in co-operation by H. Smets, F. Boute, A. Plisnier and J. Van Leerberghe. The last mission of the day saw 12 Spitfires taking off at 15.15 and again the squadron were successful with 2 Fw-190 destroyed (F. Venesoen and A. Plisnier) and 4 Fw-190 and one Do-217 damaged (G. Seydel, L. Flohimont, E. Plas, R. Alexandre and J. Van Leerberghe)."
27/08/1942 - Circus 208: Whilst escorting 12 Boston’s to Abbeville/Drucat Airfield, the squadron is attacked by a dozen Fw-190 (I and II/JG.26). During the melee, the "Duke" proceeded to shoot-down one of his assailants while E. Plas damaged two others. H. Picard and M. Charlier are shot-down ( one of both was shot-down by Major Wilhelm-Ferdinand "Wutz" Galland, 5./JG26). Charlier's body was never found. H. Picard, who was wounded, was rescued by the Germans and made a POW after having spent 6 days and nights in his dinghy.
"12/12/1942 - Circus 242: A clash with Fw-190 (I and II/JG.26) in the vicinity of St-Omer results in 1 damaged each for the "Duke" and L. Collignon and 2 other damaged for A. Plisnier. Plisnier hit during this meleé, crash-landed in the vicinity of Dover. W. de Merode, also hit, had to bail out over enemy territory. He successfully evades capture in France and arrives back in the UK in April 1943. "
"29/12/1942 - S/L Y. "Duke" Du Monceau de Bergendael DFC is put on rest and transferred to HQ 81 Group. Padre Boone joins the Squadron. H. Smets and A. Plisnier becomes "A" flight and "B" flight Commanders respectively"
He was awarded a DFC in July 1942. From December 1942 till May 1943 he was instructor at the OTU in Rednal. He then took command of 349 (BELGIAN) SQN, then newly-formed. He received a Bar to hisDFC and was posted to Canada, the US and finally back to Europe in 1945; where he joined theStaff of the Belgian Section of the RAF.
He became Aide de Camp of his HRH Prince Charles , Regent of Belgium with the rank of Major. He acted then as Military Attaché in Washington and returned to Belgium in 1952 to form the 10th Wing at Chièvres. Hewent to the 2 ATAF as Colonel . He Became Staff member, Commander of TrainingCommand and finally Commander of the Tactical Air Force, retiring as Major General in1973.
Yvan Du Monceau de Bergendael died of cancer on 9 November 1984.
[Note: final rank not confirmed; date of enlistment in RAF tbc]
Known awards
Distinguished Flying Cross with Bar, Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 with 7 Palm, Fouragère 1940, Knight in the Order of the Crown, Officer in the Order of Leopold with Palm, Croix des Evadés, Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, Franch Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm, 1939-1945 Star, Air Crew Europe Star with one Silver Rose, Defence Medal, Médaille de la France Libérée,
Legion of Merit (Officer), Companion of Royal Victorian Order
DFC citation of 29 June1942:
" Has participated in many operational sorties during which he has destroyed 4 aircraft and damaged 2."
Awarded a Bar to the DFC on 25 July 1944, citation as follows:
" This officer has participated in a very large number of operational sorties during which he has destroyed at least three enemy aircraft and damaged others."
His claims in combat are :
03/07/1941 1 Bf-109F Damaged (609 Sqn) Near St-Omer
11/07/1941 1 Bf-109F Probable (609 Sqn) East of Dunkirk
18/08/1941 1 Bf-109E (609 Sqn) South of Dover
19/08/1941 1 Bf-109E Damaged (609 Sqn) Boulogne
27/09/1941 1 Bf-109F (609 Sqn) St-Omer
18/02/1942 1 Do-217 (609 Sqn) Near convoy
08/03/1942 1 FW-190 (609 Sqn) Cap Griz-Nez
08/03/1942 1 FW-190 Probable (609 Sqn) Cap Griz-Nez
09/05/1942 1 FW-190 Damaged Calais
19/05/1942 1 FW-190 Damaged Cap Griz-Nez
01/06/1942 1 FW-190 Off Nieuwpoort
30/07/1942 1 Bf-109F Probable Off Dover
30/07/1942 1 Bf-109F Damaged Off Dover
19/08/1942 1 FW-190 Dieppe
19/08/1942 1 FW-190 Damaged Dieppe
27/08/1942 1 FW-190 Le Crotoy
12/12/1942 1 FW-190 Circus 242: St-Omer
Squadrons:
| Squadrons add | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Airforce | Sqdrn | Start | Finish |
| none provided | |||
Aircraft:
| Aircraftadd | ||
|---|---|---|
| Serial | Note | Date |
| none provided | ||
post
Comments / Questions:
post