respect the incident would thus not have important consequences. Aftermath Erich Hoenmanns and Helmuth Reinberger were tried in absentia in Germany and condemned to death. Transporting secret documents by plane without explicit authorisation was strictly forbidden and a capital offence. The verdicts would never be executed. After a stay in an internment camp in Huy both men were evacuated in 1940, first to Britain and then to Canada. Hoenmanns's wife Annie was interrogated by the Gestapo, that feared her husband was a traitor. She denied this, but from the fact that she was unaware of an extramarital affair of Hoenmanns, it was concluded that she was an unreliable source of information. His two sons were allowed to serve in the army and were killed in action during the war. The men were later in the war part of prisoner of war exchanges in 1943 (Hoenmanns) and 1944 (Reinberger). On returning to Germany they were put on trial. Hoenmanns was partially pardoned. Reinberger was fully acquitted; he was not held accountable for the grave consequences of his transgression. References Western European theatre of World War II Aviation accidents and incidents in 1940 Aviation accidents and incidents in Belgium 1940 in Belgium Belgian neutrality in World War II