On the morning of 21st April 1918, Rittmeister Manfred Von Richthofen of Jagdgeschwader (Jasta) 11, the famous Red Baron, was shot down after flying low over the Somme. Initially taking off with 8 other Fokker Dr.Is on a routine interception sortie against two Australian RE8s, Richthofen later became engaged in a dogfight against 209 Squadron RAF over Sailly-le-sec. During the dogfight, Captain Roy Brown who was leading 209 SQN saw friend and novice pilot Lieutenant Wilfred May being followed to ground level by Richthofen’s red triplane. As Brown dove to intervene, Richthofen received significant ground fire from Australian positions as he followed May past Vaux-sur-Somme. A single bullet almost certainly fired by Sergeant Cedric Popkin (24th Machine Gun Company, 11th Brigade, 4th Australian Division) fatally wounded Richthofen who soon crashed in a field near the Sainte Colette brickworks.

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Patreon members: Ethan Esgro, Bradley Fox, Zach Collins, Adrian.

Visuals: IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles [ Ссылка ]

Sources:
‘The Red Baron's Last Flight: A Mystery Investigated’ by Norman Franks, Alan Bennett, 1997
‘Who killed von Richthofen?’ by Lt Col David Bashow, 2003

Music:
'The Great Sea' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
'Rites of Passage' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

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