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| Wild rumors sprang up about the red fighter; some even claimed that the plane was piloted by a woman. Morale soared in his unit, and before long Jasta 11 ruled the skies in their sector. Soon his men painted their planes red, although all but the Baron were required to display at least one other color. |
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| von Richthofen
preparing for a flight.Some claim that this photo was taken just prior
to his last flight.
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The action caught the attention of Canadian Capt. Roy Brown, who led a flight of eight Sopwith Camels far above. Brown and his flight dived into the fray. Soon some Albatros Scouts joined in, as did a new group of Fokkers. Among them was an all-red Triplane.
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| Another young Canadian, Wilfrid R. "Wop" May , was flying his first combat patrol. His friend Brown had told him to stay above any fight,should one develop. May did, but couldn't resist the temptation to join the battle. He quickly became overwhelmed in the tangle of 30 or more planes, and broke away, flying a dangerously straight line away from the fight. Richthofen, flying above the scrap, noticed and gave chase. May began evasive actions after the Baron's initial burst. He and the 'Baron' screamed along just above the ground, the Triplane steadily gaining. |
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Brown knew that unless he
distracted the Triplane pilot, his boyhood friend May was doomed.
Diving at full speed, he swept in behind the Fokker and fired a burst
before May and the Triplane disappeared behind a stand of trees. Brown (continued from above):"I went back again and dived on pure red triplane which was firing on Lt. May. I got a long burst into him and he went down vertical and was observed to crash by Lieutenant Mellersh and Lieutenant May. I fired on two more but did not get them.” (Important Question: Did Capt. Brown approach the Baron from the Baron's right or left side? See diagrams below.webmaster.) |
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| Brown
because of his speed after the dive had swung wide. To the many Australian
ground troops there were now only two planes in the air. May pursued
by the Baron. The gunners waited till May had flown by and fired at
the Red Fokker. One of the soldiers known to have fired at the
plane was Gunner 3801 Robert Buie, an oyster farmer from Brooklyn,
New South Wales. .
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The above animation uses the path references from the picture below and is consistent with the findings of Franks and Bennett referred to by Dr. Miller at left below. Buie's position is estimated from other sources.
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| Addendum from Dr. Miller "Since my article was written, the results of an exhaustive investigation into the circumstances of the death of von Richthofen have been published in a book, 'The Red Baron's Last Flight' by Norman Franks and Allan Bennett, Grub Street, London 1997. (See comprehensive review on "Red Baron Books" page.) "These authors have now shown that Dr Bean's account, in the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914 - 1918, that Captain Brown attacked von Richthofen from the triplane' right side is incorrect . They have demonstrated that Captain Brown attacked the German triplane from the south-east, that is from Richthofen's left side. "All accounts agree that the entry wound was in the right side of Richthofen's chest so that this new evidence is further proof that Captain Brown could never have inflicted the fatal wound on von Richthofen."
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Click
on picture to enlarge. |
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 R.
BUIE.re-digitized by anzacs.net |
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 Impression
of Popkin's P.O.V. |
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Dr. M. Geoffrey Miller in his thorough re-examination of the evidence in the Australian War Memorial makes the following statement about the path of the fatal bullet...."one is drawn to the conclusion that the fatal bullet must have passed directly through the chest from its entry wound at the posterior axillary line (the back of the armpit) at the level of the 9th rib (that is at about five inches below the lower level of the outstretched arm). As there is no real evidence that the bullet hit the vertebrae the most probable trajectory of the bullet would have to be along a line joining the entrance and exit wounds. Such a line indicates that the bullet was fired from the side, behind and below the pilot’s body, notwithstanding his position in the cockpit. As the exit wound was about three-quarters of an inch external to the left nipple this means that the bullet would have passed through the heart and would have been rapidly fatal. von Richthofen would have lost consciousness within 20 to 30 seconds, and certainly could have not continued to fly his aeroplane and fire on Lt. May for over a minute (9). It is possible to correlate the medical evidence with that of the eyewitnesses of the last flight. Fortunately, as the events took place at low altitude, directly over the Australian lines, the chase and crash were witnessed by many eye witnesses". |
Web-masters
impressions of path of fatal bullet from Dr.Miller's descriptions.Copyright
1999 anzacs.net
Note: P.J.Carisella reports that the fatal bullet was found by a
medical orderly, Ted McCarty. The bullet had enough velocity to
penetrate the Baron's body but not enough to pierce a wallet carried
in the his left breast pocket.
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von Richthofen was buried on the 22nd April 1918 in the small village of Bertangles. British and Australian troops gave him full military honors. A British pilot dropped a note in German territory containing the news. Germany went into deep mourning. In 1925, Manfred von Richthofen's younger brother Bolko recovered the body and took it home. Baron Manfred von Richthofen had the largest funeral ever seen in Berlin. There is a very bizarre coda to this story in the epilogue of "Who killed the Red Baron?" by P.J. Carisella and James W. Ryan. It seems that only the skull was removed for burial in Berlin. Some years later P.J.Carisella re-opened the grave in search of a coffin plague made by one Harold Edwards, an air mechanic with No.3 squadron. He did not find the plaque but he did recover the remaining, well-preserved bones of the "Baron", all intact except for the skull. |
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Who
really killed the Red Baron?
The
facts and figures presented on this site are offered in the hope of
adding something positive to the debate and controversy which has
surrounded the subject for 80 years. Now, please check out the links
above left. Note: All re-digtized pictures are the copyright of anzacs.net These pictures may be used for non - commercial purposes if a full accreditation and link is provided to www.anzacs.net Email requests to John Woods
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