Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (born May 2, 1892 in Bork, died April 21, 1918) - German aviator - the greatest fighter ace of the World War I period, called "Red Baron." He scored 80 aerial victories. On April 21, 1918, von Richthofen took off in his Fokker Dr.I tri-plane and nine other pilots from Cappy airfield. On that day, the group engaged in aerial combat over the Morlancourt Pass near the Somme with Sopwith Camels of the 209th RAF Squadron, commanded by Canadian Arthur "Roy" Brown. Richthofen, during the pursuit of a Sopwith Camel aircraft, piloted by inexperienced Canadian Wilfrid "Wop" May, came under fire from another Camel flying to his rescue, piloted by Arthur "Roy" Brown. At the same time, Australian troops occupying positions in the area opened intense machine gun fire at his plane. Von Richthofen turned his plane toward the pursuer and was then hit by one of the shells fired from these rifles, after which his plane fell to the ground behind Allied lines. An autopsy revealed that he was hit in the chest by a bullet coming from below, from behind. The bullet pierced the body from the right side damaging the liver, lungs, heart and stopped in the pilot's jacket. It is now believed that the most likely cause of the downing of the Red Baron was Australian machine gun fire from the ground. Sgt. Cedric Popkin of the 53rd Field Artillery Battery is usually cited as the likely culprit of the shoot-down, but there is a possibility that it was another soldier - Sgt. Snowy Evans - who shot Richthofen. Popkin himself admitted that he could not have hit the Red Baron. Nevertheless, the British Air Force officially recognized Brown as the victor over von Richthofen, a version still sometimes found in publications. According to an investigation by Discovery World TV, it is most likely that the Red Baron was shot down by Sergeant Evans from a distance of about 750 meters.
Bartosz - 30.04.2008
