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4
THE D E A T H O F R I C H T H O F E N
While the circumstances concerning the death of so famous an ace
as Cavalry Captain Baron Manfred von Richthofen must be considered
of some historical importance, undue prominence has been given to
them by the conflict between the evidence of the British-Canadian pilot,
Captain A. R. Brown, and other airmen, who thought that Richthofen,
while chasing an opponent, had been shot from the air by a third
airman (Brown), and the statements of many of the eyewitnesses,
probably thousands in number, who watched the incident from the ground
and believed that the fleeing British airman was saved by a shot from
the ground when there were only two airmen in the fight, all other
planes being then out of the picture. An official inquiry made a t the
time decided, on the strength of the medical evidence and such other
data as were available, that Richthofen was killed by Captain Brown,
and the official historian of the British air force, writing in 1934, holds
that this conclusion is justified; and there-so
far as this volume IS
concerned-the
matter might have been left, if the Australian soldiers
had not elsewhere F e n very widely and publicly accused of wanting
to g r a b the credit which in fairness belonged to another force.
Actually, much though the digger loved t o be given the credit
for his own achievements, he was particularly fair in his judgments;
and was as enthusiastically appreciative of any fine feats of his
neighbours as he was outspokenly critical of any that fell below the
standard he expected them (and himself) t o maintain. Certainly many
of those whose statements are quoted below would rather have seen
Richthofen fall to a shot from hispld opponents in the air than to one
from the ground, for which the credit, if any, was slighter; and
all would have borne witness to Captain Browns feat, had they seen
it. But, after they had actually seen what is described below, the
statements of the air force came to them with a shock, and, though
entirely bona fide, created a widespread doubt as to how far observation
of such incidents, made from fast moving and manoeuvring aeroplane:,
could be relied upon. And from that aspect, also, the incident IS
enlightening and worthy of study.
The following is an abstract, as far as possible complete, of the
relevant first-hand evidence available concerning Richthofens death
on zIst April, rg18, near Vaux-sur-Somme. The sources and dates
of the statements are given so that the reader may be enabled to weigh
their varying value.
The Meeting in the Air
5th Brrgude, R A.F.. Svmmary ( z z April, 1918) :
About I I a.m. yesterday morning Captain Brown, D.S.C. whilst on high
offensive patrol, near Vaux-sur-Somme, dived on a triplane whkh was firing on
Lieutenant May. It had followed Lieutenant May down to about 500 feet. . . .
Refinrt of Cuptain A . R. Brown. 209th Squadron, R.A.F. (ar April, 1918):
Engagement with red triplane. Time, about I I 00 a m. Locality Vaux-surSomrne.
.
Dived on pure red triplane which was firing on Lieutenant
May. . . .
693
THE A.I.F. I N F R A N C E
. . .
. .
1
. went down and was attacked by a red triplane which chased
me over the lines low to the ground. While he was on my tail Captain Brown
attacked
.'
The Fight
5th Brigade, R.A F.. Summary
I t (the red triplane) had followed Lieutenant May down to about 500 feet.
Captain Brown fired a long burst into it and it went down vertically and was
ohserved to crash by Lieutenant May and Lieutenant Brown.
. .
I was forced to
.
return to our lines a t about 50 feet.
Wbilst SO
returning a briaht red triplane crashed quite close to me 2nd as 1 looked up I saw
Captain Brown's machine.
. .
' A Lieut L. A. hlellor wrote t o the Melbourne Herald on a6 Feb., 1930 giving
as a n officei of No. 209 Sqiiadron. a similzr account
Efforts t o condrm his
account hy reference to the squadron's records in London have, however, proved
fruitless despite a search kindly made by the authorities there.
Wing Commander F. J. \V. Mellersh, A F.C., p s . a ; INO 209 S q d , R.A.F.
Student, of London; b. Esher, Surrey. 2 2 Sept.. 1898.
'Capt. 0. C. le Boutillier; No. zog Sqn.. R.A.F.
DThis was published in a number of American Journals in tqz7 28, the story being
told in fiw parts of which the third deals with the fight. Captain Brown, on being
asked in 1935 i f the narrative in the Chrcago Sunday Tribune was correct, was
uiiable to confirm it or otherwise. not having re-d that paper a t the time.
Labourer and
RCnr. C. Ridgway. hI.hl. (No. 12974; 29th Bty.. A.F.A.).
surveyor's assistant; of Laiig Lang. Vic.; b. Lang Lang. a7 Kov., 1894.
DEATH O F RICHTHOFEN
695
Lceutenant I . A . Waltshire,' 23rd Battalion, A.1 F.. said, in ?934. that from a
point near the Mericourt-Corbie road 3 kilometres south of Heilly he saw three
aeroplanes dive out of the air-fight. 'His rccollectio: was that one'Gcrman 'plane
One British 'plane dived out
was following two British.
(This is an error.)
toward the Somme. ThS,other, with the German on his tail, continued towatd the
ground, out of my sight
(but reappeared later over the crest as told below).
. . .
the earth with the hiK 'plane on his tail. I ran through the huuse to the front
door lust in time to see him almost tip the tiles of our gate. and after him. lower
than I have ever seen a 'plane, came the big triplane. Julin with me gave a yell
Over the village they went and skimmed
and grabbed for his revolver. .
up the hill behind it. the triplane s t h e r i n g its gun off in short gasps at what
looked like a go-foot range, At the brcw of, the hill our boy turned sharply and
the triplane . . . swept sideways at once
696
. .
. . .
. . .
9 Cpl
J E Maclean (No. 33S.7~; 5znd En.).
Civil servant; of M t Lawley,
W. Anst ; h Auckland. N Z.. 8 May, 1893.
l o Major E. A
W a r k V C D S.0 . ~ 2 n dBn
Quantity surveyor; of Pymble.
1894.
N S W.; b Bathurst, N'SW.,' 27 Jul;,
l1 Lieut. D. L. Fraser. 4znd Bn.
Colliery owner, assayer, and metallurgist; of
Rockhampton, Q'land; b. Claremont, London, g Aug., 1875.
-Lieut. G . bi. Travers. M C . ; sznd Bn. Farmer; of Bundaberg, Q'land; h.
Lovington, Somerset, E n g , 18 Jan.. 1881.
c
zrst Apr., 19181
DEATH O F R I C H T H O F E N
697
[apparently an error for the Bray-Corbie road]. . . . Here our plane lohhed
over, while Richthofen did his Immelmann turn to make for his own lines.
Lsewtenant D . 1 . Jenkrns,i8 212th Siege Battery, R.G.A writing in 1929 said
that from his observation post in the copse on the platea;, half-a-minute Leforc
Richthofens death, he saw t h e German ace . . . sitting alone in his red
triplane sone zoo feet above the Somme and at about only I Z O yards distance
from me.
. Licut. W. R. May was zigzaggmg and Richthofen was keenly
followin him less than 50 ards behind the tail of Mays machine. Suddenly
Lieut. hfay turned left across d e copse . . . and I thou ht they would both crash
in the,;ree-tups.
Explaining how his attention was cakled to the incident, he
says:
Machine-gun firing from the air and from the ground caused me to look
out before me and I saw tliese two machines pass hurriedly across my field of
vitw about 150 feet above the Vaux road. This officers impression was that
May decoyed Richthofen across the hill.
( b ) German
The History of the 238th Field Artillery Regiment (p. 75). and of the 10th Foot
Artillery Regiment (p. 156) whose observers were watching mention that Richthofen
was chasing a British plane. and describe the crash in a way which indicates
that the narratives are based on observation: hut they say nothing of any third
aeroplane.
A
two anti-aircraft Lewis gun posts ahead of them, wrote (5 May 1 9 3 1 ) :
telephone message came from the battery observation post, situated hcar the stone
windmill on the north side of the Somme, about midway between the battery and
the air-fight that a British aeroplane and a red aeroplane which was pursuing it
were flying in the general direction of the battery. In a very short time the
aeroplanes appeared in view flying low along the west-cast valley of the Somme.
Keeping on this general course . . . brouaht them . . . close to the crest
~~
698
THE A.I.F. I N F R A N C E
of the transverse spur on which we were stationed. At the time I estimated their
height as 150 feet. The Dritish Sopwith Camel was deviating to right and left for
protection, and the red 'plane was trying to keep dead on his tail. The Lewis
gunners were standing to their two guns, which were mounted on posts and fitted
with A.A. ring sights, and as soon as the Sopwith Camel was clear of the line of
fire the guns opened fire. Immediately the red triplane turned sharply to the north
became somewhat unsteady in its flight then went about N.E. and hit the ground
400 yards N.N.E. of where the Lewls guns were. There was no third 'plane
.
. within a radius of at lenst z.000 yards."
Similar evidence was given on the day of the fight or since by the Lewis
~
in
gunners (R. B u i ~ 'and
~ W. J. Evans,'* and Bombardier j. S. S e ~ c h l , 'N.C.O.
charge), and Lieutenants J. C. Doyle," A. B. Ellis and J. J. R. Punch" of the
~ 3 r d Battery. all eye-witnesses. Othe; details giv& are that the turn occurred
after both quns had opened fire, Buie from ahead, Evans from Richthofen's left;
and, that, as the 'plane banked. further bursts were fired into it (from Richthofen's
left), knocking scraps of metal and wood from the machine.
Sergeant C. B. Popkin (in charge of Vickers gun at J.25 a 8 9) reported,
24 April, 1915. The German plane banked, turned round and came back towards
my gun. As it canie towards me I opened fire a secoAd time and observed at
once that my fire tonk effect. The'rnachine swerved, attempted to bank, and make
for the ground. and immediately crashed.
Lieutenant C. M. Tiovers reported that, after Popkin first fired, "the enemy
'plane was quite out of control and did a wide circle."
Diary of Captain R. L. Forsyth: " A t the brow of the hill
. . the triplane
ran into a direct stream of bullets from a machine-gun in amongst a battery. H e
swept away sideways at once, very low, turned sharply as i f going to attack the
gun, and nose-dived to earth."
Liewtenant 1. C. Doyle, 53rd Battery, said (in 1930): " When directly over
our No. I (Lewis) gun the 'plane staggered, side-slipped into a bank,' and in the
bank swerved in a 3/8ths circle towards his lines, and after satlinr: some hundreds
of yards side-slipped and crashed into a wurzel heap."
Other observers say that after sharply swerving the 'plane rose;
many thought that the pilot had turned home and was trying to gain
height: after about 400 yards it swerved northwards again and dived
more steeply but not steeply enough to wreck it, and landed "with
engine roaring full-out'' against a wurzel heap just beside the BrayCorbie road. The petrol tank was broken in the crash, but not the
wings. The standing orders were that troops were not to show
themselves on this height, which was in view of the enemy: but the
curiosity of the men was too great, and from all directions-even from
Vaux, a mile away-they streamed towards the 'plane. The pilot was
in it, dead, with many wounds mostly caused by the crash (but also
possibly from splinters knocked from his plane by bullets).
German observers, seeing the rush of men to the spot, have reported
that Richthofen was murdered after landing (e.g., History of 238th
Feld-Artillrrie Regt., p. 7 5 ) . Actually the rush was for souvenirs; and
eagerness increased tenfold when the intelligence officer, Lieutenant
Fraser, running up with the first half-dozen, undid Richthofen's safety
belt. had him lifted out. and. exammine: his uauers. found his name. A
"Gnr. R. Buie (No 3801. 53rd Bty., A.F.A.). Fisherman; of Brooklyn,
Hawkesbury River, N.S.W.; b.' Brooklyn, 8 Aug., 1893.
'9Gnr. W. J. Evans (No. 598; 53rd Bty.. A.FA.). Shearer: of Hughenden.
Q'land; b. Queanbeyan, N.S.W., 1891. Died, 18 April. ~ g z j .
=Bdr. J. S. Seccull (No. 27532; 53rd Bty., A.F.A.). Carpenter; of Melbourne;
b. Preston, Vic., 1895.
"Lieut. J. C. Doyle, 53rd Bty., A.F.A. School teacher; of Bangalow, N.S.W.:
b. Ulladulla. N S.W., 19 hlarch, 1892.
"Lieut. A. B. Ellis, M C ; 53rd Bty., A.P.A. Grocer; of Bunyip. Vic.; b
Mornington. V i c . 6 Dec., 18S7.
"Capt J J. R Punch, RI C , 53rd Bty , A F A , and 1st Aust Carps Medium
A r t y , A . I . F , t g q ) Farmer. of Dalby, Q'land, b Sydney, 24 Oct , 1892
DEATH OF R I C H T H O F E N
699
700
[ a s t April, 1918
The brokcrk liiae SAOZPW thc direction of Sergcartt Popkins fire at the
zehcia kc Ittiitself Dcltcvrd lie hit Richtltofcrz. S-Point
at which
Richthofeii alas fired on by Lc-wis guris of 5 j r d Fatfcry.
tiriic
directly from the right and from below the aviator-although they
may well have caused him to turn; but that scores of other men were
firing and, when Richthofen banked and turned back, Sergeant Popkin
(who now opened again) was in position to fire just such a shot as
killed Richthofen. (Private R. F. Weston,31 who helped Popkin, wrote,
on the day of the event that their previous burst did some damage,
but that the second burst w a s fatal. This was when Popkin himself,
EI Pte. R
F. Weston (No. 600; 24th M G . Coy.). Clerk; of
N S.W.; b hfalvern, V i c , 3 Nov., 1891.
Randwick,
DEATH OF R I C H T H O F E N
701
89 The historian of the British air force does not appear t o have noted this
statement when he says that shots from this gun could not have entered Richthofens body from the right hand side. A glance a t the sketch map above shows
that this is incorrect.
=The history of the Brltlsh :;r force (The 1t.m In the Air 1-01. 15.. 8. 394) Rives
as
the likeliest explanation
that the German leader ;allied f o g a few brief
moments after he was mortally wounded in combat, and then died fighting.
2 Lieut P. Hutton, R . F A.
Of Northampton, Eng.
Since this volurht was published the following confirmatory evidence has been
noted. T h e diary of a n Australian a t Corps Headquarters under the date July 1 1 says
that bfajor C. L. Chapman (Longueville,6dN.S.W.), a medical officer there also
examined Richthofen and told the diarist
that the bullet came out about a; inch
higher than it went In and might quite Hell have been shot from the ground. The
history of No. 3 Squadron A.F C. (The Battle Bfllom, by W i n g Commander H. N.
Wrtgley. pp. 66-7) also sdys that the squadron commander, bfajor D. V. J. Blake
(Parramatta. N.S.\V.). was present a t the medical exarmnation. and was satisfied
that Richthofen was brought down by fire from the ground, and that Captain E. G.
Knox (Sydney), who also was present, confirms his account.
Map No. 4.
THEREGION
OF T H E
BRITISHOPERATIONS IN MESOPOTAMIA
NORTH-WEST
PERSIA
AND
:Mountains are shown only where necessary for the readers guidance.)