WAR

As the two machines ahead of him zig-zagged, Brown sped on a direct line to a
point over the river, where he turned and made a pass at the Triplane, going
on down in the same shallow dive after firing one burst. All three machines
were so low that Brown lost sight of the other two behind the trees. Now the
other two machines were going the opposite direction from Brown, who banked
and caught sight of them again, the red Triplane apparently still pursuing May
very closely. The process was repeated, Brown on a straight course quickly overtaking
the zig-zagging machines ahead of him. It is conjectured that he fired a
second burst, for it was at this point that observers in the air (Lieutenants Mellersh
and May, and Captain O. C. Le Boutillier)
saw Brown's Camel close to the
Triplane, saw the red machine abruptly swerve, wobble unsteadily, and descend.
It went down on a more or less even keel and landed right side up a little bit less
than a mile northwest of Vaux-sur-Somme. The undercarriage collapsed under the
impact, but the machine was otherwise intact.
Most of the chase took place close to the ground and several ground-gunners
took a shot at the red Triplane as it went by. Three Australian soldiers in particular
were honestly convinced that one or the other of them had brought it
They were Sergeant Popkin, Private Sowerbutts, and Gunner Buie.
down.
According to the reports of four medical officers, one small-calibre bullet
killed von Richthofen, going in either in the right chest or right armpit and coming
out under the left nipple. It may or may not have glanced off the spinal column.
Depending on whether it did or did not the bullet could have come from the side
or somewhat from the front. Depending on whether von Richthofen was level
or banked right or left when he was hit, the bullet could have come from above,
below, or from anywhere in between. The case for Brown, to whom the RAF
gave official credit, is as strong as it is for anyone else, and there were three
witnesses in the air who saw him close to the red Triplane. Brown, who did not
mention von Richthofen by name in his combat report, merely said that he had
put a long burst into a "pure red Triplane" which was firing on May and which
was seen to go down and crash by May and Mellersh.
On this day in April, Marshal Foch sent four divisions of the Detachement
d'Armee du Nord into the front lines in the Flanders sector to help stiffen the
British defense and particularly to help defend the commanding eminence of
Mont Kemmel. Otherwise, there was little to report. There was a brief lull in the
Ludendorff offensive. It was a Sunday.
The news of disaster was brought back by Vfw. Scholz, who was the last to
see von Richthofen going down over the British lines.
No. 3
his
The following afternoon the Rittmeister was buried with military honors by
Squadron, Australian Flying Corps.
On May 2, Vfw. Edgar Scholz, taking off from the field at Cappy, stalled
Triplane and crashed fatally.
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