Dale M. Titler, author of The Day the Red Baron Died and other books about aviation, recently sent me an email complimenting me about one of the pages I have up about the Red Baron's Fokker Triplane. We have exchanged a couple emails each since then.
The Day the Red Baron Died is a very good read, one of my all-time favorite books. It was published in 1970. Mr. Titler had personally interviewed many of the surviving participants in doing research for that book. His conclusion is that it was the gunners Buie and Evans who shot down the Red Baron.
However the 2003 PBS NOVA documentary Who Killed the Red Baron? presents a case that it was Popkin instead, based on the firing angle and the distance. A long range shot would account for the supposed fact that the fatal bullet was recovered from the clothing of the Baron's body. Buie and Evans fired from point-blank range and the bullet would have probably kept on going if it was one of their bullets that got him.
I mentioned this to Mr. Titler in my first reply to him, after praising him for his work and telling him he is one of my all-time favorite authors. Mr. Titler assures me that he is still personally convinced it was Buie and Evans who shot the Red Baron. Buie was one of the people Mr. Titler corresponded with about this incident. One thing we do agree on is that it was NOT the Canadian pilot Roy Brown. I am still very disappointed that the 2008 German film about the Red Baron made Brown such a major part of the story and gave him credit for the kill.
Before any Canadians start yelling at me, let me make clear that if it hadn't been for the Canadian pilots involved, the Australian troops on the ground wouldn't have had a shot at the Baron. Also, even though Brown's high-speed dive and attack probably didn't achieve the results he was credited with, it may have distracted Richthofen enough to save Lieutenant May's life (the other Canadian pilot who was being chased by von Richthofen). These were brave young men in an awful situation doing the best they could under the circumstances.
Showing posts with label Roy Brown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roy Brown. Show all posts
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Friday, August 15, 2008
Roy Brown probably did NOT kill the Red Baron
Well I had high hopes when I heard of a recent German movie about the Red Baron. So far as I know it has not yet been released in English language (perhaps subtitles are available for the German version). I really hoped this movie would not have too many historical inaccuracies, but according to Wikipedia this movie indicates that the Canadian pilot Roy Brown is the one who finally kills the Red Baron.
I mean no disrespect to Roy Brown or to Canada, but there is a LOT of evidence that Roy Brown did not fire the shot that killed Manfred von Richthofen. For one thing, the path of the bullet through his body shows that the bullet came from the ground. For another, the wound that killed Richthofen was such that he may have lived for about twenty seconds after being shot. Since the Red Baron was in control of his airplane for a minute or two AFTER Brown fired and banked away, it isn't likely that Brown did it.
Added Dec. 2, 2008: I recently learned that some say depending on the exact path of the fatal bullet, von Richthofen could have lived anywhere from twenty seconds to two minutes after being shot, possibly without an awareness of pain for a short while. This does increase the likelihood somewhat of Brown being the one who killed the Red Baron, but in my opinion this still doesn't make it the most likely scenario.
Now it might not have happened the way it did if Brown hadn't at least attacked the Red Baron. Perhaps this attack, even though unsuccessful, distracted von Richthofen enough to spoil his aim or otherwise keep him from downing Lieutenant May before he himself was shot by the Australian troops on the ground. In my opinion it was a team effort. Richthofen was chasing one Canadian pilot (May), was shot at by another Canadian pilot (Brown), but it was the Australian troops on the ground who brought him down. The point is that von Richthofen wouldn't have been close enough for the Australian troops to shoot him if it hadn't been for the Canadian pilots involved.
I am HIGHLY disappointed in the German director of the film to allow such inaccuracy when the scholarly consensus of World War One aviation historians has been for some time that Richthofen was killed by a bullet fired from the ground by an Australian soldier (probably Popkin, possibly Evans or another whose identity is unknown).
The movie trailer I've seen looks wonderful. I immediately recognized Fokker Triplane 586/17 shown in the trailer, the "optical illusion" triplane flown by Kirschstein of Jasta 6 and later by Ernst Udet of Jasta 4. The markings looked correct, and seeing a known historical aircraft depicted in the proper markings gave me hope that this movie paid attention to historical fact. I can't believe how STUPID the film's makers were to show Roy Brown as the one who killed von Richthofen! If I ever get really rich, perhaps I can finance a movie about von Richthofen that will do justice to his legendary character and be as historically accurate as possible.
I mean no disrespect to Roy Brown or to Canada, but there is a LOT of evidence that Roy Brown did not fire the shot that killed Manfred von Richthofen. For one thing, the path of the bullet through his body shows that the bullet came from the ground. For another, the wound that killed Richthofen was such that he may have lived for about twenty seconds after being shot. Since the Red Baron was in control of his airplane for a minute or two AFTER Brown fired and banked away, it isn't likely that Brown did it.
Added Dec. 2, 2008: I recently learned that some say depending on the exact path of the fatal bullet, von Richthofen could have lived anywhere from twenty seconds to two minutes after being shot, possibly without an awareness of pain for a short while. This does increase the likelihood somewhat of Brown being the one who killed the Red Baron, but in my opinion this still doesn't make it the most likely scenario.
Now it might not have happened the way it did if Brown hadn't at least attacked the Red Baron. Perhaps this attack, even though unsuccessful, distracted von Richthofen enough to spoil his aim or otherwise keep him from downing Lieutenant May before he himself was shot by the Australian troops on the ground. In my opinion it was a team effort. Richthofen was chasing one Canadian pilot (May), was shot at by another Canadian pilot (Brown), but it was the Australian troops on the ground who brought him down. The point is that von Richthofen wouldn't have been close enough for the Australian troops to shoot him if it hadn't been for the Canadian pilots involved.
I am HIGHLY disappointed in the German director of the film to allow such inaccuracy when the scholarly consensus of World War One aviation historians has been for some time that Richthofen was killed by a bullet fired from the ground by an Australian soldier (probably Popkin, possibly Evans or another whose identity is unknown).
The movie trailer I've seen looks wonderful. I immediately recognized Fokker Triplane 586/17 shown in the trailer, the "optical illusion" triplane flown by Kirschstein of Jasta 6 and later by Ernst Udet of Jasta 4. The markings looked correct, and seeing a known historical aircraft depicted in the proper markings gave me hope that this movie paid attention to historical fact. I can't believe how STUPID the film's makers were to show Roy Brown as the one who killed von Richthofen! If I ever get really rich, perhaps I can finance a movie about von Richthofen that will do justice to his legendary character and be as historically accurate as possible.
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