CAPT. ARTHUR BROWN SOPWITH CAMEL & MANFRED VON RICHTHOFEN FOKKER DR.1
2-PLANE SET
AVIATION ARCHIVE - KNIGHTS OF THE AIR SERIES
LIMITED EDITION!....AWESOME SPECIAL TWO-PLANE COLLECTORS SET!
Historical Note: Captain Arthur Roy Brown was the Canadian World War I Flying Ace who was officially credited by the RAF with bringing down Germany’s most successful Ace, the infamous ‘Red Baron’,Manfred von Richthofen. On the morning of April 21st, 1918 Brown’s 209 Squadron Sopwith Camels were set upon by von Richthofen’s infamous ‘Flying Circus’. At some point during the ensuing dog-fight Brown’s high-school friend, Wop May, broke away from the battle but was spotted and pursued by von Richthofen. Brown saw his friend in trouble and in turn took pursuit of von Richthofen. Soon all 3 aircraft were snaking around at tree-top height. What actually happened next has remained controversial to this day. Both Brown and ground based anti-aircraft gunners sent long bursts of fire at von Richthofen and he eventually crashed only a few hundred yards from the front line. Although Brown was accredited with bringing down the ‘Red Baron’ it is now largely believed that he was actually shot by an Australian gunner on the ground, probably Sergeant Cedric Popkin of the Australian 24th Machine Gun Company.
Info: CAPT. ARTHUR BROWN SOPWITH CAMEL & MANFRED VON
RICHTHOFEN FOKKER DR.1 - 2-PLANE SET
Scale: 1:48
Wingspan: 7.0 inches (Sopwith) / 6.0
inches (DR.1)
Length: 4.75 inches (Sopwith) /
4.75 inches (DR.1)
Item Number:
AA39913 Regular
Price: $84.95
Aiken's Special Price: $69.95
Additional information on the "air to air" fight between Capt Brown and "The Red Baron":
On the morning of 21 April, No. 209 was involved in a combat patrol when they were set upon by planes of Jagdstaffel 11, of the famous "flying circus" led by Manfred von Richthofen. A newcomer to No. 209, Brown's high-school friend, Wop May, was instructed to stay out of the fight and watch. After a few minutes May noticed another pilot doing the same thing, Manfred's cousin, Wolfram von Richthofen, who had been given the same instructions as May.
Disregarding orders, May attacked Wolfram and soon found himself in the midst of the main fight, spraying bullets everywhere until his guns jammed. May then dived out of combat, but not before Manfred saw what was happening and gave chase right down to ground level. Brown saw May in trouble and dived steeply in an attempt to help out. His attack was necessarily of fairly short duration, and he was obliged to climb steeply to avoid crashing into the ground, losing sight of both Richthofen and May.
What happened next remains controversial to this day, but it seems highly probable that Richthofen turned to avoid Brown's attack, and then instead of climbing out of reach of ground fire and heading for home (as would have been prudent) he remained at low altitude, and in fact resumed his pursuit of May, who was still zig-zagging to throw off another attack. It appears Richthofen had lost track of where he was at this point, because May and Richthofen's route now took them at low level right over some of the most heavily defended points of the Somme. Some have suggested he became lost as the winds that day were blowing the "wrong way", towards the west, and the fight had slowly drifted over to the Allied side. The front was also in a highly fluid state at the time, in contrast to the static trench lines more typical of the First World War, and landmarks can be confusing in very low level flight.
Others have suggested that Richthofen was not physically fit before his last sortie. In recent years, neurologists have suggested that it was possible Richthofen never fully recovered from brain injury sustained from a bullet wound to the head in June 1917, and that this caused Richthofen 's lack of judgement on his last flight, including target fixation. Richthofen had never chased an aircraft for so long, and at such a low level before, and always tried to remain above the fight. Foolhardiness can also be symptomatic of combat fatigue
Whatever did occur, Australian Army machine gunners on the ground sent long bursts at Richthofen, who eventually crashed only a few hundred yards from the front lines near the Australian trenches. Upon viewing Richthofen's body on the following day Brown wrote that there was a lump in my throat. If he had been my dearest friend, I could not have felt greater sorrow. His initial combat report was that the fight with Richthofen was "indecisive" - this was altered by his commanding officer to "decisive". In any case, Brown was officially credited with the kill, and received a Bar for his DSC, partly at least because of this.
In fact, modern research suggests that von Richthofen was killed by a single bullet that caused such severe damage to his heart and lungs, that it must have produced a very speedy death. It is now considered more likely that this bullet was fired by anti-aircraft (AA) machine gunner, probably Sergeant Cedric Popkin of the Australian 24th Machine Gun Company, from what can be deduced from the cursory examination of the Red Baron's body.
"Fighting Richtofen" is from the (Historical Note from "Wikimedia Foundation, Inc", for complete historical information on Capt Arthur Brown, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Brown_(pilot)
For complete information on Manfred von Richtofen (Red Baron), go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen