What Caliber For Red Barron?

[The Night Rider]

Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupSnoopy Vs. The Red Baron · The Royal GuardsmenSnoopy Vs. The Red Baron℗ 1995 Capitol Records, LLCReleased on: 196...

youtu.be

107 years ago today.

He was shot with a .303 round from a Vickers machine gun. Apparently both the pilots and the anti-aircraft battery on the ground were firing the same type of weapon chambered in the same caliber round.

I've never read anywhere what may or may not have happened to the bullet that they took out of him. I'm guessing it's in a box somewhere and somebody's attic and nobody has the slightest idea what it actually is

 

[Mauser lover]

So... a bullet WAS recovered? I would not be surprised if no bullet was ever recovered and everyone just says it was a .303 because that's all there was anywhere close.

 

[The Night Rider]

So... a bullet WAS recovered? I would not be surprised if no bullet was ever recovered and everyone just says it was a .303 because that's all there was anywhere close.

According to every book I've read, he was autopsied and a bullet was recovered. He was also photographed and the photograph was forwarded to the Germans as proof of death.

He was buried with full military honors in the village of Bertangles in France.

Herman Goering later had his body moved to Berlin.

It is believed that all of his victory cups were souvenired by Russian troops during the fall of Berlin

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Boy that brings back memories. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Mauser lover]

According to every book I've read, he was autopsied and a bullet was recovered.

Well, that answers that question! Now, whether or not the guy with the calipers slipped the bullet into his pocket never to be seen again is the next question.

 

[Meeks36]

And here I was thinking someone was hunting frozen pizza. Interesting post and maybe one day it will be found. Doubtful but hopeful.

 

[Old Dog]

As a young boy, I was fascinated with history of The Great War -- my paternal grandfather fought (for the Royal Canadian Expeditionary Force, wounded twice) in Belgium and France in some of the worst ground combat in history. He viewed aerial combat from the trenches and indicated he'd rather be flying home to a base for a hot meal and beverages than bayoneting rats in the trenches and subsisting on tinned meat and biscuits.


At one airshow when I was a young lad, someone flew in with a replica blood-red Fokker DR1 triplane reproduction, and it was the coolest thing ever. The Museum of Flight (Seattle) had a repro DR1 in black when I last visited.

Another video
https://youtu.be/BaVKln0n99k

 

[The Night Rider]

Boy that brings back memories. Thanks for sharing.

Just how old are you?

 

[nofendertom]

I read once (don't remember where) that the Red Baron was shot by an infantry soldier with an Enfield .303.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

IM 59.

 

[trackskippy]

I read once (don't remember where) that the Red Baron was shot by an infantry soldier with an Enfield .303.

Thats what I remember reading too. And they seemed to have it pretty well sorted and documented, too.

 

[Show Me]

IM 59.

Youthful

 

[Mauser lover]

Thats what I remember reading too. And they seemed to have it pretty well sorted and documented, too.

Wasn’t it an MG team on the ground? I know there’s question about whether it was ground fire or the pursuing aircraft, but I’ve never heard it was a rifleman over the MG crew.

 

[trackskippy]

I read an article on it a couple of years ago. I dont remember where, though. According to that, they said it was a single shot from a rifleman, I believe he was British, and they even named the boy, although I dont remember the name.

I just had a look to see if I could find the article, and now see all sorts of explanations or claims opo up, so, who knows. All I know is, the one I read on it claimed to have evidence, and it seemed pretty well documented, that it was the one boy with a rifle who made the shot.

 

[The Night Rider]

I read once (don't remember where) that the Red Baron was shot by an infantry soldier with an Enfield .303.

The odds are right up there with buying one lottery ticket and winning the Powerball.



Historically, this is the guy that all the experts agree is the person most likely to have shot down the Red Baron. His name was Cedric Popkin. He was assigned to the 7th Machine Gun Company anti-aircraft artillery and the Australian Imperial forces. He died of natural causes in 1968

 

[.455_Hunter]

Unless it was a friendly fire incident, he was either going to be killed either by a .303 British bullet or a 8mm Lebel bullet. Given that the spritzer projectile was fired from some distance, likely penetrated some sort of destabilizing barrier or deflected off some plane component before contacting the body, the fact that it was recovered inside the Red Baron is not really surprising.

 

[The Night Rider]

The fact that it was recovered inside the Red Baron is not really surprising.

According to the autopsy reports it was found inside his uniform so it went all the way through him and didn't make it out of his flight suit

 

[Old Dog]

Man, I remember when I was a boy (we're talking the mid-'60s here), Captain Roy Brown was credited with shooting down Von Richthofen but years later, saw that an Aussie AA gunner on the ground, SGT Popkin was identified as the likely killer of the Red Baron. Even today, it's very interesting history.

 

[The Night Rider]

Man, I remember when I was a boy (we're talking the mid-'60s here), Captain Roy Brown was credited with shooting down Von Richthofen but years later, saw that an Aussie AA gunner on the ground, SGT Popkin was identified as the likely killer of the Red Baron. Even today, it's very interesting history.

That's because nowadays the pilot fires a missile from over the horizon, and the other guy doesn't even know what hit him.

 

[Ignition Override]

The Night Rider: true, and sometimes with the help of an AWACs aircraft (the PCS base is/was Tinker AFB.

 

[The Night Rider]

AI generated but it gives kind of a visual representation

Rise of Flight "The Death of the Red Baron"

Gisbod - *Please see my other films in the series* (Voss & Mannock)* Richthofen's last flight - Cinematic Historical documentary (In game footage from the fl...

youtu.be

I think dying when he did was probably the best thing that happened to the Red Baron because had he survived the war they would have made him a Nazi

 

[The Night Rider]

IM 59.

So you weren't like born in the highlands of Scotland or anything right?

Highlander The Series Theme Song - TV Theme Songs - Queen

Remember when tv shows had theme songs? No original lyrics here, but I liked the way "Highlander" appropriately used Queen's "Princes of the Universe" for it...

youtu.be

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

The Highlander movies were some of my faves.

 

[The Night Rider]

FWIW today (May 2) is the Red Baron's 133rd birthday

 

[armoredman]

Everything I read said he was a gentleman and as close to a noble warrior as could be found in those days. He was suffering from a debilitating head wound and violated his most personal rule of don't fly to close to the ground. His plane was stripped, and I think only the engine has been positively identified in a museum, with some other random parts.