Editing Manfred von Richthofen (section)

==Death==
[[File:209 RAF emblem.gif|thumb|left|upright|[[No. 209 Squadron RAF|209 Squadron]] [[Heraldic badges of the Royal Air Force|Badge]] – the red eagle falling – symbolizes the fall of the Red Baron.]]
Richthofen received a fatal wound just after 11:00&nbsp;am on 21 April 1918 while flying over [[Morlancourt]] Ridge near the [[Somme River]], {{Coord|49|56|0.60|N|2|32|43.71|E}}. At the time, he had been pursuing, at very low altitude, a [[Sopwith Camel]] piloted by Canadian novice [[Wop May|Wilfrid Reid "Wop" May]] of [[No. 209 Squadron RAF|No. 209 Squadron]], Royal Air Force.<ref name="McAllister 63">McAllister 1982, p. 63.</ref> May had just fired on the Red Baron's cousin, Lieutenant [[Wolfram von Richthofen]]. On seeing his cousin being attacked, Richthofen flew to his rescue and fired on May, causing him to pull away.<ref>Franks & Bennett (1997)</ref> Richthofen pursued May across the Somme. The Baron was spotted and briefly attacked by a Camel piloted by May's school friend and flight commander, Canadian Captain [[Roy Brown (pilot)|Arthur "Roy" Brown]]. Brown had to dive steeply at very high speed to intervene, and then had to climb steeply to avoid hitting the ground.<ref name="McAllister 63"/> Richthofen turned to avoid this attack, and then resumed his pursuit of May.<ref name="McAllister 63"/>

It was almost certainly during this final stage in his pursuit of May that a single [[.303 British|.303]] bullet{{efn|The actual bullet lodged in Richthofen's clothing. It was apparently recovered, but it has not been preserved for examination by modern historians. It was apparently a normal ball round, as fired by all British rifle-calibre arms, and thus would not be any help in resolving the controversy of who fired it.}} hit Richthofen through the chest, severely damaging his heart and lungs; it would have killed Richthofen in less than a minute.<ref name="McAllister 64">McAllister 1982, p. 64.</ref><ref name="miller">Miller, Dr. Geoffrey. [http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/comment/richt.htm "The Death of Manfred von Richthofen: Who fired the fatal shot?"] ''Sabretache: Journal and Proceedings of the Military History Society of Australia'', vol. XXXIX, no. 2, 1998.</ref> His aircraft stalled and went into a steep dive, hitting the ground at {{coord|49.9321076|2.5376701|format=dms|type:event|display=inline}} in a field on a hill near the Bray-Corbie road, just north of the village of [[Vaux-sur-Somme]], in a sector defended by the [[First Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]] (AIF).<ref name="McAllister 63"/> The aircraft bounced heavily upon hitting the ground: the undercarriage collapsed and the fuel tank was smashed before the aircraft skidded to a stop.<ref name="Robertson pp118">Robertson 1958, p. 118.</ref> Several witnesses, including Gunner George Ridgway, reached the crashed plane and found Richthofen already dead. His face had slammed into the butts of his machine guns, breaking his nose, fracturing his jaw and creating contusions on his face.<ref name="miller"/>{{efn|Gunner Ernest W. Twycross,<ref name="channel4"/> and Sergeant [[Edward David Smout|Ted Smout]] of the [[Royal Australian Army Medical Corps|Australian Medical Corps]] later claimed that Richthofen was still alive and tried to say something, with the last or only word being ''"kaputt"'', before he died.<ref name="unsolved">''[[Unsolved History]]: Death of the Red Baron'', 2002, [[Discovery Channel]]</ref> The definition of "kaputt" is often in contention.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070223030256/http://synonyme.woxikon.de/synonyme/gestorben.php "Synonym für gestorben – Synonyme &#124; Antonyme (Gegenteile) – Fremdwörter von gestorben."]''google.com'', 17 May 2009. Retrieved: 13 June 2009.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/kaputt|title=kaputt|via=The Free Dictionary}}</ref><ref>[http://www.ego4u.com/en/dictionary "Definition: Kaputt."] ''Ego4u.com'', German-English dictionary, 22 April 2009. Retrieved: 13 June 2009.</ref> This is disputed by accounts which state that Richthofen was already dead and the nature of his wound, as well as his broken nose and fractured jaw.}}

[[File:Richthofen crashsite.ogv|thumb|left|Australian soldiers and airmen examine the remnants of Richthofen's triplane.]]
[[File:The remains of Baron von Richthofen's Fokker Dr.I triplane at the aerodrome of No. 3 Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps at Bertangles, Somme, Picardie (France) (12320837743).jpg|thumb|left|Australian airmen with Richthofen's triplane ''425/17'' after it was looted by souvenir hunters]]
[[No. 3 Squadron RAAF|No. 3 Squadron]], [[Australian Flying Corps]] was the nearest Entente air unit and assumed responsibility for the Baron's remains. His Fokker Dr.I ''425/17'' was soon taken apart by souvenir hunters.

In 2009, Richthofen's [[death certificate]] was found in the archives in [[Ostrów Wielkopolski]], Poland. He had briefly been stationed in Ostrów before going to war, as it was part of Germany until the end of World War I. The document is a one-page, handwritten form in a 1918 registry book of deaths. It misspells Richthofen's name as "Richthoven" and simply states that he had "died 21 April 1918, from wounds sustained in combat".<ref>[https://archive.today/20120912083748/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/12/07/2009-12-07_polish_historian_finds_death_certificate_of_world_war_i_flying_ace_red_baron.html "Polish historian finds death certificate of WWI German flying ace 'Red Baron'."] ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]'' (New York). Retrieved: 8 December 2009.</ref>

===Debate over who fired the shot that killed Richthofen===
<!-- PLEASE raise any desired edits to the following in discussion—this section of the article is very well referenced -->
Controversy and contradictory [[hypothesis|hypotheses]] continue to surround who actually fired the shot that killed Richthofen.
[[File:Arthur Roy Brown from imperial war museum.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Roy Brown (RAF officer)|Arthur Roy Brown]]]]
The [[RAF]] credited Brown with shooting down the Red Baron, but it is now generally agreed by historians, doctors, and ballistics experts that Richthofen was actually killed by an [[anti-aircraft]] (AA) machine gunner firing from the ground.<ref name="miller"/><ref name="channel4">
[https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150650976 ''Dogfight – The Mystery of the Red Baron''], Channel 4, ''[[Secret History (TV series)|Secret History]]'', 22 December 2003. US broadcast as [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/redbaron/ "Who Killed the Red Baron? Explore Competing Theories."] ''Pbs.org'', (Public Broadcasting Service) ''[[Nova (American TV series)|Nova]]'', 7 October 2003.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Richthofen|title=Richthofen - World War I Document Archive|website=wwi.lib.byu.edu}}</ref> A post mortem examination of the body showed the bullet that killed Richthofen penetrated from the right underarm and exited next to the left nipple. Brown's attack was probably from behind and above Richthofen's left. Even more conclusively, Richthofen could not have continued his pursuit of May for as long as he did (up to two minutes) had his wound come from Brown.<ref name="miller"/> Brown himself never spoke much about what happened that day,{{efn|Sensational accounts have been systematically discredited by several writers, even though they describe the attack in great detail and are allegedly given by Brown.}} claiming, "There is no point in me commenting, as the evidence is already out there."

[[File:24 MG Coy (AWM E01716).jpg|left|thumb|Officers and NCOs of the 24th Machine Gun Company in March 1918. Sergeant [[Cedric Popkin]] is second from the right in the middle row.]]
Many sources have suggested that Sergeant [[Cedric Popkin]] was the person most likely to have killed Richthofen, including a 1998 article by Geoffrey Miller, a physician, and historian of military medicine, and a 2002 edition of the British [[Channel 4]] ''[[Secret History (TV series)#Series 10|Secret History]]'' series.<ref name="miller"/><ref name="channel4"/> Popkin was an AA machine gunner with the Australian 24th Machine Gun Company, and he was using a [[Vickers machine gun|Vickers gun]]. He fired at Richthofen's aircraft on two occasions: first as the Baron was heading straight at his position, and then at long range from the plane's right. Given the nature of Richthofen's wounds, Popkin was in a position to fire the fatal shot when the pilot passed him for a second time.<ref name="miller"/><ref name="channel4"/> Some confusion has been caused by a letter that Popkin wrote in 1935 to an Australian official historian. It stated Popkin's belief that he had fired the fatal shot as Richthofen flew straight at his position. In this respect, Popkin was incorrect; the bullet which caused the Baron's death came from the side (see above).

{{anchor|Snowy Evans}} A 2002 [[Discovery Channel]] documentary suggests that Gunner W. J. "Snowy" Evans, a [[Lewis machine gun]]ner with the 53rd Battery, 14th Field Artillery Brigade, [[Royal Australian Artillery]] is likely to have killed von Richthofen.<ref name="unsolved"/> Miller and the ''Secret History'' documentary dismiss this theory because of the angle from which Evans fired at Richthofen.<ref name="miller"/><ref name="channel4"/>

Other sources have suggested that Gunner Robert Buie (also of the 53rd Battery) may have fired the fatal shot. There is little support for this theory.<ref name="miller"/><ref name="channel4"/> In 2007, [[Hornsby Shire Council]], a municipal authority in Sydney, Australia, recognised Buie as the man who shot down Richthofen, placing a plaque near his former home in [[Brooklyn, New South Wales|Brooklyn]].<ref>Day, Mark. "Unsung No.1 with a bullet." ''The Australian'', 7 April 2007.</ref> Buie died in 1964.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-31 |title=Robert Buie Memorial Plaque {{!}} NSW War Memorials Register |url=https://www.warmemorialsregister.nsw.gov.au/content/robert-buie-memorial-plaque |access-date=2025-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031034556/https://www.warmemorialsregister.nsw.gov.au/content/robert-buie-memorial-plaque |archive-date=31 October 2020 }}</ref>

===Theories about last combat===
Richthofen was a highly experienced and skilled fighter pilot—fully aware of the risk from ground fire. Further, he concurred with the rules of air fighting created by his late mentor Boelcke, who specifically advised pilots not to take unnecessary risks. In this context, Richthofen's judgement during his last combat was clearly unsound in several respects.<ref name="Franks and Bennett 1997">Franks and Bennett 1997</ref> Several theories have been proposed to account for his behaviour.

In 1999, a German medical researcher, Henning Allmers, published an article in the British medical journal ''[[The Lancet]]'', suggesting it was likely that brain damage from [[#Wounded in combat|the head wound Richthofen suffered in July 1917]] played a part in his death. This was supported by a 2004 paper by researchers at the [[University of Texas-Austin|University of Texas]]. Richthofen's behaviour after his injury was noted as consistent with [[Traumatic brain injury|brain-injured]] patients, and such an injury could account for his perceived lack of judgment on his final flight: flying too low over enemy territory and suffering [[target fixation]].<ref name="lancet">Allmers, Dr. Henning. [http://www.anzacs.net/MvR-FittoFly.htm "Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen's medical record – Was the "Red Baron" fit to fly?"] ''The Lancet'', 354 (9177), 7 August 1999, pp. 502–504. Published online by ''anzacs.net''. Retrieved: 23 September 2007.</ref>

Richthofen may have been suffering from [[Combat stress reaction|cumulative combat stress]], which made him fail to observe some of his usual precautions. One of the leading British air aces, Major [[Edward Mannock|Edward "Mick" Mannock]], was killed by ground fire on 26 July 1918 while crossing the lines at low level, an action he had always cautioned his younger pilots against. One of the most popular of the French air aces, [[Georges Guynemer]], went missing on 11 September 1917, probably while attacking a two-seater without realizing several Fokkers were escorting it.<ref>[http://www.acepilots.com/wwi/fr_guynemer.html "Georges Guynemer: Beloved French Ace, 53 victories."] ''acepilots.com''. Retrieved: 2 July 2009.</ref><ref>Guttman, Jon. [http://www.historynet.com/georges-guynemer-frances-world-war-i-ace-pilot.htm/7 "Georges Guynemer: France's World War I Ace Pilot."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100701065628/http://www.historynet.com/georges-guynemer-frances-world-war-i-ace-pilot.htm/7 |date=1 July 2010 }} ''historynet.com''. Retrieved: 2 July 2009.</ref>

There is a suggestion that on the day of Richthofen's death, the prevailing wind was about {{convert|40|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} easterly, rather than the usual {{convert|40|km/h|mi/h|0|abbr=on}} westerly. This meant that Richthofen, heading generally westward at an airspeed of about {{convert|160|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}, was travelling over the ground at up to {{convert|200|km/h|mph|abbr=on}} rather than the more typical ground speed of {{convert|120|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}. This was considerably faster than normal and he could easily have strayed over enemy lines without realizing it.<ref name="Franks and Bennett 1997"/>

At the time of Richthofen's death, the front was in a highly fluid state, following the initial success of the [[German spring offensive|German offensive of March–April 1918]]. This was part of Germany's last opportunity to win the war. In the face of Entente air superiority, the German air service was having difficulty acquiring vital reconnaissance information, and could do little to prevent Entente squadrons from completing effective reconnaissance and close support of their armies.

===Burial===
[[File:Richthofen funeral.jpg|thumb|[[No. 3 Squadron RAAF|No. 3 Squadron AFC]] officers were pallbearers and other ranks from the squadron acted as a guard of honour during the Red Baron's funeral on 22 April 1918.]]

In common with most Entente air officers, No. 3 Squadron AFC's commanding officer Major [[David Valentine Jardine Blake|David Blake]], who was responsible for Richthofen's body, regarded the Red Baron with great respect, and he organised a full [[military funeral]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.burnleyinthegreatwar.info/servedm/marshallgeorgeherberyrev.htm | title=Burnley Roll of Honour Reverend/Chaplain George Herbert Marshall DSO MC }}</ref>

The body was buried in the cemetery at the village of [[Bertangles]], near [[Amiens]], on 22 April 1918. Six of No. 3 Squadron's officers served as [[pallbearer]]s, and a guard of honour from the squadron's [[Other ranks (UK)|other ranks]] fired a salute.{{efn| The official caption of the photograph on the right reads ''The funeral of Rittmeister Baron M. Von Richthofen. Firing party presenting arms as the coffin passes into the cemetery, borne on the shoulders of six pilots of No. 3 Squadron A.F.C. Bertangles, France 22nd April 1918. The Padre is Captain Reverend George H. Marshall, M.A., D.S.O.''}} Entente squadrons stationed nearby presented memorial wreaths, one of which was inscribed with the words, "To Our Gallant and Worthy Foe".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thursdayreview.com/RedBaronVonRichthofen.html|title=A Gallant and Worthy Foe: The Death of the "Red Baron"|website=www.thursdayreview.com|access-date=2017-12-14}}</ref>

[[File:Richthofen funeral.ogg|thumb|left|The funeral of Manfred von Richthofen]]
In the early 1920s, the French authorities created [[Fricourt German war cemetery|a military cemetery]] at [[Fricourt]], in which a large number of German war dead, including Richthofen, were reinterred.{{efn|Among other reasons to protect the graves from vandalism by disgruntled villagers, understandably resentful of former enemies being buried among their own relatives.}} In 1925 von Richthofen's youngest brother, Bolko, recovered the body from Fricourt and took it to Germany. The family's intention was for it to be buried in the Schweidnitz cemetery next to the graves of his father and his brother Lothar von Richthofen, who had been killed in a post-war air crash in 1922.<ref>[http://www.frontflieger.de/4lothar.html "Biography: Lothar Freiherr von Richthofen."] ''Frontflieger.de''. Retrieved: 13 June 2009.</ref> The German Government requested that the body should instead be interred at the [[Invalidenfriedhof Cemetery]] in Berlin, where many German military heroes and past leaders were buried, and the family agreed. Richthofen's body received a [[state funeral]]. Later the [[Nazi Germany|Third Reich]] held a further grandiose memorial ceremony at the site of the grave, erecting a massive new tombstone engraved with the single word: Richthofen.<ref>Burrows 1970, p. 196.</ref> During the [[Cold War]], the Invalidenfriedhof was on the [[Berlin Wall|boundary of the Soviet zone in Berlin]], and the tombstone became damaged by bullets fired at attempted escapees from [[East Germany]]. In 1975, the body was moved to a Richthofen family grave plot at the [[South Cemetery Wiesbaden|Südfriedhof]] in [[Wiesbaden]].<ref>Franks and Bennett 1997, p. 9.</ref>

<gallery class="center">
File:Fricourt Richthofen grave.JPG|Richthofen's former grave at Fricourt, later Sebastian Paustian, section 4, row 7, grave 1177
Familiengrab von Richthofen - geo.hlipp.de - 35630.jpg|Richthofen family grave at the [[South Cemetery Wiesbaden|Südfriedhof]] in [[Wiesbaden]]
</gallery>