• Victory 34 - picture source: Thomas La Padula - Aviation Art

Overwinning 34

Event ID: 181

Categorieën:

Luchtgevecht
Engels
Under the guns of the Red Baron, Norman Franks, Hal Giblin and Nigel McCrery

03 april 1917

50.422628548475366, 2.78117655297983
Between Lens and Liévin
Lens

Source ID: 13

Under the guns of the Red Baron, Norman Franks, Hal Giblin and Nigel McCrery p. 94

ISBN: 9781898697275

Tegenstander was Donald McDonald

vliegend met de F.E.2d A6382

VS

MvR vloog met de Albatros D.III 2253/17

“Gevechtsverslag: 1615 uur, tussen Lens en Lieven. Vickers tweezitter, NO. 6382. Motor onherkenbaar. Inzittenden: Piloot: Luitenant O’Beirne, gedood. Waarnemer: McDonald. Samen met Leutnant Schäfer en Leutnant Lothar von Richthofen viel ik drie vijandelijke vliegtuigen aan. Het vliegtuig dat ik zelf aanviel werd gedwongen bij Lieven te landen. Na een kort gevecht begon de motor te roken en de waarnemer stopte met schieten. Ik volgde de tegenstander naar de grond. Weer: storm en lage bewolking.”

Comments (1)

  1. (source: Inside the victories of Manfred von richthofen – Volume 1, James F. Miller, Aeronaut Books, 2016)

    1. In a letter written to O’Beirne’s mother, published in Gibbons’s The Red Knight of Germany, McDonald indicated Richthofen “…followed me right down to the ground, firing all the time, till he almost shot away every control I had.” This is consistent with Richthofen’s usual no-quarter modus operandi.

    2. Regarding O’Beirne’s fate, McDonald wrote,
    “Jack was firing over my top plane [wingl when suddenly a close burst from behind hit him right in the head and he dropped down in his seat. When…l…looked over to see how he was, I saw he was hit right through the side of the head, and death must have been instantaneous.”

    3. About his forced landing, McDonald wrote, “I made for a good-looking field, but, as luck would have it, beneath the long grass were barbed-wire entanglements, and with all my instruments shot away, I landed at a faster pace than I should have done and caught in the wire, going head over heels… Fortunately, the machine went right over the top of me when I was thrown out.” He then describes last seeing O’Beirne “laid out on the grass beside the wreckage of my machine…”

    4. Richthofen’s combat report described A6382’s engine as “unrecognizable.” It is not known if he was unfamiliar with the Rolls Royce or if this indicated the engine was badly damaged during the tumbling crash landing.

    5. The identity of Richthofen’s Albatros for this victory is elusive. Although Le Petit Rouge and 2006/16 are suggested, it could have been yet another machine.

    6. In his combat report, Richthofen misidentified the crew positions.

    Beantwoorden

Geef een reactie

Je e-mailadres wordt niet gepubliceerd. Vereiste velden zijn gemarkeerd met *

Back To Top