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Richthofen and Guynemer? No.

Event ID: 779

Categories: 

Fighter Aces of the Great War, Stephen & Tanya Wynn, Pen&Sword Books, 2020

29 September 1917

50.84890767354939, 16.476310886960174
Władysława Sikorskiego 19, 58-105 Świdnica, Polen
Swidnica
Schweidnitz

Source ID: 70

Fighter Aces of the Great War, Stephen & Tanya Wynn, Pen&Sword Books, 2020 p.  66 

ISBN: 9781473835207

“On 11 September, Guynemer left his base in a Spad XIII S 504 to carry out a patrol of the Langemark area. After nearly an hour into the flight he saw a German Rumpler, which was an observation aircraft. He commenced his attack, while his wingman, rookie pilot Jean Bozon-Verduraz, spotted a number of Fokker aircraft at a slighly higher altitude, who had also spotted him. Once he had managed to shake them all off, he could not find his intrepid leader anywhere and returned to base alone. As for Guynemer, he never returned and his commanding officer, Major Brocard, announced that he had been listed as missing in actionn which was officially confirmed two week s later by the French War Department on 25 September 1917.

By an amazing coincidence, just four days later a German pilot was shot down behind allied lines, survived the crash landing, and was captured by Canadian forces. The pilot, a sergeant with the 413th Regiment, told his captors that he had witnessed Guynemer’s aircraft crash after he had been shot down and identified his body. He also explained how Guynemer had been killed by a bullet through the head, had suffered a broken leg and had one of his fingers shot away. A party of German soldiers who had been sent out to retrieve his body had been forced back by an allied artillery bombardment before they could retrieve or bury his body.

He further explained how Guynemer had been surrounded by about forty enemy aircraft, including that of Baron von Richthofen, at the time of his demise.”

No, MvR was ordered on holiday 6th September 1917, only to return to active duty 23rd October 1917. He was home, in Schweidnitz, and was nowhere near Flanders when Guynemer was shot down.

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