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Victory 77

Event ID: 273

07 April 1918

49.82900333864982, 2.5232055808353
Near Hangard
Hangard

Source ID: 1

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

ISBN: 9781898697275

1130 hrs, near Hangard. SE5; broke up in the air. Englishman. With four machines of Jasta 11, I attacked several ‘SE5’s’ near Hangard. I shot at an enemy plane some 200 metres away. After I had fired 100 shots, the enemy plane broke apart. The remnants came down near Hangard. Weather: good visibility but cloud cover at height.

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  1. source: Inside the victories of Manfred von richthofen – Volume 2, James F. Miller, Aeronaut Books, 2016

    This victory identity is unclear. As explained in Under the Guns of the Red Baron, Richthofen claimed an “SE.5” yet airplanes of that make/ model downed that day fit neither the timeline nor victory location. Furthermore, the use of quotation marks with “SE.5” has caused speculation that Richthofen was uncertain of the make/model identity. Thus attention turned toward a fight between Fokker triplanes and Sopwith Camels in which two Camels were shot down, one being Gallie’s, who came down some 4 km north of Hangard. However, Gallie survived being shot down and it seems doubtful he could have done so if his plane had broken apart while in flight. The other downed Camel was flown by Lt. Adams credited as Richthofen’s 78th victory—who came down 9 km east of Hangard. Adams was wounded to such a degree that initially he was left for dead, and afterwards was told by a German staff officer that he was Richthofen’s 77th victory.

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