08 avril 1917
50.374427174474945, 2.849540056779906
Vimy
Source ID: 13
Under the guns of the Red Baron, Norman Franks, Hal Giblin and Nigel McCrery
ISBN: 9781898697275
« Rapport de combat : 1640 hrs, Vimy, de ce côté des lignes. BE2 No. A2815. Occupants : Tous deux tués, nom de l’un d’eux : Davidson. Les restes sont répartis sur plus d’un kilomètre. J’étais en train de voler et j’ai surpris un avion d’artillerie anglais. Après quelques tirs, l’avion s’est brisé en morceaux et est tombé près de Vimy, de ce côté-ci des lignes. »
source: Inside the victories of Manfred von richthofen – Volume 1, James F. Miller, Aeronaut Books, 2016
1. Lothar von Richthofen described either this or a similar inflight breakup of one of Manfred’s victories appearing « as if someone had shaken out a sack of large and small bits of paper, »
2. A discrepancy exists regarding the exact model of BE.2 shot down. Although identified as a BE.2 g in the combat casualty report, A.2815 falls within Contract No. 87/A/571 for the BE,2.e. The BE.2e had a redesigned tail and shorter span lower wings than previous models, and thus had one less set of interplane struts, To meet the demand for the BE.2e, earlier BE.2 c and d models were modified to BE.2e standards. This begat a supply and maintenance problem that resulted in a directive issued October 1916 stating modified BE.2c airplanes would be re-designated BE.2f, while rebuilt BE.2d airplanes would be redesignated as BE.2g.
Thus, if A2815 was built as an e, how/why would it be modified to a g—a machine upgraded to e standards—if it were an e already? That would mean upgrading an e to e standards, which makes no sense. The reason for the combat casualty listing as a B.E.2g is unknown and likely nothing more than simple error.