I just finished a paper on this. I know that there has been alot of debate about whether an Auzzie Mg team or The Canadian Roy Brown got the Baron. I think we should call it a COMBINED COMMONWEALTH CONQUEST and leave it at that.

Roy Brown seems unlikely on the basis of his combat report (at least what I remember of it). Ground fire is possible, but not proven. The only thing we know for sure is what killed him, not who fired it.

There was a documentary on British TV on mysteries of WW1 which covered the shooting-down of Richthofen. They went for ground fire, but their evidence was tainted by an alleged eyewitness who never mentioned what he saw until (I think ) the 1960s. The 'witness' alleged that Richthofen was still alive after his plane crash-landed. As his wound was almost instantly fatal ergo it was fired from the ground after Brown turned away. But not a credible witness IMHO.

In the Last year I have seen Two documentaries on this (one on Discovery, the Other History OR TLC) in which all of the available information was crunched by supercomputers and simulations were run over & over. One of the reenacting groups went so far as to mount MILES type sensors on a modrn A/C which could mimic the flight characteristics of the Dr.1, and fired upon by a laser which pulsed at the same speed as the Vickers .303MG in the trench. Another simulation was run in which the flight parameters of the opposing A/C were fed into a combat Sim & Roy Brown's flight report was followed to the letter.
The final conclusion drawn by both separate groups was that:
Given Brown's own report, It would have been almost impossible for him to have fired the shot that killed the Baron ( maybe hit his machine, but no way he could've managed a deflection shot that entered the Baron's chest from under his right Nipple and angled upward to exit his left clavicle{Brit field coroner's report})
The Rifleman in the trench(also firing .303 rounds, confound it all) was at the incorrect angle, & on the wrong side of the Baron's A/C
The MG had the claim most likely supported by the preponderance of evidence, being in the correct location & at the angle required to fire the fatal shot.

These reports & studies also took into account the Dr.1's flight characteristics & its ability to basically land itself 'dead stick' due to it's high wing surface & inherent stability. The relatively clean landing of the aircraft gave rise to the rumor of the Baron still being alive on landing, but as Drader stated above this theory has been largely debunked.

Given that Souvenier hunters had stripped the airframe before authorities could give it much study, it's relly impossible to say how much & what damage was sustained in aerial combat.

As to who actually is responsible for the Baron's demise...I'd say all eveidence points to Richtofen himself.
Short months before his death, he had sustained a severe headwound in a hard landing. His surgeon tried to ground him, but his own pride (& Germany's need for heroes) put him back into the air before he was determined fit. His mother & brother have been recorded as stating that he was never the same after the injury, more sullen & reckless, and short tempered with both superiors & suboordinates(All signs of what we now know to be brain injury-sort of a mild 'Phineas Guage' effect). His final few flights showed a marked change in his habits- His personal rule was never to attack without superior numbers on his side, and let his wingmen worry his target before going for the kill himself. He also was always quite careful to keep his staffel as close to friendly lines as possible, & avoid enemey territory (& even no-mans-land) at all costs. In his final flight, he flagrantly voilated these three rules, & paid the price for his failure to heed.

Now a disclaimer- with the exception of the two documentaries noted here, most of my own research on this subject comes from sources contemporary to the Baron himself & only slightly later. As we know, forensics & histographic research constantly is unearthing new information & tidbits for us to puzzle over,so if anyone has any documentation to contravene anything I stated above, I for one would be eager to see it.

Jared, thanks for raising this interesting topic.

Richthofen's severe headwound was from a gun shot. Either a long-range lucky shot from an air gunner in (I think an FE2) or a very unlucky shot from one of his own men.

Ah, thank you, David. My Info came from one of Bishop's "Great Ace" books, probably a cover story put out by the Kaiser's propaganda machine during the war. Not good to let the populace or your enemies know that the "World's greatest 'Air Knight'" could possibly be injured by a 'Feeb, or by one of his own(!).
I stand happily corrected!

Did anyone see the programme on this in the UK last year? they done a varity of tests using lasers ect and they concluded that it was possiable and more than likely that the fatal shot was from the ground by an Aussie with a rifle the solider was never photographed and records show that he died in the 1920's the tests were done using special designed flight sims and alot of practical flights/testing flying over the exact same route that the Baron flew

And there was me, all those years thinking it was Snoopy that did the deed...

acav out

The Aussie mg-gunner was called Snowy Rivers if Im not mistaken.

He became a hobo and vanished after the war. Its kind of ironic that the most known person in WWI is killed by an anonymous person.

Oops, in Roy Browns defence it should be noted that he himself never claimed to have shot down the Baron. This act werer forced upon him.

Theres a museum regarding him and WWI in Canada. It was shown in the Discovery program with the guide pointing at the rivet holes of the chair of Ritchofens plane telling the audince it was bullet holes.

Back to von Richthofen's head injury.

I wonder if the author of the book mentioned by Logan'sdad got Manfred confused with his brother Lothar? Lothar did suffer head injuries in a crash-landing early in 1918. he was still in hospital when Manfred was shot down.

I think that Manfred's 'autobiography' mentitions that his head wound was from a gun shot. I've never read the book, but I'm positive I've read extracts in secondary works, where Manfred describes loosing consciousness and being temporarily blinded.

Yes, it was showed on Discovery Europe in the 'Unsolved History' series.

It makes it plausible indeed that the Von Richthofen could have been shot down by Snowy Rivers on the ground.

A gunner with a modified laser gun was able to hit a plane several times from the ground.

The lasergun was modified to scatter as a lewis .303 would, and the gunner had special goggles so he wouldn't see the beam, and had to fire using his marks only.

And yes, the program also mentioned that indeed, Von Richthofen did break his own codes, and he flew, alone, over enemy territory.

I say give to Roy Browm and cut
the BS!
Let the Baron rest in peace aye??
There is never going to be any evidence
that will for sure change anything so why bother??
Ron