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Re: Richthofen's Aircraft wreckage
Alex,
Paul Leaman (an acknowledged expert on matters Fokker Dr.I), has this to say:
APPENDIX V: Captured Fokker Triplanes.
G/5Bde/2.
Fokker Dr.I 425/17, wn 2009, flown by Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen (80 victories) commander of JG 1, was brought down by an unknown person or persons (probably by fire from the ground) on 21 April 1918. With its dead or dying pilot, the triplane was damaged on landing and lay exposed in front of the Australian positions. Von Richthofen's body was recovered and the remains of the triplane were dragged to a less exposed position, where the identity of the its pilot revealed , it was extensively looted by the the troops. From there it was recovered by the RAF and made available for pilots to examine before being crated and shipped to England, where it was intended that it should be put on display at the premises of the manufacturers of the aircraft which shot it down, namely Clayton and Shuttleworth Ltd of Lincoln, who had built Capt Roy Brown's Sopwith Camel B.7270. While there is no record of its ultimate fate, some items from it are on display in museums in Canada and London. These include the pilot's seat and gun sight. A section of a wing tip with ribs and a length of the spar in the Imperial War Museum in London has its 110 hp Oberursel UR II engine No.2478 on display together with a small sample of fabric taken from G.125, Fokker Dr.I 144/17. The RAF report on this aircraft can be found in PRO file AIR1/1038/1445 and 1466.
See:
The Fokker Dr.I Triplane A World War One Legend.
Leaman,Paul.
Hersham:Classic Publishing,2003.
pp.206 &209.
Col.
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