Embedded Files
2018 France/Belgium Trip Post 09
On the trail of the Red Baron....a couple of miles from the grave of Trooper Hughes in Eclusier is Chateau de Cappy.
At the height of the 1918 Spring Offensive, the German Armies pushed the Allies back towards the West. Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen and his Jagdgeschwader 1 moved to Cappy Aerodrome in the Somme Valley on 11 April 1918, the nearby Chateau de Cappy served as an Officers Mess.
Von Richthofen, an ex-cavalryman was already a legend with 80 air combat victories to his name. The last one the day before when he shot down a Sopwith Camel belonging to 2 Lt. Lewis of 3 Sqn near Villers Bretonneux.
Cappy was a German forward airfield with no permanent facilities. After the war, it was returned to agricultural use. Von Richthofens Geschwader became known as the Flying Circus, pitching tents on temporary airfields.
On 21 April 1918, the 'Red Baron' ate his breakfast at the Chateau before setting off to Cappy airfield for what was to be his final flight.
He took off in his distinctive blood-red aircraft around 10 am at the head of a flight of Fokker D1 (Dreideckers) triplanes on a patrol of the Somme Valley. One of the aircraft was flown by Herman Goering, who would later become the notorious Air Marshall of World War II.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse