Bringing the Guns to Bear is a depiction of the final SE5 victory of Manfred von Richthofen. This claim was made while he was flying tripe number 477/17. Some believe that 477/17, like its cousin 425/17, was painted completely red. However, one well known photo, one that many believe to be of this aircraft, suggests otherwise. This tripe shown in that photo carried Balkan crosses on the fuselage and tail and Eisernen crosses on the wings. The fuselage and lower two wings were painted with the typical streaked olive drab scheme. Only the upper wing, the cowling, the struts and the horizontal stabilizer were painted red.
This particular victory represented #67 for MvR. The victim was Lt J.P. McCone of 41 Squadron. On the fateful day of March 24 McCone was flying SE5a serial #C1054, a Hispano-Suiza powered SE. No information on his specific markings, but 41's squadron markings were 2 white vertical bars, one on either side of the fuselage roundel. On March 22 they received orders to move both bars back behind the roundel and make them broader. This order came through only 2 days before McCone's death, however a photo of McCone's crashed SE5 shows that on March 24 it still carried the old markings.
Details of Bringing the Gunds to Bear
(click on any thumbnail for a detailed image) |
