Cedric Bassett Popkin (20 June 189026 January 1968) was an Australian soldier considered most likely to have killed "The Red Baron" according to original research and forensics done by Dr M Geoffrey Miller “The death of Baron Manfred Richthofen: Who fired the fatal shot?” in 1998 (Journal and Proceedings of Military History Society of Australia). Popkin was an

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

(AA)

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

ner with the

First Australian Imperial Force The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Aug ...

(AIF) during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life

Cedric Bassett Popkin was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 20 June 1890 and was a carpenter by trade. When he enlisted in the AIF, in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

on 6 May 1916, he was living in

Palmwoods, Queensland Palmwoods is a rural town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Palmwoods had a population of 5,676 people. Geography Palmwoods is part of the Sunshine Coast situated near Nambour. It is situated close to ...

First World War

Entry into service

Popkin left Australia on 20 October with the 7th Machine Gun Company on HMAT ''Port Lincoln''. By April 1918, Popkin – who had achieved the rank of

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

– was a gunner in the 24th Machine Gun Company (an element of the 4th Machine Gun Battalion) stationed in the

Somme Valley The Somme ( , , ) is a river in Picardy, northern France. The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geological ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Death of the Baron

At about 10:35 a.m. on 21 April, 1918, Richthofen, flying his red

Fokker Dr.I The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the ...

, engaged

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

s from 209 Squadron,

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(RAF). He pursued a Camel piloted by a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

, Lieutenant Wilfrid May. In turn the Baron was chased by another Canadian pilot, Captain Roy Brown. The three planes flew over

Morlancourt Morlancourt () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Morlancourt is situated on the D42 road, some northeast of Amiens. Population Notable people * Louis Friant (1758–1829), French military ...

Ridge, in the 4th Division's sector, and Popkin – using a

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...

– and other Australian machine gunners and

riflemen A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction of the rif ...

also fired at Richthofen. The Baron was hit by a .303 calibre bullet which passed diagonally from right to left through his chest. He then made a hasty but controlled landing, in a field on a hill near the Bray-Corbie road, just north of

Vaux-sur-Somme Vaux-sur-Somme (, literally ''Vaux on Somme''; pcd, Veux-su-Sonme) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Vaux-sur-Somme is notable as the place where famous flying ace Manfred von Richthofen, ...

. One witness, Gunner George Ridgway, stated that when he and other Australian soldiers reached the plane, Richthofen was still alive but died moments later. Another eyewitness, Sergeant

Ted Smout Sergeant Edward David "Ted" Smout OAM (5 January 1898 – 22 June 2004) was an Australian soldier in the First World War. He was Australia's 6th last surviving World War I veteran. Smout served in the army as a stretcher bearer. He was notably ...

, reported that Richthofen's last word was "''kaputt''" ("finished") immediately before he died. The RAF credited the "kill" to Brown, although it is now considered all but certain by historians, doctors, and ballistics experts that Richthofen was actually killed by an AA machine gunner firing from the ground. The identity of the person who shot the Baron remains uncertain; .303 ammunition was the standard ammunition for all machine guns and rifles used by

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

forces during World War I. Many experts believe that the shot probably came from Popkin, though some believe that William John "Snowy" Evans may have been responsible. ''

Unsolved History ''Unsolved History'' is an American documentary television series that aired from 2002 to 2005. The program was produced by Termite Art Productions, Lions Gate Television, and Discovery Communications for the Discovery Channel. The series last ...

: Death of the Red Baron'', 2002,

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Autopsies revealed that the wound which killed the Baron was caused by a bullet moving in an upward motion. It was reported that a spent .303 bullet was found inside Richthofen's clothing. These facts, and the angle at which the bullet passed through Richthofen's body, suggest that he was killed by a long distance, low velocity shot from a ground-based weapon. Many Australian riflemen were also shooting at the Baron at the time, so one of them may have fired the fatal shot. However, Popkin was an experienced AA gunner, the volume of fire from the Vickers was far greater (at least 450 rounds per minute) than the bolt-action

Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's st ...

rifles (up to 30 rounds per minute) used by the infantry, and Popkin was the only machine gunner known to have fired at Richthofen from the right, and from a long distance, immediately before he landed.

Wounded in action

On 19 June 1918, Popkin received a shrapnel wound to his right leg, which was later amputated. He was invalided back to Australia on 5 January 1919, arriving on 7 March.

Later life

After being discharged from the army, Popkin worked once more as a carpenter. He spent most of the remainder of his life in

Tweed Heads Tweed Heads is a town in New South Wales. It is located on the Tweed River in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in Tweed Shire, next to the border with Queensland and adjacent to its "twin town" of Coolangatta, which is a suburb of the ...

and the Northern Rivers region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. In 1964, he told the '' Brisbane Courier-Mail'': "I am fairly certain it was my fire which caused the Baron to crash, but it would be impossible to say definitely that I was responsible ... As to pinpointing without doubt the man who fired the fatal shot, the controversy will never actually be resolved." He died in Tweed Heads on 26 January 1968 at the age of 77. He is buried in the Mt. Thompson Memorial Gardens at Brisbane, Australia.

Planned memorials

A memorial to Popkin is being planned for the hinterland town of Palmwoods by the local

Returned and Services League The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) is a support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force. Mission The RSL's mission is to ensure that programs are in place for the well-being, care ...

(RSL) sub-branch. Another one is being planned by residents of the village of

Tyalgum Tyalgum is a rural village located in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Located approximately 18 minutes from Murwillumbah, 45 minutes from the Gold Coast, Queensland and two hours from Brisbane. At the , Tyalgum had a population of 503 ...

, where he served as

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...