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Auction: 23002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 150

A Great War Combat Report by Lieutenant F. J. W. Mellersh, Royal Air Force, late Royal Naval Air Service, later Acting Air Marshall who was part of No. 209 Squadron in which Captain Arthur "Roy" Brown purportedly shot down Baron Von Richthofen on the 21 April 1918

Royal Air Force Combat Report, Flying a Sopwith B.R. B 6257 near Cerisy at 7000 feet, in pursuit of Fokker Triplanes:

'I followed Captain Brown down onto a large formation of Fokker triplanes and Albatross D5's. A dog fight ensued and I managed to get on the tail of a triplane, with a blue tail. I fired about 50 rounds into him when he turned and I got a long burst into him when he was turned up. The triplane then dropped his nose and went down in a vertical dive. I followed, still firing, and saw the machine crash near Cerisy. Two other triplanes then dived on to me and I was forced to spin down to the ground and return to our lines at 50 feet. Whilst so returning, a bright red triplane crashed quite close to me and in looking up I saw Captain Brown's machine.', some wear overall very fine

[K.B.E.] London Gazette 11 August 1950.

[A.F.C.] London Gazette 3 June 1919.

[M.I.D.] London Gazette 1 January 1943; 14 January 1944.

Francis John Williamson Mellersh joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1916 and was awarded RAeC No 4216 on 8 February 1917, being posted to France and eventually joined No.9 (Naval) Squadron later in 1917. Mellersh claimed five victories with the Squadron, which became 209 Squadron on 1 April 1918, including the victory in the description above. He was appointed a Flight Lieutenant in the August 1919 Air Force List, but in October reverted to Flying Officer and two months later joins the Unemployed List.

Rejoining the R.A.F. in August 1921 he was slightly injured on 8 June 1922 whilst flying DH9A, E786 which stalled and spun into the ground on taking off from Shaibah. Mellerish was appointed Air Commander, Strategic Air Force, Eastern Air Command in June 1944 and by July 1945 was Commandant of the R.A.F. Staff College (Allied Wing), Bulstrode. He was awarded a KBE for his services in Malaya between 1 December 1949 and 31 May 1950 and tragically died in a helicopter accident in 1955.

The End of the Red Baron

Richthofen received a fatal wound just after 11:00 am on 21 April 1918 while flying over Morlancourt Ridge near the Somme River, 49°56'0.60"N 2°32'43.71"E. At the time, he had been pursuing, at very low altitude, a Sopwith Camel piloted by Canadian novice Wilfrid Reid "Wop" May of No. 209 Squadron, Royal Air Force. May had just fired on the Red Baron's cousin, Lieutenant Wolfram von Richthofen. On seeing his cousin being attacked, Richthofen flew to his rescue and fired on May, causing him to pull away. Richthofen pursued May across the Somme. The Baron was spotted and briefly attacked by a Camel piloted by May's school friend and flight commander, Canadian Captain Arthur "Roy" Brown. Brown had to dive steeply at very high speed to intervene, and then had to climb steeply to avoid hitting the ground. Richthofen turned to avoid this attack, and then resumed his pursuit of May.

It was almost certainly during this final stage in his pursuit of May that a single .303 bullet hit Richthofen through the chest, severely damaging his heart and lungs; it would have killed Richthofen in less than a minute. His aircraft stalled and went into a steep dive, hitting the ground at 49°55'56"N 2°32'16"E in a field on a hill near the Bray-Corbie road, just north of the village of Vaux-sur-Somme, in a sector defended by the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). The aircraft bounced heavily upon hitting the ground: the undercarriage collapsed and the fuel tank was smashed before the aircraft skidded to a stop. Several witnesses, including Gunner George Ridgway, reached the crashed plane and found Richthofen already dead, and his face slammed into the butts of his machine guns, breaking his nose, fracturing his jaw and creating contusions on his face.

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Estimate
£1,000 to £1,500

Starting price
£1000