Does anyone know of any websites or other resources on this often neglected topic? I am planning a diorama of von Richthofen’s triplane, on a field in France following a rather rough forced landing, with a nearly dead, bloodied baron slumped over at the stick, with British gunners approaching on foot.
Thank you!
Rory
Y’all better say Australian gunners, Mate…you don’t want WW III on your doorstep!
Just smear castor oil on it and plenty of dust. That’s WW I style weathering, especially the smell of the castor oil.
According to the great new book, “The Red Baron’s Last Flight” by Norman Franks and Alan Bennett, the first soldier to arrive at von Richthofen’s crash-landed DR1 was one Ernest Twycross of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA), who heard the Rittmeister’s last utterance–something like “alles kaput” (“everything’s finished”), immediately prior to dying from his wounds. As near as I can tell, the RGA was an Australian detachment, so you are correct, and I stand corrected.
Thanks…but why castor oil?
Castor oil is what they used to lube the engines. The Rotary engines would spray it out all over the place while running.
a lot of WW1 pilots actually sufferred gastric upsets from the amount of castor oil they ingested as it was blown back into their faces.