Cedric Popkin

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Group photo of the officers and non-commissioned officers of the 24th Machine Gun Company (March 1918). Sergeant Cedric Popkin is second from the right in the middle row.

Cedric Popkin Bassett (* 1891 in Sydney , † January 1968 ) was the First World War air defense - MG contactors of the Australian Imperial Force . He probably shot down the German fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen on April 21, 1918.

Life

Popkin was a carpenter by trade. When he joined the Australian Imperial Force on May 6, 1916 in Brisbane , he lived in Palmwoods, Queensland . He left Australia on October 20th with the 6th Reinforcements of the 7th Machine Gun Company on HMAT Port Lincoln .

By April 1918, Popkin, who had reached the rank of sergeant , was a rifleman in the 24th Machine Gun Company, which was part of the Australian 4th Division. He was stationed on the Somme in France .

At about 10:35 am on April 21st, Richthofen was shot down during a dogfight. Since Popkin was the only machine gunner whose location matches Richthofen's injuries, it is likely that he fired the fatal shot. However, Richthofen was shot at by several machine-gunmen and rifle shooters and the deadly projectile was of the standard 0.303 caliber, so that a certain amount of uncertainty remains. The RAF officially attributed the kill to Arthur Roy Brown , who was involved in the aerial combat.

Popkin returned to Australia on January 5, 1919 after his discharge from the army and worked as a carpenter again. He spent most of his life in Tweed Heads and the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales . He is buried in Brisbane .

In 1964 Popkin 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. " " (German: "I'm pretty sure that my fire caused the Baron's fall, but it's impossible to say for sure. Since it wasn't is possible to say where the man who fired the fatal shot stood, the debate will never end. ")

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Miller, Dr. Geoffrey. "The Death of Manfred von Richthofen: Who fired the fatal shot?" Sabretache: Journal and Proceedings of the Military History Society of Australia , vol. XXXIX, no.2, 1998.
  2. ^ NOVA, 2003, "Who Killed the Red Baron? Explore Competing Theories" (Public Broadcasting Service)
  3. ↑ NOVA 2003
personal data
SURNAME Popkin, Cedric
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Popkin, Cedric Bassett (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian anti-aircraft machine gunner
DATE OF BIRTH 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Sydney
DATE OF DEATH January 1968