The Red Baron’s Final Flight

On 21 April 1918, the famous ‘Red Baron’, Manfred von Richthofen, took off from Cappy on a mission over the Somme. After pursuing a Canadian aeroplane, he was ambushed and came under enemy fire. Despite his skill, his red triplane was hit by Australian fire from the vicinity of Corbie. Mortally wounded, he managed to make an emergency landing in a field opposite the brickworks at Vaux-sur-Somme. That day marked the end of the greatest flying ace of the First World War, credited with 80 aerial victories.

In the second photograph, you can see Jacques Léo Bienaimé, born in Albert in 1885, a farmer in Vaux-sur-Somme. Called up for military service during the First World War, he was on the Somme front in 1918, very close to his village. There, he served alongside the Australian and Canadian troops stationed in the region. Gassed between Sailly-le-Sec and Vaux-sur-Somme by a German shell fired from Le Hamel, he survived and returned to his farm after the armistice. Elected mayor in 1919, he died in Vaux on 23 November 1923, aged 38, weakened by the after-effects of the war.

As you leave Vaux-sur-Somme heading towards Sailly-le-Sec, you can find his grave in the local cemetery