April 20, 1918
Air War:
0940 Two French SPAD pilots from Spa 67 share a victory over a German two-seater:
Edmond Pillon, victory number 6.
Lt Rougevin-Baville (first name not given), victory number 1.
1005 French pilot Jean Bozon-Verduraz, in a SPAD XIII, whoots down a German two-seater for victory number 4.
1100 English RAF pilot Cedric Edwards, in Sopwith Camel D3331, shoots down a Fokker Dr.I for victory number 2.
1100 German pilot Otto Sporbert, with Jasta 62, shoots down an SE.5a for victory number 2.
1405 German pilot Fritz Höhn, with Jasta 21, destroys a French observation balloon. Adj Renard, of the 75° Cie d’Aérostières. parachutes safely.
1500 German ace Hans Pippart, flying with Jasta 19, shoots down a French SPAD XIII for victory number 10. Lt Charles Boudoux dHautefeuille is listad as Missing. Pippart's claims this as a Bréguet 14.
1812 Two American pilots with the 103rd Aero Squadron share in the destruction of a German observation balloon:
William Thaw, victory number 4.
George Turnure, victory number 2.
1817 William Thaw scorse his second kill of the day, shooting down a German "Scout" for victory number 5. This is Thaw's last aerial victory. He will survive the war and return home to become an insurance agent. He will die from pneumonia in 1934, at age 40.
1820 German pilot Gefr Gebhardt (no first name given), with Jasta 47, shoots down an SE.5a for victory number 2. This ihs Gebhardt's last aerial victory. No other information available.
1840 German ace Hans Weiss, in a Fokker Dr.I, shoots down Sopwith Camel D6475 for victory number 17. 2nd Lt G.R. Riley is wounded but lands on his own side of the lines.
1840 German ace Manfred von Richthofen, flying Fokker Dr.1 425/17, shoots down Sopwith Camel D6439 for victory number 79. Major Richard Raymond-Barker is killed.
Quote:
With six planes of jasta 11, I attacked a large enemy squadron. During the fightI observed that a Triplane was attacked and shot at from below by a Camel. I put myself behind the adversary and brought him down, burning, with only a few shots. The enemy plane crashed down near the forest of Hamel where it burned further on the ground."
-Manfred von Richthofen
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1843 Manfred von Richthofen scores his second victory of the day, shooting down Sopwith Camel B7393 for victory number 80. 2nd Lt David Greswolde Lewis is taken prisoner.
Quote:
Three minutes after I had brought down the first machine, I attacked a second Camel of the same enemy squadron. The adversary dived, caught his machine and repeated this manoeuvre several times. I approached him as near as possible when fighting and fired 50 bullets until the machine began to burn. The body of the machine was burned in the air, the remnants dashed to the ground, north-east of Villers-Bretonneaux.
-Manfred von Richthofen
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1900 Fritz Höhn scores his second kill of the day, another French balloon. Adj Breyer and Cpl Guyot, of the 45° Cie d’Aérostières, both parachute safely. Höhn in severely wounded in the fight and will miss the next four months of the war.
American pilot James Alexander Connelly, flying a SPAD VII for the French Air Service, shoots down a German observation balloon for victory number 1.
French ace Gabriel Guérin, with Spa 15, shoots down a Rumpler two-seater for victory number 20.
German pilot Wilhelm Zorn, flying with Jasta 60, shoots down a DH.4 for victory number 5.