[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

1916 WWI flying ace The Red Baron of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.

Originally Posted by Von Richthofen's Combat Report

FE2b No7018; 11 squadron: When patrol flyingI detected shrapnel clouds in the directiion of Cambrai. i hurried forth and met a squad which I attacked shortly after 1100. I singled out the last machine and fired several times at close range(ten metres). Suddenly the the enemy propeller stood stock still. the machine went down gliding and I followed untilI had killed the observer who had not stopped shooting until the last moment. Now my opponent went downwards in sharp curves. At approxinately 1200 metrtes a second german machine came along and attacked my victim right down to the ground and then landed next to the English plane. Weather was bright morning with afternoon clouds

Pilot: 2nd Lt> Lional Bertram Morris: died of wounds; age 19. Observer: Captain Tom Rees KIA...: the day of his promotion to captain; age 21 <An F.E.2d observer demonstrating the use of the rear-firing Lewis gun, which required him to stand on the rim of his cockpit. Certainly not how I'd like to be; standing firing at the Red Baron "following" behind??!! Poor Rees "firing till the last moment!"

Early in the F.E.2b's career, a second Lewis gun was added in front of the pilot's cockpit, on a high telescopic mounting so that the pilot could fire forward, over his observer's head. In practice, this gun was appropriated by the observers, especially when they discovered that by climbing onto the rim of their cockpits they could fire backwards over the top wing – to some extent overcoming the notorious deficiency of pusher types in rear defence, although even this failed to cover a very large blind spot under the tail. The observer's perch was a precarious one, especially when firing the "rear gun", and he was liable to be thrown out of his cockpit, although his view was excellent in all directions except directly to the rear.
An F.E.2d observer demonstrating the use of the rear-firing Lewis gun, which required him to stand on the rim of his cockpit. Note the camera, and the (non-standard) fixed Lewis gun for the pilot.
The arrangement was described by Frederick Libby, an American ace who served as an F.E.2b observer in 1916:
When you stood up to shoot, all of you from the knees up was exposed to the elements. There was no belt to hold you. Only your grip on the gun and the sides of the nacelle stood between you and eternity. Toward the front of the nacelle was a hollow steel rod with a swivel mount to which the gun was anchored. This gun covered a huge field of fire forward. Between the observer and the pilot a second gun was mounted, for firing over the F.E.2b's upper wing to protect the aircraft from rear attack ... Adjusting and shooting this gun required that you stand right up out of the nacelle with your feet on the nacelle coaming. You had nothing to worry about except being blown out of the aircraft by the blast of air or tossed out bodily if the pilot made a wrong move. There were no parachutes and no belts. No wonder they needed observers.