We’ve moved on from Normandy to the Picardy region and have travelled back in time over 100 years to the 21st April 2018. The town of Cappy on the River Somme, our base for a few days, was used by the infamous Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, and his flying circus during WWI. We hadn’t planned this stop knowing any of the local history but enjoyed exploring some of the locations.
As you leave the town by the D1, or Rue René Nailon, the road climbs steeply passing the Château Cappy on the left. The road then levels out and on the right by the sign indicating the end of the village is a field, now returned to agriculture, used as a temporary forward airfield by the Germans, mostly living in tents, hence the ‘Flying Circus’ name. No life under canvas for the Baron though. He was installed in the nearby Château Cappy.
Here he is with his Great Dane dog, Moritz, in the last picture of him taken at the airfield.
Just before 10 in the morning on Sunday 21st April he took off with his Staffel (Squadron) whose number included Hermann Goering. Keen to add to his 80 kills, he headed west towards the British lines.
Flying too low in his Fokker triplane after tangling with Canadian aviators, he was brought down by ground fire from Australian troops and crashed in a field off the D1 road near Vaux-sur-Somme. He had been shot by a .303 round through the heart. So ended the life of the 25 year old bloody Red Baron from Germany. He was buried by the British with full military honours along with a wreath inscribed with the words ‘To our Gallant and Worthy Foe’ and so entered into legend. Even today, at the sign that marks the spot where his place crashed, flowers are placed in memory.
On our travels round the town we saw a local air show advertised for the coming Saturday , so keeping in with the aviation theme we bought tickets for it. Arriving on a glorious sunny day we were able to park the campervan on the flight line and were entertained for the whole by various displays of aircraft ranging from WWI to modern day fast jets. The local connection with the Red Baron continued with a replica of his plane on show and, later, engaged in a mock dogfight with British SE5As. Other highlights included a rarely seen US Chance Vaught gull wing F4 Corsair and inspired (and no doubt vomit inducing) aerobatics from the current World Champion and closing their show, the Patrouille de France, France’s equivalent of the Red Arrows.
The area is of course rich in WWI history. We’ve talked for a few years about visiting the Cambrai tank – one of the only surviving tanks of the Battle of Cambrai from November to December 1917, on display at Flesquières. The tank, named Deborah after its battalion- D Battalion- was discovered locally buried in a field and, having watched a video about its discovery, we were delighted to meet and speak with the actual man from the video whose passion led to the tank’s discovery. We’ve also visited the replica of this tank, built by Guy Martin and now displayed near Norfolk. Guy Martin had hoped to get permission to display and run the tank in an Armistice Day event in Lincoln, birthplace of the tank, however it was refused on health and safety grounds. No such nervousness from the French who welcomed the tank to run at their own event!
