Mannock's death

Could anybody please give me the details of Mick Mannock's death?
Any info would be appreciated.

cheers,
jbs

On July 26, 1918, Mannock was commanding No. 85 Squadron, he took a new pilot, D.C. Inglis out on a patrol over the German lines. Mannock spotted a German two-seater and fired on it, then made way for Inglis to finish him off and score his first victory.

On the return flight Mannock and Inglis flew low toward home, Mannock in the lead. German anti-aircraft apparently scored some hits on Mannock's plane as he started side-slipping, then burst into flames and went out of control crashing into the ground. Inglis circled the burning wreckage but saw no signs of life. German gunners were getting a bead on him so he sped off home. Some sources say Inglis was brought down by the anti-aircraft fire as well, but survived and made it back to the Allied lines.

[Soderbaum]

Hi

A German Kofl report stated that one Sopw-C was shot down by ground mg in Pacaut wood within German hold lines at 6:30.

Five minutes later a second Sopw-C was also shot down by ground mg East Robecq in No Mans Land just inside British hold lines.

These units were not AA(Flak) which could indicate that the Sopwiths were flying rather low...

It is quit possible to find more German reports of the incident, positively in the Archive in Munich which has much material from the 6th German Army...

:
Gunnar

Thanks for the info

"A German Kofl report stated that one Sopw-C was shot down by ground mg in Pacaut wood within German hold lines at 6:30."


was Mannock flying a camel? I always thought he was flying an SE5

cheers,
jbs

AFAIK, Mannock and Inglis were flying SE5s. ???

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Rex:
No.85 Squadron S.E.5a (RAF) were flying 200 hp "Viper" powered S.E.5a aircraft. The S.E.5 was a different aircraft.
Bluer Skies,
Dan-San

To paraphrase Michael Keaton in Mr. Mom "5, 5a, whatever it takes." *

Thanks for clearing that up Dan-San. What about Inglis, was he brought down by ground fire that day too, or did he make it home?

[Ginger.]

Inglis circled Mick's burning wreck amid a hail of German machine gun fire.Then he set off home in a badly shot up machine which came down at St.Floris just inside the British front line.He was dragged from the aircraft into a trench.Soaked in petrol and deep in shock he kept repeating.
"The bloody bastards have shot down my Major in flames."

[Ginger.]

"Always above,seldom on the same level,never underneath."
Mick's words of wisdom that he drilled into his men time after time.
Like a lot of the great Aces,on the day he died he broke every one of his own tactical doctrines.

[Shooter]

Ginger, Dan-San, et al:

Not knowing a lot of the details of Mannock's demise, I ask an often asked query: was his end, particularly in light of his violation of his (and standing) operating procedures, a product of combat fatigue?

Many of the great aces of the Great War (as well as the Second Big Show) met their ends after a long period of sustained combat operations. Some were killed while violating the very principles they espoused to others for so long (MvR also comes to mind). I have always thought that perhaps it was the cumulative effect of continuous combat that wore down their rational thought processes. IE: combat fatigue.

D'ya think?

Semper Fi,

Shooter sends