Hello,
As some general thoughts (ramblings) regarding Stephan’s No. 4, IMO too much is made of MvR being behind the lines 21 April and how it was a violation of his Air Combat Operations Manual's stipulation that
“one should never obstinately stay with an opponent who, through bad shooting or skillful turning, one has been unable to shoot down, when the battle lasts until it is far on the other side and one is alone and faced by a greater number of opponents.”
No question MvR obstinately pursued May. However, had MvR been unable to bring down May because of bad shooting; i.e., poor marksmanship? I concede that despite being a renowned marksman his aim could have been off, but he was dealing with one jammed Maxim and another that fired intermittently, just a few bullets at a time with frequent manual re-cocking—although one could argue the results were the same as poor marksmanship, save for the psychological (“this gun is making it difficult to shoot properly” vs. “I can’t hit the broad side of a barn”).
Had MvR been unable to bring down May because of skillful turning? No; once on the deck May flew a relatively straight flight path. He jinked, but jinking is not skillful turning. It’s not even turning, skilled or otherwise.
Did the battle last until far on the other side? No. Many use this part of the Air Combat Operations Manual to show MvR must have suffered PTSD to go against what he wrote and fly behind the lines in such a manner. However, MvR wrote “
far on the other side.” He came down roughly three miles behind the lines—in an airplane, three miles is nothing. It is absolutely not “far” in an airplane with sufficient fuel and a smooth running engine...
…and altitude. I contend MvR’s altitude was a much larger contributing factor to his demise than his distance behind the lines. Let’s say he and May flew at 50 feet AGL (above ground level)—and judging by that Vaux sur Somme steeple they avoided, they were even lower than that (one witness claims May’s wheels touched ground twice). If MvR had been at 50 feet AGL but directly
above the lines, would he have been any safer? My speculation is no because he would have still been in range of many, many light caliber weapons. (As an unrelated example, regard Mannock’s fate as he flew low over the lines.) Now, put MvR at 10,000 feet AGL—he would have been out of range of all light caliber weaponry when flying right over the lines
or when three miles beyond them. I’m not suggesting that this altitude would have prevented his demise via some other method (scout, heavy caliber AAA), and no question his distance behind the lines was part of the chain of events leading to his death (he had to fly to where he was shot by who shot him, after all), but his low altitude is what brought him in range to be killed in the manner he was, regardless of his distance behind the lines.
While over the lines, was MvR faced by a greater number of opponents—i.e.,
a la Voss vs No. 56? No. By all accounts, it was just he and May. Brown soon showed up for his single pass—mostly unseen by MvR, I suspect, and at a point closer to the lines than the brickworks—then disappeared from his sight (speculation—can’t say definitively what MvR saw or didn’t see), although if MvR still saw Brown he didn’t even consider him threat enough to break off his chase of May. Beyond that, no other planes. Of the two RAF planes, only Brown “faced” (i.e., potential offensive combat opponent) MvR; May was being chased and hardly a threat. Thus, at worst, MvR faced an equal number of enemy, one vs one, briefly.
We’ll never know MvR’s mindset that day but I speculate he broke off his attack only when his second Maxim jammed. He obviously knew or realized he was behind the lines because he turned back east, but he also obviously knew he was too low because he initiated a climb.
Anyway, I know there are many theories regarding this day (which makes this subject so fascinating and fun to me), but that’s my take on MvR’s supposed violation of the Air Combat Operations Manual.