Cedric Popkin Cedric Bassett Popkin ( 1891 – January 1968 ) is considered the person most likely to have killed German ace Manfred von Richthofen — also known as the " Red Baron " — on 21 April 1918 . Popkin was an anti - aircraft ( AA ) machine gun ner with the First Australian Imperial Force ( AIF ) , during World War I . Early life . Popkin was born in Sydney and was a carpenter by trade . When he enlisted in the AIF , in Brisbane on 6 May 1916 , he was living in Palmwoods , Queensland . Military career . Popkin left Australia on 20 October with the 6th Reinforcements , 7th Machine Gun Company on HMAT " Port Lincoln " . By April 1918 , Popkin — who had achieved the rank of Sergeant — was a gunner in the 24th Machine Gun Company , part of the Australian 4th Division , which was stationed in the Somme Valley , France . Death of the Red Baron . At about 10 : 35 a . m . on 21 April , Richthofen , flying his red Fokker Dr . I , engaged Sopwith Camel s from 209 Squadron , Royal Air Force ( RAF ) . He pursued a Camel piloted by a Canadian , Lieutenant Wilfrid May . In turn the Baron was chased by another Canadian pilot , Captain Roy Brown . The three planes flew over Morlancourt Ridge , in the 4th Division ' s sector , and Popkin — using a Vickers machine gun — and other Australian machine gunners and riflemen also fired at Richthofen . The Baron was hit by a 0 . 303 calibre bullet which passed diagonally from right to left through his chest . He then made a hasty but controlled landing , in a field on a hill near the Bray - Corbie road , just north of Vaux - sur - Somme . His Fokker was not damaged by the landing . One witness , Gunner George Ridgway , stated that when he and other Australian soldiers reached the plane , Richthofen was still alive but died moments later . Another eye witness , Sergeant Ted Smout , reported that Richthofen ' s last word was " " kaputt " " ( " finished " ) immediately before he died . The identity of the person who shot the Baron remains unknown ; 0 . 303 ammunition was the standard ammunition for all machine guns and rifles used by British Empire forces during World War I . However , many experts believe that the shot probably came from Popkin , though some believe the shot came from William John " Snowy " Evans . It is now considered all but certain by historians , doctors , and ballistics experts that von Richthofen was killed by an AA machine gunner firing from the ground , for a number of reasons . Autopsies revealed that the wound which killed the Baron was caused by a bullet moving in an upward motion . It was reported that a spent . 303 bullet was found inside Richthofen ' s clothing . These facts , and the angle at which the bullet passed through Richthofen ' s body , suggest that he was killed by a long distance , low velocity shot from a ground - based weapon . Many Australian riflemen were also shooting at the Baron at the time , so one of them may have fired the fatal shot . However , Popkin was an experienced AA gunner , the volume of fire from the Vickers was far greater ( at least 450 rounds per minute ) than the bolt - action Lee - Enfield rifles ( up to 30 rounds per minute ) used by the infantry , and Popkin was the only machine gunner known to have fired at Richthofen from the right , and from a long distance , immediately before he landed . The RAF ultimately gave official credit to Brown . Later life . Popkin returned to Australia on 5 January 1919 , and after being discharged from the army , worked once more as a carpenter . He spent most of the remainder of his life in Tweed Heads and the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales . He is buried in Brisbane . In 1964 , Popkin told the " Brisbane Courier - Mail " : " I am fairly certain it was my fire which caused the Baron to crash [ , ] but it would be impossible to say definitely that I was responsible . . . As to pinpointing without doubt the man who fired the fatal shot [ , ] the controversy will never actually be resolved . "