# Donald Cunnell > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Donald_Cunnell > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Donald_Cunnell.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Cunnell > Source revision: 1352934520 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Infobox military person |name = Donald Charles Cunnell |image = |image_size = |alt = |caption = |birth_date = 19 October 1893 |death_date = 12 July 1917 (aged 23) |birth_place = [Norwich](/source/Norwich), Norfolk, England |death_place = near [Wervicq](/source/Wervicq), Belgium |burial_place = Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension North, Bailleul, France |burial_label = |burial_coordinates = |allegiance = United Kingdom |branch = British Army |service_years = 1915–1917 |rank = |service_number = |unit = [Hampshire Regiment](/source/Hampshire_Regiment)
[No. 20 Squadron RFC](/source/No._20_Squadron_RAF) |commands = |battles = First World War |awards = |relations = |other_work = }} '''Donald Charles Cunnell''' (19 October 1893 – 12 July 1917) was a British [First World War](/source/World_War_I) [flying ace](/source/flying_ace) who was killed in action over [Belgium](/source/Belgium). He is known for having shot down and wounded the Red Baron, [Manfred von Richthofen](/source/Manfred_von_Richthofen). ==Early life== Cunnell was born on 19 October 1893 at [Norwich](/source/Norwich), [Norfolk](/source/Norfolk), [England](/source/England), the son of Charles Donald Cunnell and educated at [Gresham's School](/source/Gresham's_School), [Holt](/source/Holt%2C_Norfolk). He trained as an [architect](/source/architect) and served for two years in the Norfolk Officer Training Corps.Paul Macro, ''Action at Badama Post: the Third Afghan War, 1919'' (2019), p. 107 ==Military career== In September 1914, Cunnell enlisted as a private, and soon was promoted to sergeant. On 2 November 1915, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the [Hampshire Regiment](/source/Hampshire_Regiment),{{London Gazette |date=5 November 1915 |issue=29353 |page=10925 |nolink=yes }} and saw active service on the [Western Front](/source/Western_Front_(World_War_I)). On 24 November 1916 he was seconded for duty with the [Royal Flying Corps](/source/Royal_Flying_Corps),{{London Gazette |date=8 December 1916 |issue=29855 |page=12070 |nolink=yes }} and appointed a temporary flying officer.{{London Gazette |date=12 December 1916 |issue=29862 |supp=y |page=12198 |nolink=yes }} thumb|The Royal Aircraft Factory FE2d fighter On 1 March 1917 he was promoted to lieutenant.{{London Gazette |date=30 March 1917 |issue=30005 |pages=3115–3116 |nolink=yes }} On 14 May 1917 Cunnell was appointed a [flight commander](/source/flight_commander) with the temporary rank of captain.{{London Gazette |issue=30129 |date=12 June 1917 |page=5847 |supp=y |nolink=yes }} Between 2 May and 11 July, Cunnell claimed nine victories (five claimed destroyed, four "out of control") flying a [FE2d](/source/Royal_Aircraft_Factory_F.E.2) with [No 20 Squadron](/source/No._20_Squadron_RAF). [[File:DVa2.jpg|thumb|Richthofen's [Albatros D.V](/source/Albatros_D.V) after his forced landing]] On 6 July 1917, Cunnell, flying with Second Lieutenant Albert Edward Woodbridge, was part of a patrol of six aircraft attacked by a flight of German [Albatros D.V](/source/Albatros_D.V)s including one flown by [Manfred von Richthofen](/source/Manfred_von_Richthofen). During the clash Richthofen was wounded in the head and forced to land near Wervicq. The victory was credited to the crew of Cunnell's A6412.{{cite book |first=Floyd Phillips |last=Gibbons |title=The Red Knight of Germany : the story of Baron von Richthofen, Germany's great war bird |location=New York |publisher=Bantam Books |page=152 |quote=Four days after his 57th victory, Richthofen himself went hurtling down from a fearful height with an English bullet wound in his head. It was the first wound he had received in almost three years of war. He had had many narrow escapes, but this was the first time that the enemy had touched him. The man who shot Richthofen down that 6 July morning was Second Commander Albert Edward Woodbridge, who was a Second Lieutenant at the time and was acting as observer for pilot Captain D. C. Cunnell, commanding a wing of the Twentieth Squadron, R.F.C. Cunnell was killed six days afterward, but Woodbridge survived the war to tell this story.}} It is often falsely stated that this was the only time Richthofen was shot down in air-to-air combat, overlooking [Edwin Benbow](/source/Edwin_Benbow)'s victory over the Red Baron on 6 March 1917. However, this was the only time the Red Baron was wounded in action.Guttman & Dempsey (2009), pp. 85–86. Woodbridge later described the action: {{cquote|Cunnell handled the old FE for all he was worth, banking him from one side to the other, ducking dives from above and missing head-on collisions by bare margins of feet. The air was full of whizzing machines, and the noise from the full-out motors and the crackling machine guns was more than deafening ... Cunnell and I fired into four of the Albatroses from as close as thirty yards, and I saw my tracers go right into their bodies. Those four went down ... Some of them were on fire – just balls of smoke and flame – a nasty sight to see. Two of them came at us head-on, and the first one was Richthofen. There wasn't a thing on that machine that wasn't red, and how he could fly! I opened fire with the front Lewis and so did Cunnell with the side gun. Cunnell held the FE on her course and so did the pilot of the all-red scout. With our combined speeds, we approached each other at 250 miles per hour ... I kept a steady stream of lead pouring into the nose of that machine. Then the Albatros pointed her nose down suddenly and passed under us. Cunnell banked and turned. We saw the all-red plane slip into a spin. It turned over and over, round and round, completely out of control. His motor was going full on, so I figured I had at least wounded him. As his head was the only part that wasn't protected by his motor, I thought that's where he was hit.Guttman & Dempsey (2009), p. 86.}} Richthofen's subsequent medical treatment disclosed that the bullet that hit him may have come from behind. Despite Cunnell and Woodbridge's confirmed claim for this aerial victory, Richthofen may have fallen from fire from one of the other FE.2s of 20 Squadron, from being shot down by [Raymond Collishaw](/source/Raymond_Collishaw), or even from one of Collishaw's wingmen from 'B' Flight, [10 Naval Squadron](/source/No._210_Squadron_RAF) such as [William Melville Alexander](/source/William_Melville_Alexander_(aviator)), [Ellis Vair Reid](/source/Ellis_Vair_Reid), or [Desmond Fitzgibbon](/source/Desmond_Fitzgibbon).Guttman & Dempsey (2009), pp. 87–88. Cunnell was killed by German anti-aircraft fire a few days later on 12 July 1917, near [Wervicq](/source/Wervicq), Belgium; his observer, Lt. A. G. Bill, successfully flew his fighter back to base.Guttman & Dempsey (2009), pp. 88–89. He was buried at the Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension North at [Bailleul](/source/Bailleul%2C_Nord), [France](/source/France), close to the [Belgian](/source/Belgium) border, in grave number III.C.263.{{cite web |url= http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/198987/CUNNELL,%20D%20C |title=Captain D. C. Cunnell |work=[Commonwealth War Graves Commission](/source/Commonwealth_War_Graves_Commission) |year=2014 |accessdate=7 November 2014}} ==War record== Aerial victories:{{cite web|url=http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/cunnell.php|title=Donald Charles Cunnell|work=The Aerodrome|year=2014|accessdate=7 November 2014}} {|cellpadding=0 style=text-align:left ! style=text-align:center | Date ! Time !! Aircraft !! Opponent !! Location |- | style=text-align:right| 2 May 1917 {{in5}}|| style=text-align:center| 11:15 {{in5}} | [F.E.2d](/source/Royal_Aircraft_Factory_F.E.2) {{small|(A6431)}} {{in5}}|| [Albatros D.III](/source/Albatros_D.III) {{small|({{abbr|DESF|destroyed in flames}}) }} {{in5}}|| [Comines](/source/Comines%2C_Nord) |- | style=text-align:right| 26 May 1917 {{in5}}|| style=text-align:center| 10:35 {{in5}} | F.E.2d {{small|(A6431)}} {{in5}}|| Albatros D.III {{small|({{abbr|DES|destroyed}}) }} {{in5}}|| Comines–[Quesnoy](/source/Quesnoy-sur-De%C3%BBle) |- | style=text-align:right| 31 May 1917 {{in5}}|| style=text-align:center | 19:20 {{in5}} | F.E.2d {{small|(A6430)}} {{in5}}|| Albatros D.III {{small|({{abbr|DES|destroyed}}) }} {{in5}}|| Comines |- | style=text-align:right| 5 June 1917 {{in5}}|| style=text-align:center| 08:10 {{in5}} | F.E.2d {{small|(A6414)}} {{in5}}|| [Albatros D.V](/source/Albatros_D.V) {{small|({{abbr|DESF|destroyed in flames}}) }} {{in5}}|| Coucou |- | style=text-align:right| 6 July 1917 {{in5}}|| style=text-align:center| 10:30 {{in5}} | F.E.2d {{small|(A6512)}} {{in5}}|| Albatros D.V {{small|({{abbr|OOC|out of control}}) }} {{in5}}|| [Wervicq](/source/Wervicq) |- | style=text-align:right| 6 July 1917 {{in5}}|| style=text-align:center| 10:30 {{in5}} | F.E.2d {{small|(A6512)}} {{in5}}|| Albatros D.V {{small|({{abbr|OOC|out of control}}) }} {{in5}}|| Wervicq |- | style=text-align:right| 6 July 1917 {{in5}}|| style=text-align:center| 10:30 {{in5}} | F.E.2d {{small|(A6512)}} {{in5}}|| Albatros D.V {{small|({{abbr|OOC|out of control}}) }} {{in5}}|| Wervicq |- | style=text-align:right| 6 July 1917 {{in5}}|| style=text-align:center| 10:30 {{in5}} | F.E.2d {{small|(A6512)}} {{in5}}|| Albatros D.V {{small|({{abbr|OOC|out of control}}) }} {{in5}}|| Wervicq |- | style=text-align:right| 11 July 1917 {{in5}}|| style=text-align:center| 14:00 {{in5}} | F.E.2d {{small|(A6412)}} {{in5}}|| Albatros D.V {{small|({{abbr|DESF|destroyed in flames}}) }} {{in5}}|| Wervicq–[Menin](/source/Menen) |} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Bibliography== *{{cite book |title=Pusher Aces of World War I |first1=Jon |last1=Guttman |first2=Harry |last2=Dempsey |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-84603-417-6 |name-list-style=amp}} *{{cite book |title=When Heroes Die |first=Sue |last=Smart |publisher=Breedon Books |year=2001 |isbn=1-85983-256-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/whenheroesdiefor0000smar }} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunnell, Donald}} Category:1893 births Category:1917 deaths Category:Military personnel from Norwich Category:People educated at Gresham's School Category:Royal Hampshire Regiment officers Category:Royal Flying Corps officers Category:English aviators Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:British military personnel killed in World War I Category:British World War I flying aces Category:Aviators killed by being shot down --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Donald Cunnell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Cunnell) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Cunnell?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.