I have had an experience which might perhaps be described as being shot down. At the same time, I call shot down only when one falls down. Today I got into trouble but I escaped with a whole skin.

He switched to the Albatros D. He circulated to his pilots the basic rule which he wanted them to fight by: "Aim for the man and don't miss him. Even more conclusively Richthofen could not have continued his pursuit of May for as long as he did (up to two minutes) had this wound come from Brown's guns.

Richthofen was shot down and killed near Amiens on 21 April 1918. By 1918 he was regarded as a national hero in Germany and was very well known by the other side. He remains perhaps the most widely known fighter pilot of all time and has been the subject of many books films and other media.