On the morning of April 20th, 1918, amidst the grim realities of World War I, a squadron of British Royal Air Force Sopwith Camel fighters readied themselves for a daring assault. Their target: German reconnaissance flights that were critical for gathering intelligence over the embattled Somme Valley in northern France. As the first light of dawn stretched across the sky, casting long shadows on the ground below, the British pilots ascended into the crisp morning air, the rumble of their engines a harbinger of the battle to come.

As the Sopwith Camels approached their target, they were taken by surprise by the roar of engines from above. Emerging from the clouds, a formation of German Fokker DR.1 triplanes dove into view with their menacing machine guns.

Leading the formation was a strange plane painted bright red, its bold crimson hue marking it apart from the rest. By that time in the war, its pilot didn’t care who saw him coming. He preferred a gentlemanly fight… and his opponents were going to need all the help they could get.

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