Fifty feet above the Somme River in the spring of 1918, time ran out on the life of Manfred von Richthofen. Canadian Captain Roy Brown, flying a British-built Sopwith Camel, was low on ammunition, but he began firing as soon as he was within range—and the killer Camel claimed another victim, this time, Germany’s greatest ace.

Known as the Camel because of the hump over its machine gun fairings, this stubby fighter introduced in 1917 initially took more lives of Royal Flying Corps pilots than the Germans did. Described as "too slow to catch anything or to run away," the design of its rotary engine had the effect of a 381-pound gyroscope. Pilots would encounter their first problem with the Camel just after takeoff; if the throttle was not handled carefully, the engine would cut out at about 200 feet, and the plane would corkscrew itself into the ground.

But the Sopwith Camel was faster than its chief opponent, the Fokker Triplane. As the war progressed, the Camel chalked up an outstanding record: 1,634 confirmed victories, including 99 balloons and a Zeppelin. The plane flew for 15 months with the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service, performing against ground troops, off carriers, and in night flying operations. The British built 5,490 Sopwith Camels. All were treacherous to handle and full of idiosyncrasies, but their unmatched maneuverability and lighting-fast turns contributed importantly to Allied aerial supremacy.