Sergeant Cedric PopkinPrint Page 
The memorial features a large wrought iron red poppy and an information plaque.
Cedric Bassett Popkin (1890 – 1968) was an Australian soldier considered most likely to have killed "The Red Baron" according to original research and forensics done by Dr M Geoffrey Miller “The death of Baron Manfred Richthofen: Who fired the fatal shot?” in 1998 (Journal and Proceedings of Military History Society of Australia). Popkin was an anti-aircraft (AA) machine gunner with the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the First World War.
Location
| Address: | Margaret & Little Main Streets, Palmwoods Memorial Hall, Palmwoods, 4555 |
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| State: | QLD |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -26.686261 Long: 152.958911 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Monument |
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| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Military |
| Actual Event Start Date: | 04-August-1914 |
| Actual Event End Date: | 28-June-1919 |
Dedication
| Approx. Monument Dedication Date: | 2021 |
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Cedric Popkin Memorial
Cedric Bassett Popkin was born 20 June 1890 in Sydney and lived in Palmwoods as a carpenter when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in May 1916. His name is on the Roll of Honour at Palmwoods Memorial Hall. He achieved the rank of Sergeant of the 24th Machine Gun Company, part of the Australian 4th Division stationed in the Somme Valley, France, during the First World War.
Manfred von Richtofen was a notorious German pilot who claimed to have won over 80 air battles. A German hero, he was known as the Red Baron, after painting his aircraft red.
At 10.35am on 21 April 1918, near Vaux-sur-Somme, the Red Baron was flying his red Fokker in an air chase. Popkin an experienced gunner, was on the ground and calculated the Red Baron`s return flight path shooting 70 - 80 rounds. This caused the Red Baron to crash into a field and finally die. It is considered through autopsies and ballistics reports that the fatal bullet must have come from the ground in an upwards direction. Popkin said in 1964 ' I am fairly certain it was my fire which caused the Baron to crash'.
Cedric Popkin died on 26 January 1968 and is buried in Brisbane.
