On this day in 1914……

From a contemporary newspaper article

BRITON FORCES DOWN FIRST GERMAN OF WAR

(France, August 25, 1914)
British pilots led by the intrepid Lieutenant H.D. Harvey-Kelly of No.2 Squadron RFC, have caused the first German aircraft loss of the war. Harvey-Kelly was leading three RFC B.E.2a machines on an observation mission near the front line when they spotted a German reconnaissance craft and gave chase firing at it with pistols.

The chase went on for a while before the German pilot and his observer apparently decided to abandon the aeroplane and attempt to escape on foot. They put down in a field and were already making a dash for nearby woods as the British pilots landed and began to chase them. The Germans however, had too great a start and disappeared into some trees.

The British airmen burnt the German machine. Another German aeroplane was forced down and captured near Le Quesnoy on the same day.