The Battle of Leipzig: The Last Man To Die

A timeless photo from celebrated war photographer Robert Capa. This photo portrays the moment when Private Raymond Bowman was killed during the Battle of Leipzig, on the 18th of April 1945.

Capa was embedded with the 23rd Infantry Regiment during their assault on the Zeppelin Bridge in Leipzig, and he followed a machine gun platoon from 1st Battalion’s Company D as they entered a residential apartment building on Frankfurter Allee 39 (now called Jahnallee 61). This house was only 100 yards from the bridge so it granted the platoon the perfect position from which to lay down covering fire for American troops assaulting the bridge.

The machine gun platoon occupied the 2nd floor flat, and Private Raymond Bowman and Clarence Ridgeway moved onto the balcony, where they set up their gun.

Capa photographed both men, but moments later, when Capa stepped back into the flat, a single shot rang out – a German sniper had struck Private Bowman, killing him instantly.

Instinctively, Capa photographed the bloody scene, and the famous photo he took of Bowman’s body became known as as “The Last Man To Die” when it was published in Life Magazine on the 14th of May 1945. – Though at the time Private Bowman was not identified in the photo…

The house on Jahnallee 61 was eventually abandoned after the war, and it lay derelict for years. However, in 2016, an exhibition space was opened on the ground floor, telling visitors about the story of Private Bowman, Robert Capa, and the series of famous photos he took during the battle.

Today, the house is known to the people of Leipzig as “Capa Haus”.

The exhibition opening in 2016 was attended by a then 96-year old Lehman Riggs – a soldier who served in Bowman’s machine gun platoon, and who was present during Bowman’s final moments.

During the same ceremony, the street adjacent to Jahnallee 61 was renamed Bowmanstrasse.

And, just opposite, lies Capa Strasse.

To learn more about the American assault on Leipzig, and to hear the testimony of Lehman Riggs regarding the fateful story of Private Bowman, check out episode 4.3 of the Europe at War podcast.

Photo credits: Capa Haus Leipzig.