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Manfred von Richthofen

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"Red Baron" redirects here. For other uses, see Red Baron (disambiguation).
Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron", with the Pour le Mérite medal around his neck.

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (May 2, 1892 – April 21, 1918) was a German pilot and is still regarded today as the "ace of aces".[1][2] He was an air squadron leader and flying ace and the most successful fighter pilot of World War I, credited with 80 confirmed air combat victories.

Richthofen is also known as "le Baron Rouge", "le Diable Rouge" ("Red Devil") or "Petit Rouge" ("Little Red") in French, and the "Red Knight" or the "Red Baron" in the English-speaking world. The German translation of Red Baron is "der Rote Baron", and Richthofen is known by this moniker in Germany as well (although he was rarely referred to as "Baron" in Germany during his lifetime, because Freiherr is the correct title for his level of nobility). Richthofen's autobiography is titled Der Rote Kampfflieger ("The Red Battle Flier").

Early Life

Born in Breslau, Silesia, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland), Richthofen moved with his family to nearby Schweidnitz (now Świdnica, Poland), when he was 9 years old. The young Richthofen enjoyed hunting and riding horses. After completing cadet training in 1911, he joined a cavalry unit: Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Alexander III. von Russland (1. Westpreußisches) (which may be translated as, "Uhlan Regiment Czar Alexander III of Russia [1st Battalion, West Prussia]").

When the First World War began, Richthofen served as a cavalry scout on both the eastern and western fronts. However, he became bored with this limited role and in about May 1915 asked to be transferred to the air service. He first became an aircraft observer.

Piloting Career

Inspired by a chance meeting with the great air fighter Oswald Boelcke, he decided to become a pilot himself. Later, Boelcke selected Richthofen to join his elite fighter squadron (Jagdstaffel), Jasta 2. Richthofen won his first aerial combat over Cambrai, France, on September 17, 1916.

After his first victory, Richthofen wrote to a friend in Berlin who was a jeweler and ordered a silver cup engraved with the date of the fight and the type of enemy machine. He continued this tradition until he had sixty cups, by which time the supply of silver in blockaded Germany was restricted.

Richthofen was not regarded by his peers as an especially gifted pilot. Pilots of the day and historians have continually asserted that his younger brother Lothar was a much more natural pilot, being more skilled in aerobatic maneuvers. Rather than engage in such risky tactics, Manfred von Richthofen adhered strictly to a set of flight maxims (commonly referred to as the "Dicta Boelcke") to assure the greatest chance of both squadron and individual success. And while his natural skills as a pilot were not as renowned as some, Manfred von Richthofen viewed his plane as a platform from which to fire his guns, and from that standpoint his reputation and skill as an aerial marksman rank with any fighter pilot of his era.

File:MvRichthofensFokker.jpg
Manfred von Richthofen's Fokker Dr.I triplane

On November 23, 1916, Richthofen downed the British ace Lanoe Hawker, sometimes referred as "the British Boelcke." The difficult victory came while Richthofen was flying an Albatros D.II. After this engagement, he was convinced he needed a fighter aircraft with more agility, though this implied a loss of speed. Unfortunately, the Albatros fighter was the mainstay of the German air service at that time and throughout 1917, and so the Baron flew Albatros D.III and D.V models well into 1917. However, he switched to a Halberstadt D.II biplane while the Albatros design was being modified after a spate of lower-wing spar failures. By September 1917, Richthofen was flying the celebrated Fokker Dr.I triplane, the distinctive three-winged aircraft with which he is most commonly associated.

The Flying Circus

In January 1917, after his 16th confirmed kill, Richthofen received the Pour le Mérite, the highest military honor in Germany at the time. That same month, he assumed command of Jasta 11, which ultimately included some of the elite of Germany's pilots, many of whom he trained himself. Several in turn subsequently became leaders of their own squadrons.

As a practical aid to easy identification in the melee of air combat, Jasta 11's aircraft soon adopted red colorations with various individual markings, with some of Richthofen's own planes painted entirely red. This practice soon had its use in German propaganda, even the RFC aircrew dubbing Richthofen "Le Petit Rouge."

Richthofen led his new unit to unparalleled success, peaking during "Bloody April" of 1917. In that month alone, he downed 22 British aircraft, raising his official tally to 52. By June, he was the commander of the first of the new larger Jagdgeschwader (wing) formations, leading Jagdgeschwader 1 composed of Jastas 4, 6, 10, and 11. These were highly mobile combined units that could be sent at short notice to different parts of the front as required. In this way, JG1 became "The Flying Circus" or "Richthofen's Circus", which got its name partially from the aircraft of all different colors and that they used large tents to house men and machines.

However, on 6 July, fighting a formation of No. 20 Squadron FE-2s, Richthofen was struck by long-range gunfire and sustained a serious head wound that grounded him for several weeks. He later returned to combat, but this injury is thought to have caused lasting damage, as he later often suffered from post-flight nausea and headaches, as well as a change in temperament.

Richthofen was a brilliant tactician, building on Boelcke's tactics. But unlike Boelcke, he led by example and force of will rather than by inspiration. He was often described as distant, unemotional, and rather humorless, though some colleagues contend otherwise. (See Karl Bodenschatz, Hunting With Richtofen).

Some say that, in 1918, Richthofen had become such a legend that it was feared that his death would be a blow to the morale of the German people. His superiors asked him to retire, but he refused, saying it was his duty to carry on the fight in support of the foot soldiers that had no choice but to fight.

Death

Australian soldiers and airmen with the wreckage of Richthofen's plane

The Red Baron met his death on April 21 1918, from a single 0.303 bullet, while flying over Morlancourt Ridge, near the Somme River.

At the time he had been pursuing a Sopwith Camel piloted by a Canadian Lieutenant Wilfrid "Wop" May of No. 209 Squadron, Royal Air Force. In turn, the Baron was spotted and chased by a Camel piloted by a school friend of May, CanadianCaptain Arthur "Roy" Brown. The Red Baron turned to check the tail of his plane, that is, in the direction of Brown. He was then struck by the fatal bullet: entering through the right lower abdomen, it passed diagonally through his chest and tumbled end-over-end, producing an elongated exit wound below his left nipple.

Richthofen managed to make a hasty but controlled landing in a field on a hill near the Bray-Corbie road, just north of the village of Vaux-sur-Somme, in a sector controlled by the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). His Fokker was not damaged by the landing. One account claims that Richthofen died a few moments after Allied soldiers reached the plane, and that before he died Richthofen said a few words including "kaputt" ("broken")[citation needed]. Most authorities, however, believe that he was already dead or unconscious by that time.

No. 3 Squadron (3 Sqn) of the Australian Flying Corps, the nearest Allied air unit, assumed responsibility for the Baron's remains.

The identity of the person who shot the Red Baron remains unknown; 0.303 ammunition was the standard ammunition for all machine guns and rifles used by British Empire forces during World War I. It is now considered all but certain by historians, doctors, and ballistics experts that Richthofen was killed by an anti-aircraft (AA) machine gunner, as the wound through his body indicated that it had been caused by a bullet moving in an upward motion, providing ample evidence for a shot coming from the ground.

Many experts believe that the shot probably came from Sergeant Cedric Popkin of the Australian 24th Machine Gun Company[3]. Popkin was the only ground-based machine gunner known to have fired at Richthofen from the right, immediately before he landed. Many Australian riflemen were also shooting at the Baron at the time, so it is possible that one of them may well have fired the fatal shot. The Royal Air Force gave official credit to Roy Brown. However, it has been calculated that Richthofen could have lived for only 20–30 seconds after he was hit and that Brown had not fired at him within that time frame. It was reported that a spent 0.303 bullet was found inside Richthofen's clothing, which would also support a low-velocity shot from a long distance.

An American television documentary, The Death of the Red Baron, on the Discovery Channel series Unsolved History, found it was probably an unheralded Australian machine gunner, W.J. "Snowy" Evans, a Lewis gunner of the 53rd Battery who brought down Manfred von Richthofen near the French village of Vaux-sur-Somme. They based their findings on a computer simulation of the brief engagement between Captain Brown and the baron, a re-enactment of the battle using lasers for machine guns, and the expertise of former Hamilton, Ontario forensic pathologist Dr. David King. The program rules out Popkin as the shooter based on a hand drawn map and his own writings where he states that he did not shoot at Richthofen's plane at an angle that would have caused the fatal wound.

3 Squadron officers were pallbearers and Australian soldiers acted as a guard of honor during the Red Baron's funeral on 22 April 1918.

The commanding officer of 3 Sqn, Major David Blake suggested initially that Richthofen had been killed by the crew of one of his squadron's RE8s, which had also fought Richthofen's unit that afternoon. However, following an autopsy that he witnessed, Blake became a strong proponent of the view that an AA machine gunner had killed Richthofen.

In common with most Allied air officers, Blake regarded Manfred von Richthofen with great respect, and he organized a full military funeral. Richthofen was buried in the cemetery at the village of Bertangles near Amiens on 22 April 1918. Six airmen with the rank of captain — the same rank as Richthofen — served as pallbearers, and a guard of honor fired a salute. Other Allied squadrons presented memorial wreaths.

In 1925, Manfred von Richthofen's youngest brother, Bolko, recovered the body and took it home. The family's first intention was to lay Manfred's coffin down at the Schweidnitz cemetery, beside the graves of his father and his brother Lothar (killed in a post-war air crash). But important German authorities—above all the Ministry of War as well as the aeronautical organizations—expressed a wish that the final place of rest for the body of Manfred should be at the Invaliden Cemetery in Berlin, where so many German heroes and commanders were buried. The family agreed, in the knowledge that the memories of Manfred belonged to the entire German nation.

Brain Damage Theory

In September 2004, researchers at the University of Missouri stated that it was likely that brain damage from the earlier head injury had played a part in the Baron's death. This theory had been published by a German researcher in the medical journal The Lancet five years earlier[4]. His behavior after his injury was noted as consistent with brain-injured patients, and such an injury may account for his perceived lack of judgment on his final flight: flying too low over enemy territory and suffering target fixation. Indeed, for reasons that might never fully be known, on his final flight, Richthofen suddenly and inexplicably strayed from several of the strict rules of aerial combat that he himself had devised and obeyed throughout his career. He may also have suffered from what is now recognized as combat fatigue: a symptom of which is a recklessness and disregard for personal safety, which may explain his final flight at low level over enemy lines.

Number of kills

For decades after World War I, some authors denigrated von Richtofen's 80 victories, insisting that his record was exaggerated for propaganda purposes. Some claimed that he took credit for planes downed by his squadron or wing. However, in the 1990s, resurgence in Great War scholarship resulted in detailed investigation of many facets of air combat. The definitive study was conducted by British historian Norman Franks with two colleagues, resulting in publication of Under the Guns of the Red Baron in 1998. Their research confirmed the veracity of at least 73 of von Richtofen's claims, with identities of the Allied airmen whom von Richthofen had fought. There were also unconfirmed victories that could put his actual total as high as 84.

Fokker Dr.I. Replica of the famous Manfred von Richthofen tri-plane at the ILA 2006

The Red Baron has become a symbol for dexterity, daring and victory, combined with an element of tragedy both as being 'on the losing side' and in his ultimate death.

The engine from von Richthofen's aircraft is on display in the Imperial War Museum in London as part of the War in the Air Exhibit. It still bears the damage sustained in its final crash.

An American frozen foods manufacturer has adopted his nickname on Red Baron Pizza accompanied by an image that looks substantially unlike von Richthofen. The image includes a handlebar moustache, which the real Richthofen never had.

In the comic strip Peanuts, one of Snoopy's fantasies portrays him as a World War I flying ace (Arthur Brown's nickname was Snoopy) with a personal grudge against the Red Baron.

A board game called "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron" was released in the 1970s[citation needed], a 3-D game played with marbles.

Film and television references

Von Richthofen has been the subject of numerous films, both documentary and fictional

Song references and bands named for him
File:Dynamix redbaron2hires.png
Red Baron by Dynamix

There have also been a number of WWI flight simulators involving Baron von Richthofen. They include Hunt for the Red Baron, written and published by Small Rockets, Knights of the Sky by Microprose, and Red Baron by Dynamix and published by Sierra Entertainment which was followed up by a less successful sequel Red Baron II.

Videogame references

Relatives of Note

Manfred von Richthofen was distant cousins with the German Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen[5], as well as Frieda von Richthofen (1879–1956), who married the English novelist D.H. Lawrence (1885–1930) in July 1914[6]. Though their last common ancestor was born in 1661, the Red Baron's fame nonetheless attached to Frieda's reputation in war time England. Frieda's sister Else von Richthofen was the first female social scientist in Germany.

His younger brother, Lothar von Richthofen (1894–1922), was also a flying ace, with 40 victories. He served along side his brother in Jasta 11. He died in an air crash in 1922.

His great-nephew, Baron Dr. Hermann von Richthofen, was German Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1989 to 1993, and his name made him a media favorite.

Another great-nephew, Manfred Alberto von Richthofen, was murdered with his wife Marisia, in their home in São Paulo, Brazil, on 31 October 2002. On 5 June 2006, his daughter, Suzane von Richthofen, along with her boyfriend and his brother, were put on trial for the murder. The case generated significant media attention in Brazil due to the stark contrast between the crime and the daughter's affluent upbringing. On 22 July 2006 Suzane was sentenced to 39 1/2 years in prison for the crime. Her boyfriend got the same sentence and his brother was sentenced to 38 1/2 years for conspiracy.

His uncle, Baron Walter von Richthofen, was also a native of Silesia. Walter von Richthofen came to Denver (Colorado, USA) in 1877 after the Franco-Prussian War, started the Denver Chamber of Commerce, and was celebrated locally as the founder of Montclair as "a fount of health and prosperity, and as a model community with enlightened planning and sophisticated architecture." His Richthofen Castle was one of the most sumptuous mansions in the American West. Begun in 1883 and completed in 1887, it was modeled on the original Richthofen Castle in Germany. Located immediately around the Castle are the Baron's mistress's house and his sanitarium/dairy.

He is also the 10th cousin, 6 times removed of Prince Felipe of Spain.

Notes

Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a former title (translated as 'Baron'). In Germany since 1919, it forms part of family names. The feminine forms are Freifrau and Freiin.

  1. ^ Esprit de Corps Military Magazine. "Aces". Retrieved October 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Trenches on the Web. "Baron Manfred von Richthofen". Retrieved October 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/comment/richt.htm
  4. ^ Lancet. 1999 Aug 7; 354 (9177): 502-4.
  5. ^ Wolfram von Richthofen and Manfred von Richthofen were fourth cousins
  6. ^ Frieda (von Richthofen) Lawrence and Manfred von Richthofen were fifth cousins once removed

References

  • Norman Franks, et al (1998). Under the Guns of the Red Baron. Grub Street, London.
  • Norman Franks and Alan Bennett (1997). The Red Baron's Last Flight. Grub Street, London.
  • Henning Allmers: Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen's Medical Record. Was the "Red Baron" fit to fly? Lancet 1999; 354: 502-4
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