Manfred von Richthofen
1892 - 1918
The notorious Red Baron shot down 80 planes for Germany in WWI
by Rit Nosotro First Published:: 2003( )
Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious Red Baron, was a living legend. A fighter pilot in the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I, Richthofen shot down 80 enemy airplanes. Biplanes were popular at the time, but Richthofen made the Fokker Dr.I triplane famous because of his flying, although only twenty of his kills were made with that plane. Known as the ace of aces, he had spectacular flying skills, but only lived to be twenty-five.
On May 2, 1892, Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was born in Beslau, Germany, which is actually now a part of Poland. Part of an aristocratic family, young Manfred grew up loving sports, hunting, and gymnastics. After a mix of both home and traditional schooling, he joined the Prussian cadet corps at age 11, because his father wanted him to. He did not like the discipline of the cadet corps, and was eager to get to the army.
Once in the army, Richthofen was assigned to the 1st Regiment of Uhlans, a cavalry group in the German Army. He soon became an officer. When World War I started in July of 1914, he saw combat action in France. Though he loved the cavalry, they soon became obsolete with the use of machine guns and barbed wire. Shortly after, Richthofen requested to be transferred to the Air Service.
Richthofen had his first flight as an observer - someone who sits in the front seat of the plane and gathers intelligence or navigates - at the end of May in 1915. Completely awed by the experience, he said that he "counted the hours to the time when we should start out again." [1] He was later sent to the 69th Squadron, where he served as an observer for some time. He had many close encounters, including one time when the pilot decided to fly through a cloud of smoke, just because thrill of taking the risk. After they almost crashed, Russian gunfire hit the engine, and it died, forcing them to land in Russian territory. Fortunately for them, the Germans had taken over that very area the day before.
In October of 1915, Richthofen started taking flying lessons. He doggedly pursued learning, putting his heart and soul into it. Although he failed his first few flying examinations, he finally passed on Christmas day of 1915. He made his first kill while piloting and airplane, a French Nieuport, on April 26, 1916. He was a very reckless pilot, once even flying through a thunderstorm intentionally.
Richthofen went on many bombing missions into Russia, to which he said "Compared with flying in the West, flying in the East is absolutely a holiday." [2] Bombing during World War I was quite different from what it is today. Back then, the occupants of the plane carried handheld bombs, which were usually little more then large hand grenades, and tossed them over the side at an appointed target.
In September of 1916, Richthofen was transferred to an area on the western front. Flying with the Jagdstaffel 11 squadron, an Albatros D.II biplane was his primary aircraft. [3] He flew under the command of Oswald Boelcke, a German ace with 40 kills, who eventually died from a midair collision.
Richthofen's eleventh victory was a very remarkable one. On November 23 of 1916, Major Hawker, a very famous British pilot, led a small three-plane flight into a German ambush, and Richthofen and two other pilots of Justa 2 attacked. Eventually Richthofen and Hawker were fighting one-on-one. They circled each other in the air, both trying to get behind the other to get a good shot. Both planes flew in very tight circles, and they gradually got lower and lower to the ground. But Hawker finally realized that he should try and get back to British lines. He fled, zigzagging and weaving to try and avoid Richthofen's fire, but to no avail. Richthofen was determined, and finally got a lucky shot that hit Hawker in the head, killing him. Manfred commented later, saying "The impertinent fellow was full of cheek and when we had got down to about 3,000 feet he merrily waved to me as if he would say, 'Well, how do you do?'". [4]
On January 4th, 1917, Richthofen scored his sixteenth air victory, making him the highest living German fighter ace. [5] A little while later he was given command of Jasta 11, which would become known as the Flying Circus. He was also awarded the Ordre pour le Merite, the highest military honor in Germany.
Richthofen decided to paint his Albatros plane red, to identify himself from the enemy so that his friends on the ground would not shoot him down accidentally. Although the Albatros did not become famous, - as was the case with the Fokker Dr.I triplane - it was the airplane that he used more often.
In the month of April, in 1917, the Red Baron scored a total of 21 kills. Because Richthofen was so infamous on the Allies side, they British organized a special fighter squadron, with the sole intent of bringing down Richthofen. This failed however, and Richthofen fought with this squadron many times, winning every time. July of 1917 was somewhat of a turning point in Richthofen's career. He was shot down by Captain Douglas Cunnel and 2nd Lt. Albert Woodbridge. Although he lived, he received a serious wound to his head. Afterwards he suffered from frequent headaches. He spent less time flying and more time with public relations. [6]
A few months after Richthofen's 80th and last victory, the legend came to an end. On April 21, 1918, the Red Baron started chasing a Canadian rookie pilot, Lieutenant Wilford May. Another Canadian started after Richthofen to try and help his friend. Richthofen, disregarding his own rules, followed May deep into enemy territory. Finally, a bullet hit Richthofen through the chest from behind, and he landed his plane shortly before dying on the ground.
There is some debate on who fired the final shot that ended the life of the Red Baron. Captain Roy Brown, the one who tried to help May, had fired some shots at Richthofen, but there were Australian infantrymen on the ground who really claimed the kill. Post mortem studies show that it was probably Sergeant Popkin, a machine gunner on the ground, who fired the fatal shot, although nobody can be completely sure. [7]
Endnotes:
[1] "The Red Fighter Pilot." The War Times Journal. 25 Sep 2008 <http://www.richthofen.com>.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Briggs, J W . "Manfred Frhr von Richthofen." Briggs Enterprises. 25 Sep 2008 <http://www.briggsenterprises.com/bluemax/>.
[4] "The Red Fighter Pilot." The War Times Journal. 25 Sep 2008 <http://www.richthofen.com>.
[5] Briggs, J W . "Manfred Frhr von Richthofen." Briggs Enterprises. 25 Sep 2008 <http://www.briggsenterprises.com/bluemax/>.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Miller, Dr M. Geoffrey . "The Death of Manfred von Richthofen." June 1998. 25 Sep 2008 <http://net.lib.byu.edu/estu/wwi/comment/richt.htm >.
Other Sources
"Manfred von Richthofen." Wikipedia. 25 Sep 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen>.
"Richthofen." Ace Pilots. 25 Sep 2008 <http://www.acepilots.com/wwi/ger_richthofen.html>.
