Li Thirty Thousand
Abstract: In the First World War, Fred von Richterhofen, known as the "Red Baron", was Germany's most legendary ace of air combat, what was his final outcome?
【Headline Number Debut】
In the First World War, Fred von Richterhofen, known as the "Red Baron", was Germany's most legendary ace of air combat.
There is no doubt that the air battles of the First World War were the era of the "Red Baron" Manfred von Richterhofen, which was probably the last romantic era of the Air Force, when the pilots, even as enemies, most of them still adhered to the ancient chivalry, richthofen was one of the most famous representatives, as the first ace pilot to shoot down enemy aircraft in the First World War, he had a clear record of eighty aircraft. But on the battlefield, the "Red Baron" Richthofen was not a cold-blooded killer, he even covered the forced landing of enemy aircraft that had been wounded and incapacitated.
He would also rescue enemy pilots on the battlefield who had been shot down by him. It was these chivalrous behaviors that won the respect of both the enemy and the enemy, not his astonishing achievements or excellent combat skills. In fact, this last air romance, we can also see from the "Red Baron" himself how it gradually disappeared, Richterhofen and his comrade-in-arms Goering, who later became the Luftwaffe Marshal, initially pursued only to destroy enemy aircraft in the air battle, and even hoped to fight to the point where the other side could land safely, and was also very friendly in dealing with the opposing pilot who was shot down by himself, Goering once gave his Iron Cross to the opposing pilot who was shot down by himself.
However, the war became more and more cruel, and the hatred between the two sides became increasingly increasing, and in the next battle, this warmth was gradually replaced by coldness, and it began to shoot directly at the opposing pilot, and was impatient to seriously confirm the results of the battle and rescue the opposing pilot as before. However, in general, the chivalry and romantic feelings of this generation of pilots are still the existence that the air force and air fans look up to later.
The "Red Baron" was from a Prussian aristocratic family and was good at sports from an early age, especially riding. When the war broke out, Richterhofen, who had graduated from the military academy in his early twenties, naturally joined the cavalry unit and was assigned to the First Lancer Regiment marked in red, becoming a cavalry officer.
Unfortunately, the First World War was also a new era of Makqin machine gun harvesting cavalry, and it was also from this time that nomadic people with various legendary cavalry histories, whether in the East or the West, became able to sing and dance and change their way of life.
Richterhofen also had to ask for a change of court, instead applying to join the German Army Air Corps, history did not joke, did not let the good things grind more, but quickly put the guy who flew alone for the first time, and dropped the landline on the landing and could not be repaired quickly sent to the position of the hero of the air battle. In 1915 he officially began service in the Army Air Corps and after a year of training, he mastered excellent flying skills.
Different from the current fighter's perverted pursuit of stealth, Richterhofen always liked to paint his landline red in honor of the first lancers he had joined, and at first when he flew the biplane "Albatross", he only painted the aircraft red, and later changed the three-wing Drl, which was to paint the entire aircraft all over the body red, without the slightest intention of low-key on the battlefield. In fact, in the shooting record of the "Red Baron's" eighty aircraft, about sixty were shot down by the big red plane, so posterity regarded this plane as a truly belonging to the "Red Baron".
On September 17, 1916, Richterhofen shot down the first enemy aircraft in France. Objectively speaking, the flying skills of the "Red Baron" were not much better than those of other aces at that time. Many believe that Richthofen's younger brother Lotta is a true genius pilot, often making incredible flying moves. However, the "Red Baron" is very good at accurate shooting, and knows how to shoot down enemy aircraft in the quickest favorable position, which is more practical in actual combat.
On November 23, 1916, Richterhofen shot down the British ace pilot Lano Hawke.
In a battle with the French, Richterhofen was quite unhappy with his landplane Albatross D-II fighter, which was only 180 kilometers per hour and had design flaws. If a large angle dive is carried out, the lower wing is likely to break.
By September 1917, Richterhofen had switched to the famous Fokker Dr.I. triplane. The Fokker Dr.I triplane is not much faster than the Albatross, but maneuverability is greatly enhanced, especially with excellent circling performance, climbing and diveping. With Falk Dr.I, the "Red Baron" was so powerful that he flew this fighter in just two months and shot down sixty enemy aircraft, an average of thirty per month, an average of one per day! This was an absolutely shocking record at the time. Therefore, some people say that the "Red Baron" and the Fokker Dr.I three-wing fighter are a perfect match.
The glorious achievements of eighty aircraft made Richterhofen the most famous air combat hero of the German army, known as the "ace of aces". He was also promoted to squadron leader of the 11th Hunting Squadron. He painted his fighter jet a very eye-catching bright red, which could be easily identified by comrades-in-arms and more importantly, it could deter the enemy. So much so that British pilots saw the red change, encountered the aircraft painted red and slipped away, and redphobia spread in the Allied Air Force. Richterhofen was thus given the nickname "Red Baron".
Richterhofen was also hit by an enemy plane in an air battle, with head injuries, leaving behind frequent headaches and vomiting. His superiors believed that Richthofen's body was no longer well suited to continue fighting. Moreover, he was already the most famous ace pilot in the German army, and if he died in battle, it could seriously damage the morale of the military and civilians. Therefore, his superiors found him and persuaded him to leave the front line and serve as a flight instructor in the rear. Richterhofen knew that this was the kindness of his superiors, but he flatly refused. In the tradition of the Prussian soldiers, leaving the front line was tantamount to desertion, and was the greatest insult to the aristocratic soldiers. He replied directly to his superiors: It is my responsibility to fly the plane to fight, I must fulfill it, and there will be no other choice. His comrades were not surprised by this, believing that the "Red Baron" had always been the best soldier. However, his comrades-in-arms thought he was not easy to get along with. Richterhofen is introverted, never shows personal feelings, has a serious expression, and rarely makes small talk with others. A comrade-in-arms recalled many years later: he had a coldness that refused to be thousands of miles away. Even so, everyone trusted him very much.
On April 21, 1918, a few months before the end of the war, Richterhofen encountered the Canadian pilot Wilfrid May who flew a "camel" fighter on the battlefield, and chased after it, and as a result, May was a flying rookie, did not dare to fly high, and after being pursued, he would only flee at a low altitude towards his own position, and he did not have the ability to fly the plane smoothly, he could only fly out of a crooked route, which saved his life, and this disorderly change of course made it difficult for the "Red Baron" to aim. Attracted too much attention, he was hit by a bullet flying from the rear, whether the bullet came from the hand of Roy Brown, a Comrade-in-Arms who came to the rescue of May, or from the position of the Australian troops on the ground, is still being debated.
The bullet shot in from his right lower abdomen, across the entire chest cavity, and out of the left chest, causing severe damage to several internal organs. But he still flew the plane to land in the Australian Army position, and the forced landing was very successful, and the aircraft was not damaged.
The Australian soldiers ran to the German fighter plane that fell from the sky. Sergeant Ted Smoth of the Australian Medical Corps found that Richthofen had collapsed in the cockpit but had not yet lost his breath, and seeing Smotter, Richterhofen said only one word of "kaputt" (German for damage or malfunction) and died at the age of twenty-five.
According to the wound analysis, this bullet was a British .303 caliber (7.69 mm) bullet. So initially, the British thought that Richterhofen had been hit by a machine gun from Canadian pilot Roy Brown. It is only in recent decades that this conclusion has been overturned. After computer simulations of the air combat scene at that time, No matter how Roy Brown fired, the bullet could not have been shot through Richterhofen's right lower abdomen. It is now generally believed that Richterhofen was more likely to have been hit by ground anti-aircraft fire. Sergeant Sidrik Popkin, who was part of australia's 24th machine gun company, used a .303-caliber Vickers machine gun, and he fired continuously at the red plane. Because the fighter was flying very low at the time, Popkin hit two consecutive hits, and it was only 1 minute before and after. The first time was when the Red Baron's landline flew right towards the machine gun position, and he fired the first wave of bullets. For a long time, Popkin believed it was this wave of bullets that hit. Later analysis suggested that this wave of bullets hit the fighter, but did not hit Richterhofen.
What hit Richterhofen was actually the second wave of shots. Richterhofen's fighters turned and flew rapidly over 600 meters above Popkin to the right, at which point Popkin fired a second wave. Because this time it was not facing the plane, Popkin was chasing the high-speed flying plane and did not think he would hit. Unexpectedly, this wave of shots that thought it would be difficult to hit the target hit Richterhofen exactly, and it was also a blind cat that hit a dead mouse
The British then held a solemn funeral for Richterhofen. Six Allied officers carried the coffin and a priest prayed for him. When Richterhofen's coffin was placed in the tomb, two rows of British soldiers fired their guns into the air to pay homage to the enemy on the battlefield!
A hero in the air falls, and a legend ends.
(The picture of this article is from the network)