Manfred von Richthofen — better known as the "Red Baron" — was the highest-scoring flying ace of World War I, with 80 aerial victories from September 1916 to his death in April 1918.
Manfred von Richthofen once wrote, "I never fly to have fun. "I aim first at the pilot's head, or rather the observer's head, if any." This is an aphorism that German pilots followed ruthlessly and precisely. In the year and a half from September 1916 to April 1918, he shot down 80 enemy planes—more than any pilot during World War I. Famous for its crimson albatross biplanes and Fokker triplanes, the "Red Baron" "caused fear and admiration in his allied rivalry." He also became a powerful propaganda symbol in Germany, where he was seen as a national hero. The German general Erich Ludendorff once said that Richhofen was "equivalent to the value of three divisions for us".
Baron von Richthofen and one of his three-wing aircraft.
The most legendary pilot of the First World War was born on May 2, 1892 to a Prussian aristocratic family. He grew up in the Silesian region of what is now Poland, and spent his time by sport, horseback riding and hunting, a passion that will accompany him throughout his life. At the behest of his father, Richthofen entered military school at the age of 11. Shortly before his 18th birthday, he was appointed an officer in the German cavalry unit.
After the outbreak of World War I, Richthofen served as a cavalry and messenger on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. He was awarded the Iron Cross for his brave travels on the front lines, but as the war fell into a bloody stalemate, he grew weary of the monotonous life in the trenches. In mid-1915 he was transferred to the Luftwaffe, first as a backseat observer and later as a pilot. The shift didn't go well — Richthofen crashed on his first solo flight — but his determination eventually caught the attention of Germany's top ace, Oswald Borck, who recruited him to join a new fighter squadron called Jasta 2.
Manfred von Richthofen (center) with young German officers
Richthofen soon became famous as a combat pilot. On September 17, 1916, while patrolling over France, he achieved his first confirmed kill. "I fired a few shots with my machine gun," he later wrote of the melee. "I was too close and I was afraid I would bump into the Englishman. Suddenly, the propeller of the enemy plane stopped, and I almost cried out in joy. Jasta 2 suffered devastating casualties that fall — including the death of Oswald Borck — but Richthofen continued desperately to increase the number of his killings. In November, he shot down one of the Royal Flying Team's top aces, Major Lano Hawke, to win his 11th victory.
As the number of his down-and-shoot planes grew larger, Richthofen had a Berlin jeweler make him a series of small silver cups, one for each plane. He ended up with 60 trophies before the silver shortage forced jewelers to reject new orders. Like many pilots, he had a morbid habit of looking for souvenirs from the planes he shot down. In addition to the heads of the animals he killed on his hunting trips, his home was decorated with fabric serial numbers, instruments, and machine guns looted from allied wreckage. He even had a chandelier made from French aircraft engines.
In January 1917, after shooting down his 16th aircraft, Richthofen was given command of the German Jasta 11 Squadron. He celebrated his promotion by painting his albatross biplane in bold red. His Allied rivals noticed the new livery scheme, and he was soon known as the "Red Devil", "Red Knight", "Little Red", and most famously the "Red Baron".
The German albatross D1, used by the Red Baron's "Flying Circus", was captured by the British.
Under Richthofen's leadership, the Jasta 11 grew to become one of the deadliest flying units of World War I. In April 1917, a month known as the "Bloody April," its pilots shot down 89 British aircraft over the Battle of Arras. Richthofen alone killed 21 people, 4 of them in one day. By then, he had almost perfected his lethal way of flying. Rather than engaging in aerial acrobatics or adventurous melee combat, he prefers to patiently follow his enemies, swooping down from high altitude and then blowing them out of the sky with precise machine gun fire. "Shooting down an airplane is not art," he wrote. "It was done with the personality and determination to fight."
In June of that year, Richthofen was given command of his own fighter wing of the Fourth Squadron. The pilots of this unit were made up of German aces such as Ernst Udet, Werner Wirth and Richthofen's younger brother Lothar, who soon became known as the "Flying Circus" for its brightly coloured aircraft and constant crossing of the front line. As the "foreman" of the circus, Richthofen became a beloved celebrity. He received a large number of fan emails, dined with the Kaiser, and appeared in countless newspaper articles and promotional posters. When he wrote a short autobiography, it immediately became a bestseller.
Manfred von Richthofen in hospital, 1916.
By the summer of 1917, Richthofen had collected 57 silver cups, but his luck was running out. On July 6, as he passed the hum of a group of fighter jets in a scuffle over France, he was hit by a bullet from a British biplane. Bullets grazed his head, breaking his skull, leaving him temporarily blind and paralyzed. Richthofen managed to regain his senses and landed hard in the Rear of the Germans, but the wound left him with repeated headaches, nausea, and depression.
Richthofen ignored doctors' orders and returned to active duty in mid-August 1917. He soon switched to the Fokker Dr.1 three-wing aircraft, which later became his most iconic aircraft. In the months that followed, the Bloody Red Baron used highly maneuverable triplanes to wreak havoc on the Allies. On April 20, 1918, he shot down a British fighter, increasing his record to 80.
Canadian Captain Arthur Roy Brown, officially acknowledged by the Royal Air Force for shooting down Manfred von Richthofen in 1918.
The victory became Richthofen's last. The next morning, On April 21, he and the Flying Circus engaged a group of British fighter jets over the Somme River in northern France. As he chased the British plane piloted by novice pilot Wilfrid, Richthofen meandered over enemy territory and passed through a series of Allied infantry positions. Australian ground forces immediately spotted his red plane and launched machine gun fire. Meanwhile, Wilfrid's squadron leader, Canadian Captain Arthur Roy Brown, aimed at Richthofen's tail and fired a penalty shot. One of the bullets — whether from Brown or an Australian gunman on the ground — hit Richthofen's torso, leaving him seriously injured. The 25-year-old crashed in a sugar beet field and died in the cockpit moments later.
The Red Baron was once the most hated opponent of allied pilots, but after his death, he was revered as a fallen hero. "Anyone would be proud to have killed Richthofen in action," a reporter for the British magazine Airplane later wrote, "but if he were imprisoned alive, every member of the Royal Flying Corps would also proudly shake his hand." As Richthofen's body was taken to the British hangar, hordes of pilots flocked to them to pay their final respects. On 22 April, he received a full military funeral, including an honor guard and six Royal Flying Corps coffins. To show respect for the deadliest pilot of the war, a wreath was placed on his grave with the inscription: "Dedicated to our brave and honorable enemy." ”