Who was Manfred von Richthofen?He was a German fighter pilot an was considered a top ace in World War I being credited with more than 80 air combat victories. Richthofen was very popular in Germany and also famous among the allies. Since he was the son of a nobleman, he started his military career as an cavalry officer - this was quite common. Biography1892 Manfred von Richthofen was born on May 2nd as the eldest of his familiy's three sons. He was expected to have a military career. 1903 At age 11, he attended a military school in Wahlstatt. 1911 Richthofen graduates from the Royal Military Academy in Lichterfelde. It is said, that he was a very good athlete, but was not one of the brightest academics at school. 1912 After his promotion to Leutnant, he served as a cavalry reconnaissance officer within the 3rd Squadron of the 1st Emperor Alexander III. of Russia Uhlan-Regiment. 1914 At the beginning of World War I, von Richthofen fought with his unit in Russia, Belgium and France. He saw combat action at Verdun. With the upcoming trench warfare, the cavalry was becoming more and more obsolete. Von Richthofen's regiment was dismounted and used as dispatch runners and field telephone operators. After being ordered to the army supply branch and an exhibition of a German Army Aircraft, he wrote a request for being transferred to the German Air Service. In his autobiography, he quotes his words: "I have not gone to war in order to collect cheese and eggs, but for another purpose.". 1915 Manfred von Richthofen's request was granted in may 1915. First, he was assigned to the Feldfliegerabteilung 69 as an observer on an airplane. He was later assigned to the famous pilot and flying teacher Oswald Boelcke in order to become a pilot himself. He was considered an excellent pilot, only 24 hours after his flight training started, he took his first solo flight. But he crashed his plane while trying to land. Within one month after finishing his pilot training, he already had six confirmed "kills". 1917 After his 16th confirmed "kill", von Richthofen received the Order "Pour Le Mérite" which was the highest military order and honour in World War I. He took command over his own fighter squadron (Jagdstaffel 11) at Douai (France) and painted his airplane red, possibly after the colours of his old Uhlan Regiment (as seen in the picture on the right). Von Richthofen's subordinates were trained by him and painted their planes as well, that is why the Jagdstaffel 11 was called "The Flying Circus". After the death of the German aces Oswald Boelcke and Max Immelmann, the German propaganda used Manfred von Richthofen and his numerous victories for the presentation as the German Empire's new pilot ace and hero. 1918 Manfred von Richthofen died on 21st April 1918 while being engaged in an air combat. He scored more than 80 confirmed air victories until then. Even today, the circumstances of von Richthofen's death are not clear, there are still doubts about who fired the shot that killed him. Even though the shot penetrated his torso and caused life-threatening injuries, he managed to crash land his airplane near to the village Vaux-sur-Somme (controlled by the Australian Forces) and died only moments later. InterpretationManfred von Richthofen's biography gives us a hint about his character. He was never very focused on theory or academic knowledge, he was a practical and impulsive person. Also, he was very convinced of his abilities and very self-confident. Von Richthofen was not satisfied with serving in an unpleasant position in the army, he tried to achieve self-fulfillment by requesting a transfer to the German Air Service. After his first air victory he startet his own tradition of ordering silver cups engraved with the date and type of the enemy airplane. This shows that he was very proud of his victories and his abilities as a pilot. He also showed his extroversion by painting his airplane completely red. Combined with his air victories, the name "The Red Baron" or "Le Diable Rouge" was given to him. |
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