His first confirmed downing of an enemy aircraft happened on September 17, To celebrate, Richthofen ordered a silver cup engraved with the date and the type of enemy plane — a tradition he maintained until his 60th victory, when the war limited the availability of silver in Germany. On July 6, , Richthofen sustained a serious head wound during combat. He was able to regain consciousness in time to make a forced landing, but he was hospitalized and grounded for 40 days. The British Captain Donald Cunnell, credited with downing Richthofen, was killed in action only a few days later.
Richthofen was not fully recovered when he returned to action. Today he probably would have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress. Although he suffered from headaches and nausea, he insisted on flying again. His autobiographical account ends sometime in , long before his death in April An English translation by J.
Not a single one of them reveals the true story. At some point during this battle Richthofen was pursuing a plane piloted by a novice Canadian pilot named Wilfrid May. When Richthofen flew across the British lines at low altitude, he was struck by a single bullet and fatally wounded.
Before he died, he managed to land his red Fokker Dr. Who Killed the Red Baron? But in recent years, forensic and other evidence seems to confirm that Richthofen was actually killed by machine gun fire from the ground, some time after his brief air engagement with Brown.
The entry and exit points of the bullet wound indicate that the fatal shot came from an Australian machine gun unit. Who the actual gunner may have been is still disputed, but there is little doubt that the Red Baron was killed by ground fire and not by Brown or any other pilot. Four Burials! On the day after his death, Richthofen was buried with full military honors in the village cemetery at Bertangles, near Amiens, France.
So I asked him: "Tell me, how do you manage it? Then he replied: "Well, it is quite simple. I fly close to my man, aim well, and then of course he falls down. The difference between him and I was that he flew a Fokker and I my big fighting machine. I took great trouble to get more closely acquainted with that nice, modest fellow whom I badly wanted to teach me his business. We often played cards together, went for walks, and I asked him questions.
At last I formed a resolution that I also would learn to fly a Fokker. Perhaps then my chances would improve. My whole aim and ambition became now concentrated upon learning how to manipulate the stick myself.
Hitherto I had been nothing but an observer. Happily I soon found an opportunity to learn piloting on an old machine in the Champagne. I threw myself into the work with body and soul, and after twenty-five training flights I stood before the examination in flying alone. On November 22, , Boelcke's successor as leader of Richthofen's unit was killed in a battle with British planes of No.
The following day, the Baron and his compatriots ambushed that squadron, and Richthofen succeeded in shooting down its commanding officer, Lanoe G. One of the top English aces, Hawker was the first British pilot to receive the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest award for valor.
Richthofen's description of that dogfight hints at the great respect pilots on both sides had for their opponents. I was extremely proud when one fine day I was informed that the aviator whom I had brought down on the 23rd November, , was the English Immelmann. In view of the character of our fight it was clear to me that I had been tackling a flying champion. One day I was blithely flying to give chase when I noticed three Englishmen who also had apparently gone a-hunting.
I noticed that they were interested in my direction, and as I felt much inclination to have a fight I did not want to disappoint them. I was flying at a lower altitude. Consequently I had to wait until one of my English friends tried to drop on me. After a short while one of the three came sailing along and wanted to tackle me in the rear.
After firing five shots he had to stop, for I had swerved in a sharp curve. The Englishman tried to catch me up in the rear while I tried to get behind him. So we circled round and round like madmen after one another at an altitude of about 10, feet. First we circled twenty times to the left, and then thirty times to the right.
Each tried to get behind and above the other. Soon I discovered that I was not meeting a beginner. He had not the slightest intention of breaking off the fight.
He was traveling in a box which turned beautifully. However, my own was better at climbing than his. But I succeeded at last in getting above and beyond my English waltzing partner. When we had got down to about 6, feet without having achieved anything particular, my opponent ought to have discovered that it was time for him to take his leave. The wind was favorable to me, for it drove us more and more towards the German position. At last we were above Bapaume, about half a mile behind the German front.
The gallant fellow was full of pluck, and when we had got down to about 3, feet he merrily waved to me as if he would say, Well, how do you do?
The circles which we made around one another were so narrow that their diameter was probably no more than or feet.
I had time to take a good look at my opponent. I looked down into his carriage and could see every movement of his head. If he had not had his cap on I would have noticed what kind of a face he was making. My Englishman was a good sportsman, but by and by the thing became a little too hot for him. He had to decide whether he would land on German ground or whether he would fly back to the English lines. Of course he tried the latter, after having endeavored in vain to escape me by loopings and such tricks.
At that time his first bullets were flying around me, for so far neither of us had been able to do any shooting. When he had come down to about feet he tried to escape by flying in a zig-zag course, which makes it difficult for an observer on the ground to shoot.
That was my most favorable moment. I followed him at an altitude of from feet to feet, firing all the time. The Englishman could not help falling. But the jamming of my gun nearly robbed me of my success. My opponent fell, shot through the head, feet behind our line. His machine gun was dug out of the ground, and it ornaments the entrance of my dwelling. The legend of the "Red Baron" took flight after Richthofen decided to have his Albatros DIII painted entirely red; even the iron cross, the national insignia prominently displayed on each plane's fuselage, gained a crimson cast.
MacLenan of No. The two Englishmen survived to chat with Richthofen, who crash-landed his own plane nearby when bullets from MacLenan's machine gun cracked his lower wing. It occurred to me to have my packing case painted all over in staring red. The result was that everyone got to know my red bird. My opponents also seemed to have heard of the color transformation.
During a fight on quite a different section of the front I had the good fortune to shoot into a Vickers' two-seater which was peacefully photographing the German artillery position. My friend the photographer had not the time to defend himself. He had to make haste to get down upon firm ground, for his machine began to give suspicious indications of fire.
When we notice that phenomenon, we say: "He stinks! When the machine was coming to earth it burst into flames. I felt some human pity for my opponent and had resolved not to cause him to fall down but merely to compel him to land.
I did so particularly because I had the impression that my opponent was wounded, for he did not fire a single shot. When I had got down to an altitude of about 1, feet engine trouble compelled me to land without making any curves.
The result was very comical. My enemy with his burning machine landed smoothly, while I, his victor, came down next to him in the barbed wire of our trenches and my machine overturned.
Following flight training, he served as an observer on the Eastern Front with the Feldflieger Abteilung 69 in the summer of During this period, Richthofen met a rising aviator named Oswald Boelcke , who persuaded him to train as a pilot to move beyond observation duties.
Richthofen did so, and while his difficulties in the air continued, he eventually gained confidence as an aviator. Richthofen and Boelcke met again in August By this time, Boelcke had gained enormous public fame for shooting down several enemy aircraft. The famous ace recruited Richthofen to join his squadron, Jasta 2 , on the Western Front. The unit was comprised of aviators who showed promise, and Richthofen achieved his first aerial victory on 17 September Boelcke, however, was killed in October following a mid-air collision with a fellow squadron member.
Only a month later, Richthofen achieved one of his most well-known aerial victories when he shot down British aviator Lanoe Hawker over the frontlines. Richthofen then was given command of his own squadron, Jasta Richthofen was renowned as a squadron leader, and he mentored his fellow pilots, many of whom became notable aces, including his younger brother, Lothar.
As a result, Jasta 11 soon became one of the most successful hunting squadrons on the Western Front. His success earned him the command of an even larger unit, Jagdgeschwader 1 , which was comprised of several Jasta squadrons. In July he was badly wounded after being shot in the head while attacking a formation of British aircraft. He was forced to land while nearly blinded by the blood from his wound. Though he attempted to return to service, Richthofen was eventually forced to take convalescent leave during the late summer and autumn of After returning to service his score continued to rise until he downed his 80 th opponent on 20 April The next day Manfred von Richthofen was shot down and killed over enemy territory near the Somme River.
He had chased an enemy Sopwith Camel low over enemy lines.
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