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Better known as the Red Baron, Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, became Germany's war hero during the First World War. His aircraft was painted red and he had an hereditary title ~ thus his nickname the Red Baron ~ and his prowess in aerial combat saw him take eighty victories over Germany's Allied enemies before being killed on April 21st 1918 following a dogfight over Sailly-le-Sac, an area held by Australian infantry. In this game you play the role of the Red baron protecting the skies over Germany. Use your 'W' key to take off and your mouse to pilot your plane. Use your left mouse key for combat and ensure you land when your plane gets damaged. After you play this Red Baron game why not check out and play our other free online war games?
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. (brother). (cousin)see for moreSignatureManfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen, and most famously as the 'Red Baron', was a with the during. He is considered the of the war, being officially credited with 80 victories.Originally a, Richthofen transferred to the Air Service in 1915, becoming one of the first members of fighter squadron in 1916. He quickly distinguished himself as a fighter pilot, and during 1917 became leader of and then the larger fighter wing unit, better known as 'The Flying Circus' or 'Richthofen's Circus' because of the bright colours of its aircraft, and perhaps also because of the way the unit was transferred from one area of allied air activity to another – moving like a travelling circus, and frequently setting up in tents on improvised airfields. By 1918, Richthofen was regarded as a national hero in Germany, and respected by his enemies.Richthofen was shot down and killed near on 21 April 1918. There has been considerable discussion and debate regarding aspects of his career, especially the circumstances of his death.
He remains one of the most widely known fighter pilots of all time, and has been. Contents.Name and nicknames Richthofen was a (literally 'Free Lord'), a often translated as '.
In this case the character is an Iron Woobie. Sometimes, The Woobie is not so outwardly emotional about their hurts (Or anything else, for that matter), making them a Stoic Woobie.See Jones The Cat and Troubled But Cute. Woobies definition.
This is not a given name nor strictly a hereditary title, since all male members of the family were entitled to it, even during the lifetime of their father. Richthofen painted his aircraft red, and this combined with his title led to him being called 'The Red Baron' ( ), both inside and outside Germany. During his lifetime, he was more frequently described in German as Der Rote Kampfflieger, variously translated as 'The Red Battle Flyer' or 'The Red Fighter Pilot'. This name was used as the title of. Early life. 'I had been told the name of the place to which we were to fly and I was to direct the pilot. At first we flew straight ahead, then the pilot turned to the right, then left.
I had lost all sense of direction over our own aerodrome!. I didn't care a bit where I was, and when the pilot thought it was time to go down, I was disappointed. Already I was counting down the hours to the time we could start again.' John Simpson, quoting Richthofen's own description of his first flying experience.Manfred Richthofen had a chance meeting with German ace fighter pilot which led him to enter training as a pilot in October 1915. In February 1916, Manfred 'rescued' his brother Lothar from the boredom of training new troops in Luben and encouraged him to transfer to the Fliegertruppe.
The following month, Manfred joined 2 ('No. 2 Bomber Squadron') flying a two-seater. Initially, he appeared to be a below-average pilot.
He struggled to control his aircraft, and he crashed during his first flight at the controls. Despite this poor start, he rapidly became attuned to his aircraft. He was over on 26 April 1916 and fired on a French, shooting it down over —although he received no official credit. A week later, he decided to ignore more experienced pilots' advice against flying through a thunderstorm. He later noted that he had been 'lucky to get through the weather' and vowed never again to fly in such conditions unless ordered to do so.Richthofen met Oswald Boelcke again in August 1916, after another spell flying two-seaters on the Eastern Front. Boelcke was visiting the east in search of candidates for his newly formed Jasta 2, and he selected Richthofen to join this unit, one of the first German fighter squadrons. Boelcke was killed during a midair collision with a friendly aircraft on 28 October 1916, and Richthofen witnessed the event.Richthofen scored his in the skies over, France, on 17 September 1916.
His autobiography states, 'I honoured the fallen enemy by placing a stone on his beautiful grave.' He contacted a jeweller in Berlin and ordered a silver cup engraved with the date and the type of enemy aircraft. He continued to celebrate each of his victories in the same manner until he had 60 cups, by which time the dwindling supply of silver in blockaded Germany meant that silver cups could no longer be supplied. Richthofen discontinued his orders at this stage, rather than accept cups made from base metal.His brother (40 victories) used risky, aggressive tactics, but Manfred observed a set of maxims known as the ' to assure success for both the squadron and its pilots. He was not a spectacular or aerobatic pilot like his brother or; however, he was a noted tactician and squadron leader and a fine marksman. Typically, he would dive from above to attack with the advantage of the sun behind him, with other pilots of his squadron covering his rear and flanks.
Major Lanoe Hawker VCOn 23 November 1916, Richthofen shot down his most famous adversary, British ace Major VC, described by Richthofen as 'the British Boelcke'. The victory came while Richthofen was flying an and Hawker was flying the older.
After a long dogfight, Hawker was shot in the back of the head as he attempted to escape back to his own lines. After this combat, Richthofen was convinced that he needed a fighter aircraft with more agility, even with a loss of speed. He switched to the in January 1917, scoring two victories before suffering an in-flight crack in the spar of the aircraft's lower wing on 24 January, and he reverted to the Albatros D.II or for the next five weeks.Richthofen was flying his Halberstadt on 6 March in combat with of when his aircraft was shot through the fuel tank, quite possibly by, who was credited with a victory from this fight. Richthofen was able to force land without his aircraft catching fire on this occasion. He then scored a victory in the Albatros D.II on 9 March, but his Albatros D.III was grounded for the rest of the month so he switched again to a Halberstadt D.II. He returned to his Albatros D.III on 2 April 1917 and scored 22 victories in it before switching to the in late June.
Richthofen's all-red Fokker Dr.IRichthofen flew the celebrated from late July 1917, the distinctive three-winged aircraft with which he is most commonly associated—although he did not use the type exclusively until after it was reissued with strengthened wings in November. Only 19 of his 80 kills were made in this type of aircraft, despite the popular link between Richthofen and the Fokker Dr.
It was his Albatros D.III Serial No. 789/16 that was first painted bright red, in late January 1917, and in which he first earned his name and reputation.Richthofen championed the development of the with suggestions to overcome the deficiencies of the current German fighter aircraft. He never had an opportunity to fly the new type in combat, as he was killed before it entered service.Flying Circus.
Richthofen (center) with, German Air Service Chief of Staff (left) and, Commanding General of the Air Service (right) at Imperial Headquarters in Bad KreuznachRichthofen led his new unit to unparalleled success, peaking during ' 1917. In that month alone, he shot down 22 British aircraft, including four in a single day, raising his official tally to 52. By June, he had become the commander of the first of the new larger 'fighter wing' formations; these were highly mobile, combined tactical units that could move at short notice to different parts of the front as required. Richthofen's new command, was composed of fighter squadrons No. 4, 6, 10, and 11. 1 became widely known as 'The Flying Circus' due to the unit's brightly coloured aircraft and its mobility, including the use of tents, trains, and caravans, where appropriate.Richthofen was a brilliant tactician, building on Boelcke's tactics. Unlike Boelcke, however, he led by example and force of will rather than by inspiration.
He was often described as distant, unemotional, and rather humorless, though some colleagues contended otherwise. He taught his pilots the basic rule which he wanted them to fight by: 'Aim for the man and don't miss him. If you are fighting a two-seater, get the observer first; until you have silenced the gun, don't bother about the pilot.' Although Richthofen was now performing the duties of a lieutenant colonel (a wing commander in modern terms), he was never promoted past the relatively junior rank of, equivalent to in the British army. The system in the British army was for an officer to hold the rank appropriate to his level of command, if only on a temporary basis, even if he had not been formally promoted. In the German army, it was not unusual for a wartime officer to hold a lower rank than his duties implied; German officers were promoted according to a schedule and not by battlefield promotion.
It was also the custom for a son not to hold a higher rank than his father, and Richthofen's father was a reserve major.Wounded in combat. Richthofen's Albatros D.V after forced landing near. This machine is not an all-red oneRichthofen sustained a serious head wound on 6 July 1917, during combat near, Belgium against a formation of of, causing instant disorientation and temporary partial blindness. He regained his vision in time to ease the aircraft out of a spin and execute a forced landing in a field in friendly territory. The injury required multiple operations to remove bone splinters from the impact area.The Red Baron returned to active service against doctor's orders on 25 July, but went on convalescent leave from 5 September to 23 October.
His wound is thought to have caused lasting damage; he later often suffered from post-flight nausea and headaches, as well as a change in temperament. There is a linking this injury with his eventual death.Author and hero. – the red eagle falling – symbolizes the fall of the Red BaronRichthofen received a fatal wound just after 11:00 am on 21 April 1918 while flying over Ridge near the,. At the time, he had been pursuing, at very low altitude, a piloted by novice Canadian pilot Lieutenant of, Royal Air Force. May had just fired on the Red Baron's cousin Lt. On seeing his cousin being attacked, Manfred flew to his rescue and fired on May, causing him to pull away. Richthofen pursued May across the Somme.
The Baron was spotted and briefly attacked by a Camel piloted by May's school friend and flight commander, Canadian Captain. Brown had to dive steeply at very high speed to intervene, and then had to climb steeply to avoid hitting the ground. Richthofen turned to avoid this attack, and then resumed his pursuit of May.It was almost certainly during this final stage in his pursuit of May that a single bullet hit Richthofen, damaging his heart and lungs so severely that it must have caused a quick death.
In the last seconds of his life, he managed to retain sufficient control to make a rough landing ( ) in a field on a hill near the Bray-Corbie road, just north of the village of, in a sector defended by the (AIF). There were several witnesses, including Gunner Ernest W. Twycross, Gunner George Ridgway, and Sergeant of the. Each of these men later claimed to have been the first to reach the triplane, and each reported various versions of Richthofen's last words, generally including the word 'kaputt'. In naval uniform, as a lieutenant.The credited Brown with shooting down the Red Baron, but it is now generally agreed that the bullet which hit Richthofen was fired from the ground. Richthofen died following an extremely serious and inevitably fatal chest wound from a single bullet, penetrating from the right armpit and resurfacing next to the left nipple.
Brown's attack was from behind and above, and from Richthofen's left. Even more conclusively, Richthofen could not have continued his pursuit of May for as long as he did (up to two minutes) had this wound come from Brown's guns. Brown himself never spoke much about what happened that day, claiming, 'There is no point in me commenting, as the evidence is already out there.' Many sources have suggested that Sergeant was the person most likely to have killed Richthofen, including a 1998 article by Geoffrey Miller, a physician and historian of military medicine, and a 2002 edition of the British series.
Popkin was an (AA) machine gunner with the Australian 24th Machine Gun Company, and he was using a. He fired at Richthofen's aircraft on two occasions: first as the Baron was heading straight at his position, and then at long range from the plane’s right. Given the nature of Richthofen's wounds, Popkin was in a position to fire the fatal shot when the pilot passed him for a second time. Some confusion has been caused by a letter that Popkin wrote in 1935 to an Australian official historian. It stated Popkin's belief that he had fired the fatal shot as Richthofen flew straight at his position.
In this respect, Popkin was incorrect; the bullet which caused the Baron's death came from the side (see above). Officers and NCOs of the 24th Machine Gun Company in March 1918. Sergeant is second from the right in the middle row.A 2002 documentary suggests that Gunner, a with the 53rd Battery, 14th Field Artillery Brigade, is likely to have killed von Richthofen. Miller and the Secret History documentary dismiss this theory because of the angle from which Evans fired at Richthofen.Other sources have suggested that Gunner Robert Buie (also of the 53rd Battery) may have fired the fatal shot. There is little support for this theory. In 2007, a municipality in Sydney recognised Buie as the man who shot down Richthofen, placing a plaque near his former home. Buie died in 1964 and has never been officially recognised in any other way.
3 Squadron AFC's commanding officer Major initially suggested that Richthofen had been killed by the crew of one of his squadron's, which had also fought members of Richthofen's unit that afternoon. This claim was quickly discounted and withdrawn, if only because of the time factor. Following an that he witnessed, Blake became a strong proponent of the view that an AA machine gunner had killed Richthofen.
Theories about last combat Richthofen was a highly experienced and skilled fighter pilot—fully aware of the risk from ground fire. Further, he concurred with the rules of air fighting created by his late mentor Boelcke, who specifically advised pilots not to take unnecessary risks. In this context, Richthofen's judgement during his last combat was clearly unsound in several respects. Several theories have been proposed to account for his behaviour.In 1999, a German medical researcher, Henning Allmers, published an article in the British medical journal, suggesting it was likely that brain damage from played a part in the Red Baron's death. This was supported by a 2004 paper by researchers at the. Richthofen's behaviour after his injury was noted as consistent with patients, and such an injury could account for his perceived lack of judgement on his final flight: flying too low over enemy territory and suffering.Richthofen may have been suffering from, which made him fail to observe some of his usual precautions.
One of the leading British air aces, Major, was killed by ground fire on 26 July 1918 while crossing the lines at low level, an action he had always cautioned his younger pilots against. One of the most popular of the French air aces, went missing on 11 September 1917, probably while attacking a two-seater without realizing several Fokkers were escorting it.There is a suggestion that on the day of Richthofen's death, the prevailing wind was about 40 km/h (25 mph) easterly, rather than the usual 40 km/h (25 mph) westerly. This meant that Richthofen, heading generally westward at an airspeed of about 160 km/h (100 mph), was travelling over the ground at up to 200 km/h (125 mph) rather than the more typical ground speed of 120 km/h (75 mph). This was considerably faster than normal and he could easily have strayed over enemy lines without realizing it.At the time of Richthofen's death, the front was in a highly fluid state, following the initial success of the. This was part of Germany's last opportunity to win the war. In the face of Allied air superiority, the German air service was having difficulty acquiring vital reconnaissance information, and could do little to prevent Allied squadrons from completing effective reconnaissance and close support of their armies.Burial. Officers were pallbearers and other ranks from the squadron acted as a guard of honour during the Red Baron's funeral on 22 April 1918.In common with most Allied air officers, Major Blake, who was responsible for Richthofen's body, regarded the Red Baron with great respect, and he organised a full, to be conducted by the personnel of No.
Marvel contest of champions tips. 3 Squadron Australian Flying Corps.The body was buried in the cemetery at the village of, near, on 22 April 1918. 3 Squadron's officers served as, and a guard of honour from the squadron's fired a salute.Allied squadrons stationed nearby presented memorial wreaths, one of which was inscribed with the words, 'To Our Gallant and Worthy Foe'. The funeral of Manfred von RichthofenA speculation that his opponents organised a flypast at his funeral, giving rise to the, is most unlikely and totally unsupported by any contemporary evidence.In the early 1920s the French authorities created at, in which a large number of German war dead, including Richthofen, were reinterred. In 1925 von Richthofen's youngest brother, Bolko, recovered the body from Fricourt and took it to Germany.
The family's intention was for it to be buried in the Schweidnitz cemetery next to the graves of his father and his brother, who had been killed in a post-war air crash in 1922. The German Government requested that the body should instead be interred at the in Berlin, where many German military heroes and past leaders were buried, and the family agreed.
Richthofen's body received a. Later the held a further grandiose memorial ceremony at the site of the grave, erecting a massive new tombstone engraved with the single word: Richthofen. During the, the Invalidenfriedhof was on the, and the tombstone became damaged by bullets fired at attempted escapees from. In 1975 the body was moved to a Richthofen family grave plot at the in.
Main article:For decades after World War I, some authors questioned whether Richthofen had achieved 80 victories, insisting that his record was exaggerated for propaganda purposes. Some claimed that he took credit for aircraft downed by his squadron or wing.In fact, Richthofen's victories are unusually well documented. Was published as early as 1958 —with documented RFC/RAF squadron details, aircraft serial numbers, and the identities of Allied airmen killed or captured—73 of the 80 listed match recorded British losses. A study conducted by British historian with two colleagues, published in Under the Guns of the Red Baron in 1998, reached the same conclusion about the high degree of accuracy of Richthofen's claimed victories. There were also unconfirmed victories that would put his actual total as high as 100 or more.For comparison, the highest-scoring Allied ace, the Frenchman, achieved 75 confirmed victories and a further 52 unconfirmed behind enemy lines.
The highest-scoring fighter pilots were Canadian, who was officially credited with 72 victories, with 61 confirmed victories, Canadian, with 60, and, with 57 confirmed victories.Richthofen's early victories and the establishment of his reputation coincided with a period of German, but he achieved many of his successes against a numerically superior enemy, who flew that were, on the whole, better than his own. Honours, tributes and relics. For example, his brother also used it.
Not to be confused with the archaeologist, a distant cousin. Richthofen quotes this famous piece of insubordination in his autobiography, but hints that he did not actually write it – claiming that 'evil tongues' report that he did. Similar cups had been officially awarded to some earlier pilots on their first victories, although the practice had been discontinued by this time. Burrows has suggested that he was simply bored with the procedure and that this was an excuse to discontinue it. The air victory was credited to Captain of No. 20, who was killed by German anti-aircraft fire a few days later (12 July 1917) near Wervik.
Cunnell's observer Lt. Bill successfully flew the aircraft back to base. The actual bullet lodged in Richthofen's clothing. It was apparently recovered, but it has not been preserved for examination by modern historians. It was apparently a normal ball round, as fired by all British rifle- calibre arms, and thus would not be any help in determining the controversy of who fired it.
The definition of 'kaputt' is often in contention. The undercarriage and fuel tank were smashed, at least. Sensational accounts have been systematically discredited by several writers, even though they describe the attack in great detail and are allegedly given by Brown.
The official caption of the photograph on the right reads The funeral of Rittmeister Baron M. Von Richthofen. Firing party presenting arms as the coffin passes into the cemetery, borne on the shoulders of six pilots of No. 3 Squadron A.F.C.
Bertangles, France 22nd April 1918. The Padre is Captain Reverend George H.
Marshall, M.A., D.S.O. Among other reasons to protect the graves from vandalism by disgruntled villagers, understandably resentful of former enemies being buried among their own relatives. For many years, World War I aviation historians believed Richthofen had received the 3rd Class with Crown and Swords of the Bavarian Military Merit Order prior to his submission for the Military Max Joseph Order. Recent research has proven that he received the usual class of that order common for an officer of his rank: the 4th Class with Swords of the Bavarian Military Merit Order.
No record or photographic evidence has been seen to indicate Richthofen qualified for this badge. He successfully completed the training and served for nearly five months as an observer before retraining as a pilot. Citations.