Manfred von Richthofen - ‘Red baron’
Name and nicknames
Richthofen was a Freiherr (literally ‘Free Lord’), a title of nobility often translated as ‘baron.’ This is neither a given name nor strictly a hereditary title, as 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 of Germany.
Early life
Richthofen was born in Kleinburg, near Breslau, Lower Silesia (now part of the city of Wrocław, Poland), on 2 May 1892 into a prominent Prussian aristocratic family. His father was Major Albrecht Philipp Karl Julius Freiherr von Richthofen and his mother was Kunigunde von Schickfuss und Neudorff. He had an elder sister, Ilse and two younger brothers.
When he was four years old, Manfred moved with his family to nearby Schweidnitz (now Świdnica, Poland). He enjoyed riding horses and hunting as well as gymnastics at school. He excelled at parallel bars and won several awards at school. After being educated at home he attended a school at Schweidnitz before beginning military training when he was 11. After completing cadet training in 1911, he joined an Uhlan cavalry unit, the Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Alexander der III.
Early war service
When World War I broke out, Richthofen served as a cavalry reconnaissance officer on both the Eastern and Western Fronts, seeing action in Russia, France and Belgium. With the advent of trench warfare, which made traditional cavalry operations outdated and inefficient, Richthofen’s regiment was dismounted, serving as despatch runners and field telephone operators. Disappointed and bored at not being able to directly participate in combat, the last straw for Richthofen was an order to transfer to the army’s supply branch. His interest in the Air Service had been aroused by his examination of a German military aircraft behind the lines and he applied for a transfer to Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches (Imperial German Army Air Service), later to be known as the Luftstreitkräfte. In spite of this unmilitary attitude and to his own surprise, his request was granted and Manfred joined the flying service at the end of May 1915.
From June to August 1915, Richthofen served as an observer on reconnaissance missions over the Eastern Front with Feldflieger Abteilung 69 (‘No. 69 Flying Squadron’). On being transferred to the Champagne front, he is believed to have shot down an attacking French Farman aircraft with his observer’s machine gun in a tense battle over French lines, but he was not credited with the kill, since the aircraft fell to ground behind the Allied lines and therefore could not be confirmed.
Career as a pilot
Manfred Richthofen had a chance meeting with German ace fighter pilot Oswald Boelcke which led him to enter pilot training 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 which he duly did. The following month, Manfred joined Kampfgeschwader 2 (‘No. 2 Bomber Squadron’) flying a two-seater Albatros C.III. 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 Verdun on 26 April 1916 and fired on a French Nieuport, shooting it down over Fort Douaumont, although he did not receive any 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 mid-air collision with a friendly aircraft on 28 October 1916. Richthofen witnessed the event.
Richthofen scored his first confirmed aerial victory in the skies over Cambrai, France, on 17 September 1916. 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 not be supplied any longer. Richthofen discontinued his orders at this stage, rather than accept cups made from base metal.
His brother Lothar with 40 victories used risky, aggressive tactics, but Manfred observed a set of maxims known as the ‘Dicta Boelcke’ (after his mentor Oswald Boelcke) to assure success for both the squadron and its pilots. He was not a spectacular or aerobatic pilot like his brother or Werner Voss, but he was a noted tactician, a 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 VC
On 23 November 1916, Richthofen shot down his most famous adversary, British ace Major Lanoe Hawker VC, described by Richthofen as ‘the British Boelcke.’ The victory came whilst Richthofen was flying an Albatros D.II and Hawker was flying the older DH.2. After a long dogfight, Hawker was shot in the back of the head and killed as he attempted to flee 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 Albatros D.III 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 Halberstadt D.II for the next five weeks.
On 6 March Richthofen was flying his Halberstadt in combat with F.E.8s of 40 Squadron RFC when his aircraft was shot through the fuel tank, quite possibly by Edwin Benbow, who was credited with a victory from this fight. Benbow was later awarded the Military Cross and was killed on 30 May 1918 over Belgium where he is buried. 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 Albatros D.V in late June.
Richthofen’s all-red Fokker Dr.I
From late July 1917, Richthofen flew the celebrated Fokker Dr.I triplane, a 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. I. 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 Fokker D.VII 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 took the flamboyant step of having his Albatros painted red when he became a squadron commander. Other members of Jasta 11 soon took to painting parts of their aircraft red. Their official reason seems to have been to make their leader less conspicuous, to avoid having him singled out in a fight. In practice, red colouration became a unit identification. Other units soon adopted their own squadron colours, whilst the decoration of fighters became general throughout the Luftstreitkräfte. The German high command permitted this practice (in spite of obvious drawbacks from the point of view of intelligence) and German propaganda made much of it by referring to Richthofen as Der Rote Kampfflieger – ‘the Red Fighter Pilot.’
Richthofen led his new unit to unparalleled success, peaking during ‘Bloody April’ 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, Jagdgeschwader 1, was composed of fighter squadrons No. 4, 6, 10, and 11. J.G. 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. However, unlike Boelcke he led by example and force of will rather than by inspiration. He was often described as distant, unemotional, and rather humourless, although 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 Royal Air Force terms), he was never promoted past the relatively junior rank of Rittmeister, equivalent to captain 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
On 6 July 1917, Richthofen sustained a serious head wound during combat near Wervik, Belgium against a formation of F.E.2d two seat fighters of No. 20 Squadron RFC, 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. Against doctor’s orders, the Red Baron returned to active service 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 theory linking this injury with his eventual death.
During his convalescent leave, Richthofen completed an autobiographic sketch, Der rote Kampfflieger (The Red Fighter Pilot, 1917). Written on the instructions of the ‘Press and Intelligence’ (propaganda) section of the Luftstreitkräfte (Air Force), it shows evidence of having been heavily censored and edited. However, there are passages that are most unlikely to have been inserted by an official editor.
By 1918, Richthofen had become such a legend that it was feared that his death would be a blow to the morale of the German people. He refused to accept a ground job after his wound, stating that: “every poor fellow in the trenches must do his duty” and that he would therefore continue to fly in combat. German propaganda circulated various false rumours, including that the British had raised squadrons specially to hunt Richthofen and had offered large rewards and an automatic Victoria Cross to any Allied pilot who shot him down.
Death
Just after 11h00 on 21 April 1918, Richthofen received a fatal wound whilst flying over Morlancourt Ridge near the Somme River. At the time, he had been pursuing, at very low altitude, a Sopwith Camel piloted by novice Canadian pilot Lieutenant Wilfrid ‘Wop’ May of No. 209 Squadron, Royal Air Force.
May had just fired on the Red Baron’s cousin Lt. Wolfram von Richthofen. 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 Arthur ‘Roy’ Brown.
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.
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 military funeral, to be conducted by the personnel of No. 3 Squadron Australian Flying Corps. The body was buried in the cemetery at the village of Bertangles, near Amiens, on 22 April 1918. Six of No. 3 Squadron’s officers served as pallbearers, whilst a guard of honour from the squadron’s other ranks
It was almost certainly during this final stage in his pursuit of May that a single .303 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 Vaux-sur-Somme, in a sector defended by the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). There were several witnesses, including Gunner Ernest W. Twycross, Gunner George Ridgway and Sergeant Ted Smout of the Australian Medical Corps. 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 ‘kaput.’ fired a salute. Allied squadrons stationed nearby presented memorial wreaths, one of which was inscribed with the words, ‘To Our Gallant and Worthy Foe’.
Manfred von Richthofen aka ‘The Red Baron, was certainly the ‘ace amongst aces’ and without a shadow of doubt one of the ‘Best of the Best.’