Manfred Von Richtofen: A Brief Biography

There were many great aviators in WWI. From Elliot Springs to Herman Goring, from Karl Wolf to Godwin Brumowski. But they all paled in comparison to one of the greatest aviators of all time. The Red baron, also known as Manfred Von Richtofen, “was the most successful pilot of WWI with 80 confirmed kills before he was shot down during the Battle of the Somme(http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_were_some_of_the_most_famous_pilots_of_World_War_1).” This is his story.
Manfred Von Richtofen was born on May 2, 1892, over 100 years ago (http://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen.htm). He was the eldest of three brothers, so a lot of responsibility fell upon his back (http://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen.htm).
His father was a soldier, but he fell ill and became deaf. He wanted Manfred to follow in his footsteps. At age eleven, he started his military career at Wahlstatt (http://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen.htm). That is a very young age if you ask me. Manfred hated it there, as it was very harsh and strict. He stayed there to please his father. At the age of seventeen, he attended the Royal Military Academy at Lichterfelde (http://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen.htm). Unlike Wahlstatt, however, Richtofen loved it. His best friend there was Prince Friedrich Karl, the son of Kaiser Wilhelm II (http://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen.htm). In 1910, Manfredd left to attend the Berlin War academy for a year. In 1911, he was in the first regiment of Uhlans (http://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen.htm).
At the start of World War 1, Manfred Von Richtofen was a cavalry recon officer on both the eastern front and the western front.
However, as trench warfare began to become the main fighting technique, the cavalry was not used as much, and thus Manfred was only used as an infantry messenger (http://www.conservapedia.org). Manfred did not like that, and so he applied to join the Imperial German Army Air Service, later called the Luftstreitkräfte (http://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen.htm). He was accepted, and thus his career as one of the greatest pilots in history
began.
Richtofen, from June to August of 1915, only flew as an observer in a recon plane over the Eastern front in the No. 69 Flying Squadron. His squad was later transferred to the Eastern Front. In March of 1916, he completed his training and joined a bomber squad. During that time, he claimed to have downed 2 French aircraft. But he was not able to provide enough evidence to be given credit for the kills. When his squad was transferred back to the Eastern front, Germany’s top pilot at the time, who went by the name of Boelcke, was recruiting pilots to join his new fighter squadron called Jagdstaffeln, which translates into “hunting squadron.” After growing tired of dropping bombs on the Russians, Manfred decided to join the new squadron. He reported for duty back on the Western front on September 1, 1916.
Manfred and his squad were among the first pilots to get the new Albatross D.II planes (http://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen.htm). On the first day of battle as a fighter pilot, Richtofen scored his first confirmed kill, which was a British F E.2b two-seater. By October 10th, he was already one of the German’s aces, having scored his fifth kill. But on October 28th, Boelcke, who was the squad leader, was killed only days after his 40th victory, when he collided with one of his squad mates (http://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen.htm). Germany’s top ace was killed, along with her other top ace, Max Immelmann. Richtofen was determined to fill their shoes as one of the top aviators in German history.About a month after the death of his mentor, Richtofen was engaged in one of his most famous aerial battles. His opponent was Major Lanoe George Hawker, the well respected leader of the British No. 24 squadron (http://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen.htm). He was a challenge for the soon-to-be Red Baron. The battle went from 10,000 feet above the ground to barely above treetop level. But after a hard fought battle, Manfred shot down Hawker, thus claiming his 11th kill.
On January 4th, 1917, Manfred claimed his 16th kill. He was the leading living ace in Germany at the time (http://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen.htm). It was at this time that he started painting sections of his plane red. “Jasta 11, although founded around the same time as Jasta 2, held none of the prestige of Richthofen's old squadron, which had come to be known as Jasta Boelcke (http://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen.htm).” As a matter of fact, Jasta 11 hadn’t had any victories since its formation in September 1916. So a lot of responsibility fell on Manfred to get the twelve pilots of Jasta 11 into shape. On January 24, 1917, Richtofen scored the squad’s first kill.
In March and April of 1917, Jasta was in the thick of an aerial battle in which the allied forces outnumbered the Germans.
During this time, Manfred, now known as the Red Baron, claimed another 31 kills, thus surpassing Boelcke’s record. The men of Jasta 11 were quickly improving, and soon there was a friendly, but fierce, rivalry between the Red Baron’s old squadron and Jasta 11. The allied forces started calling Jasta 11 as the “Flying Circus” because all the pilots of the squad had their planes highlited with red paint to match their leader’s plane. By the time the Red Baron went on leave in May, the Flying Circus had more than 100 kills. Lothar von Richtofen, the Red Baron’s brother, joined the German air force to follow in Manfred’s footsteps, and soon was assigned to the Flying Circus. He was left in charge of Jasta 11 while the Red Baron was on
leave.
On July 6th, the Red Baron was involved in a dogfight that, at its height, involved almost 40 planes. During the dogfight, the Red Baron was shot in the head and almost crashed. However, only 150 feet above the ground, Manfred was able to regain vision and land the plane before blacking out. Lothar was also wounded during this battle. Upon returning to combat, the Red Baron didn’t have as much interest in killing as he had before he received the wound. He wasn’t able to score another kill until March of 1918. Between then and April, the Baron scored his last 16 kills.
But the Baron finally met his match on April of 1918. During a dogfight with a flight of Canadian Sopwith Camels, a novice pilot by the name of Wilferd May, was ordered to stay out of the fight, but instead fired upon one of Richtofen’s men. He jammed his machine gun in the process and proceeded to retreat back behind the trenches. Richtofen, seeing the lone plane, decided to give chase. But Roy Brown, the leader of the Canadian squad, also saw this and gave chase to the Baron. Wilferd, in a panic, was pulling off every maneuver he knew in an attempt to avoid Manfred’s short, controlled bursts. The unpredictability of his maneuvers saved his life. But the Baron had made the mistake of chasing an enemy too far behind enemy lines, as he was headed right for the Australian anti-aircraft placements. Brown was already giving chase, and he fired at the Baron, and all the AA guns and rifleman on the ground were also firing at him. The Red Baron was fatally shot through the torso, and crashed to the earth. He was able to tear off his goggles and land, before dying at 10:50 am. He was 25 years old (http://www.enotes.com/history/q-and-a/how-old-was-red-barren-when-he-died-48739).
No one knows who really killed him, as the Australians machine guns had also fired at Manfred when Brown did. But most historians give the credit to Brown. The Red Baron was buried in France with full military honors by the allies. His body was later reburied in Berlin. The Red Baron’s trophies from all his kills were lost when the Russians invaded Germany in WWII. So there you have it. The complete life of one of the best pilots of all time.