Funeral de manfred von richthofen biography

  • Lothar von richthofen

    • The fall of the Red Baron

    ‘Thus, I joined the Flying Service at the end of May 1915. My greatest wish was fulfilled.’
    In Hangar Two of the Royal Air Force Museum London, in the First World War in the Air exhibition is a Fokker D.VII. This is one of the most colourful aircraft in the collection, it catches the eye due to its abstract paintwork. It has a stark reminder that the First World War was not fought in black and white but pure, raw colour. On a different scale nearby is displayed a small delicate blue dog made of glass.

    This was a mascot owned by Manfred von Richthofen, known to the Allies as the Red Baron, and was carried with him when he flew. On 21 April 1918, some 102 years ago, the Red Baron would meet his fate. The Times of 24 April 1918 paints a rather beautiful and moving picture of the funeral:

    ‘Captain Baron von Richthofen’s funeral yesterday afternoon was a simple but impressive ceremony. The coffin, which was borne by six officers of the Royal Air Force, was deposited in ground in the corner of the French cemetery in a little village from ground near which, before the ceremony, one could look at Amiens Cathedral, standing very clear and beautiful in the afternoon sun. The English Service was read, and the last salute fired over the grave.’

    Footage of this service can still be viewed online today.

    Respect was certainly evident between the aviators. Wreaths and notes would often be dropped over lines and military services given to the fallen enemy. This is evident in an entry in The Aberdeen Daily Journal of 23 April 1918:

    ‘The funeral was a very impressive spectacle. The fallen airman was buried in a pretty little cemetery not far from the spot where he was brought down. A contingent of the Royal Air Force attended. We may not feel that it is our national role to try and impose Kultur [sic] upon the rest of the world, but we certainly do continue to practise chivalry towards our enemies.’

    The term chivalry leads us to the

    Medicine in the First World War

    Frederick Holmes, MA, MD, FACP
    Professor of Medicine Emeritus and of The History of Medicine
    University of Kansas School of Medicine

    Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was born into an aristocratic Prussian family in Breslau in 1892. Son of Major Albrecht Philipp Karl Julius Freiherr von Richthofen, his education was in a succession of military schools and academies. An excellent athlete and horseman he was commissioned in the First Regiment of the Uhlans Kaiser Alexander III in 1911 and after the war started in 1914 served on both the western and eastern fronts as a cavalry officer. In 1915 he transferred to the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) and studied aerial tactics under the master German strategist, Hauptman Oswald Boelcke, flying his first combat mission after less than thirty hours of flight instruction. In spite of an indifferent start as a fighter pilot he nonetheless was invited to join Boelcke’s Jagdstaffel 2 squadron and soon excelled in combat following the Boelcke Dicta, which included approaching his enemy from above with the sun behind him, firing only at close range, always keeping his eyes on his target, and attacking in a group of four to six planes.


    Portrait photo of the romantic and daring young ‘Baron’ Manfred von Richthofen

    With the beginning of 1917 he had 16 confirmed kills, had been awarded Germany’s highest military decoration, Pour le Mérite, and was commander of a squadron, Jasta 11, of elite fighter pilots. In April 1917 alone he downed 22 British planes. Flying a series of Albatros aircraft his vanity led him to have each painted red. As the German ‘Freiherr’ was translated into English as ‘Baron’ it was but a short time until he was known to the world as ‘The Red Baron.’ His squadron was combined with three others to form Jagdgeschwader 1 which was widely feared as The Flying Ci

    The controversy over who killed Manfred von Richthofen, the leading ‘ace’ of the First World War, began almost immediately after his all-red Fokker triplane crashed in the Somme valley, near Corbie, in April 1918. The debate continues, although there is now significant support for the theory that he was killed by a single bullet fired by an Australian machine gunner, rather than by the Canadian airman Roy Brown, who was initially credited with the victory. Brown was flying for the newly renamed Royal Air Force, which was naturally keen to claim the victory of a man who had killed so many of their own.

    Australian gunners on the ground were just as adamant that they had brought down the German flyer and were incensed that the was claiming otherwise. Thus, the funeral took place in an atmosphere of recrimination and some ill-feeling, from lower ranks to senior officers. What’s striking today is the reverence and respect for the body of an enemy. The fields in other parts of the Somme Valley were full of the bodies of dead soldiers of both sides, some in graves, many simply buried by the shelling of the campaigns since July 1916. Few had more than a cursory funeral, yet here we see the most sombre, respectful rites that the military could bestow in the field, and for an enemy combatant.

    That tells us a lot about the fame that Richthofen, better known later as the 'Red Baron’, had already achieved, on both sides. It also tells us something about the famed atmosphere of chivalry that pertained for a time in the aerial war. This is often said to have disappeared in the skies of the Western Front a year earlier, during ‘bloody April’, when the Royal Flying Corps (precursor to the RAF) lost 211 men and 245 aircraft in a month. Richthofen’s squadron, Jasta 11, was responsible for 89 victories in that month, a third of the British losses. It’s pretty clear from the footage that the men of No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, were jubilant to have ri

  • Manfred von richthofen died

    • Manfred von Richthofen

    German WWI flying ace AKA "Red Baron"

    "Red Baron" and "Richthofen" redirect here. For other uses, see Red Baron (disambiguation) and Richthofen (disambiguation).

    Manfred von Richthofen

    Richthofen wears the Pour le Mérite, the "Blue Max", Prussia's highest military order, in this official portrait, c. 1917.

    Birth nameManfred Albrecht von Richthofen
    Nickname(s)"The Red Baron"
    Born(1892-05-02)2 May 1892
    Kleinburg, Prussia, German Empire
    Died21 April 1918(1918-04-21) (aged 25)
    Near Morlancourt, France
    Place of burial

    South Cemetery,
    Wiesbaden, Germany

    50°3′36.94″N8°15′56.92″E / 50.0602611°N 8.2658111°E / 50.0602611; 8.2658111
    Allegiance German Empire
    Service / branch
    Years of service1909–1918
    RankCaptain
    Commands
    Battles
    Awards
    Signature

    Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (German:[ˈmanfreːtfɔnˈʁɪçthoːfn̩]; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of the war, being officially credited with 80 air combat victories.

    Originally a cavalryman, Richthofen transferred to the Air Service in 1915, becoming one of the first members of fighter squadron Jagdstaffel 2 in 1916. He quickly distinguished himself as a fighter pilot, and during 1917 became the leader of Jasta 11. Later he led the larger fighter wing Jagdgeschwader I, 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 Entente 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 an