Posted on Apr 21, 2018
Rise of Flight "The Death of the Red Baron"
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100 years ago today Apr 21 1918
The Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, is Shot Down and Killed.
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) during World War I. He is considered the top ace of that war, being officially credited with 80 air combat victories.
Richthofen was fatally wounded just after 11:00 am on 21 April 1918, while flying over Morlancourt Ridge, near the Somme River.49°56′0.60″N 2°32′43.71″E
At the time, the Baron had been pursuing (at very low altitude) a Sopwith Camel piloted by a novice Canadian pilot, Lieutenant Wilfrid "Wop" May of No. 209 Squadron, Royal Air Force. In turn, the Baron was spotted and briefly attacked by a Camel piloted by a school friend (and flight commander) of May's, Canadian Captain Arthur "Roy" Brown, who 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 Richthofen was hit by a single .303 bullet, which caused such severe damage to his heart and lungs that it must have produced a very speedy death. In the last seconds of his life, he managed to make a hasty but controlled landing ( 49°55′56″N 2°32′16″E) in a field on a hill near the Bray-Corbie road, just north of the village of Vaux-sur-Somme, in a sector controlled by the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). One witness, Gunner George Ridgway, stated that when he and other Australian soldiers reached the aircraft, Richthofen was still alive but died moments later. Another eye witness, Sergeant Ted Smout of the Australian Medical Corps, reported that Richthofen's last word was "kaputt".[e]
His Fokker Dr.I, 425/17, was not badly damaged by the landing, but it was soon taken apart by souvenir hunters.
No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, as the nearest Allied air unit, assumed responsibility for the Baron's remains.
In 2009, Richthofen's death certificate was found in the archives in Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland. Richthofen had briefly been stationed in Ostrów—which was part of Germany until the end of World War I—before going to war. The document, which is a one-page, handwritten form in a 1918 registry book of deaths, misspells Richthofen's name as "Richthoven" and simply states that he has "died 21 April 1918, from wounds sustained in combat".
https://worldhistoryproject.org/1918/4/21/the-red-baron-manfred-von-richthofen-is-shot-down-and-killed
https://www.german-way.com/notable-people/featured-bios/manfred-von-richthofen/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen
Additional video footage:
https://youtu.be/F2gwUlNXCnE
https://youtu.be/TxNqgugAKh8
The Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, is Shot Down and Killed.
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) during World War I. He is considered the top ace of that war, being officially credited with 80 air combat victories.
Richthofen was fatally wounded just after 11:00 am on 21 April 1918, while flying over Morlancourt Ridge, near the Somme River.49°56′0.60″N 2°32′43.71″E
At the time, the Baron had been pursuing (at very low altitude) a Sopwith Camel piloted by a novice Canadian pilot, Lieutenant Wilfrid "Wop" May of No. 209 Squadron, Royal Air Force. In turn, the Baron was spotted and briefly attacked by a Camel piloted by a school friend (and flight commander) of May's, Canadian Captain Arthur "Roy" Brown, who 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 Richthofen was hit by a single .303 bullet, which caused such severe damage to his heart and lungs that it must have produced a very speedy death. In the last seconds of his life, he managed to make a hasty but controlled landing ( 49°55′56″N 2°32′16″E) in a field on a hill near the Bray-Corbie road, just north of the village of Vaux-sur-Somme, in a sector controlled by the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). One witness, Gunner George Ridgway, stated that when he and other Australian soldiers reached the aircraft, Richthofen was still alive but died moments later. Another eye witness, Sergeant Ted Smout of the Australian Medical Corps, reported that Richthofen's last word was "kaputt".[e]
His Fokker Dr.I, 425/17, was not badly damaged by the landing, but it was soon taken apart by souvenir hunters.
No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, as the nearest Allied air unit, assumed responsibility for the Baron's remains.
In 2009, Richthofen's death certificate was found in the archives in Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland. Richthofen had briefly been stationed in Ostrów—which was part of Germany until the end of World War I—before going to war. The document, which is a one-page, handwritten form in a 1918 registry book of deaths, misspells Richthofen's name as "Richthoven" and simply states that he has "died 21 April 1918, from wounds sustained in combat".
https://worldhistoryproject.org/1918/4/21/the-red-baron-manfred-von-richthofen-is-shot-down-and-killed
https://www.german-way.com/notable-people/featured-bios/manfred-von-richthofen/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen
Additional video footage:
https://youtu.be/F2gwUlNXCnE
https://youtu.be/TxNqgugAKh8
WWI
Aviator
Military History
Warfare
Death
Posted >1 y ago
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SGT John " Mac " McConnell good read/share for all. Well received and much appreciated.
TSgt Joe C. SFC William Farrell PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas Maj Marty Hogan SGT (Join to see) SGT Philip Roncari SPC Margaret Higgins SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth SP5 Michael Rathbun CW5 Jack Cardwell]] COL Mikel J. Burroughs ] CPL Dave Hoover A1C Ian Williams SFC Shirley Whitfield SPC Jovani Daviu SGT (Join to see) LTC Stephen F. SGT Jim Arnold
TSgt Joe C. SFC William Farrell PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas Maj Marty Hogan SGT (Join to see) SGT Philip Roncari SPC Margaret Higgins SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth SP5 Michael Rathbun CW5 Jack Cardwell]] COL Mikel J. Burroughs ] CPL Dave Hoover A1C Ian Williams SFC Shirley Whitfield SPC Jovani Daviu SGT (Join to see) LTC Stephen F. SGT Jim Arnold
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Great article on the Red Baron, SGT John " Mac " McConnell. Manfred von Richthofen was indeed a baron, but notice “Freiherr” in his name. He was a different type of baron. Here’s a quick definition, but the article in the attached link gives much more detail:
“The title Freiherr derives from the historical situation in which an owner held free (allodial) title to his land, as opposed ‘unmittelbar’ (‘unintermediated’), or held without any intermediate feudal tenure; or unlike the ordinary baron, who was originally a knight (Ritter) in vassalage to a higher lord or sovereign, and unlike medieval German ministerials, who were bound to provide administrative services for a lord.” LTC Stephen F. SCPO Morris Ramsey SCPO Morris Ramsey SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Sgt Randy Wilber SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas SFC George Sease Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL Mikel J. Burroughs
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freiherr
“The title Freiherr derives from the historical situation in which an owner held free (allodial) title to his land, as opposed ‘unmittelbar’ (‘unintermediated’), or held without any intermediate feudal tenure; or unlike the ordinary baron, who was originally a knight (Ritter) in vassalage to a higher lord or sovereign, and unlike medieval German ministerials, who were bound to provide administrative services for a lord.” LTC Stephen F. SCPO Morris Ramsey SCPO Morris Ramsey SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Sgt Randy Wilber SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas SFC George Sease Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL Mikel J. Burroughs
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freiherr
Freiherr ([ˈfʀaɪˌhɛʁ]; male, abbreviated as Frhr.), Freifrau ([ˈfʀaɪˌfʀaʊ]; his wife, abbreviated as Frfr., literally "free lord" or "free lady")[1] and Freiin ([ˈfʀaɪɪn]; his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, and in its various successor states, including Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, etc. Traditionally it denotes the...
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LTC Stephen C.
SGT John " Mac " McConnell, the only reason I know this at all was that I met a USAR LTC while on a USAR trip to the FRG (mid-eighties timeframe). He had met and married a German baroness and became a Freiherr (by marriage, course)!
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