And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Tuesday, August 4, 2026
The Red Baron - Manfred von Richthofen, WWI fighter ace
The fighter pilots of both sides were brave men, because almost no one had a parachute. Observation balloon crew did, if memory serves, but virtually no one else did. If your plane was too badly shot up to fly or in flames, you had a choice - stay with the aircraft come what may - or take your chances jumping out. Some men chose the third option - to take their own lives with their service revolvers.
The Red Baron received a military burial with full honors, even though conducted by his enemies; honor was a real thing in those days.
He was very superstitious about not having his picture take before taking off on a mission. The last picture of him was of him petting his dog before climbing into his plane for his final mission. The ground crewman who snapped the picture later said that Manfred was unaware that his photo was just taken.
A Cpl. Brown in a Sopwith Camel with the Canadian AF was also firing at him at the same time as the ground fire….. and since both the aircraft and ground machine gun we’re British .303, which one actually killed him was not determined..
He was killed by ground fire and the the identity of the machine gunner, an Australian, is known. His fur boots were pilfered by the troops, along with lots of other stuff, and amazingly the boots survived and recently came together under one owner after years of being separated. If you're in New Zealand visit the Omaka aviation museum near Blenheim in the south island. It has flyable Triplanes and other WW1 and 2 aircraft on show and a full size diorama of the Baron's wreck with soldiers removing said boots. Imagine making a Fokker Triplane replica and then "crashing" it for a diorama.
To read all official reports and analyses of his last flight, go and see meettheredbaron.com, a multilingual site detailing Richthofen's life and death on timelines, on a map and with 500+pictures, using contemporary and recent sources. The ultimate Richthofen research platform! Enjoy!
10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or more....
ReplyDelete(curses, foiled agayne!)
Had to buy a CD of that to replace a tape. Now gonna have to find an LP of it cause I can't find a CD player.
DeleteIf you know you know!
ReplyDeleteKilled by ground fire while pursuing a Sopwith after 80 victories. Sooner or later your luck runs out despite immense skill.
ReplyDeleteNemo
He broke several of his own rules for air combat and paid the price.
DeleteIt’s common for successful fighter pilots to become numb to the risks.
DeleteWhile alive, by God he lived!!
ReplyDeleteA real pioneer in aerial combat.
ReplyDeleteWas born on his family estates which are near Swednica in Poland. We had a factory nearby so spent many days staying in the Red Baron Inn
ReplyDeleteHas Snoopy seen this?
ReplyDeleteThe fighter pilots of both sides were brave men, because almost no one had a parachute. Observation balloon crew did, if memory serves, but virtually no one else did. If your plane was too badly shot up to fly or in flames, you had a choice - stay with the aircraft come what may - or take your chances jumping out. Some men chose the third option - to take their own lives with their service revolvers.
ReplyDeleteThe Red Baron received a military burial with full honors, even though conducted by his enemies; honor was a real thing in those days.
He was very superstitious about not having his picture take
ReplyDeletebefore taking off on a mission.
The last picture of him was of him petting his dog before
climbing into his plane for his final mission.
The ground crewman who snapped the picture later said that
Manfred was unaware that his photo was just taken.
A Cpl. Brown in a Sopwith Camel with the Canadian AF was also firing at him at the same time as the ground fire….. and since both the aircraft and ground machine gun we’re British .303, which one actually killed him was not determined..
ReplyDeleteYou can actually read the medial examiner
Deletereport that was done by four British
medical officers just days after his crash.
Ground fire hands down.
Good comments. Snoopy will still take him on.
ReplyDeleteHe was killed by ground fire and the the identity of the machine gunner, an Australian, is known. His fur boots were pilfered by the troops, along with lots of other stuff, and amazingly the boots survived and recently came together under one owner after years of being separated.
ReplyDeleteIf you're in New Zealand visit the Omaka aviation museum near Blenheim in the south island. It has flyable Triplanes and other WW1 and 2 aircraft on show and a full size diorama of the Baron's wreck with soldiers removing said boots. Imagine making a Fokker Triplane replica and then "crashing" it for a diorama.
To read all official reports and analyses of his last flight, go and see meettheredbaron.com, a multilingual site detailing Richthofen's life and death on timelines, on a map and with 500+pictures, using contemporary and recent sources. The ultimate Richthofen research platform! Enjoy!
ReplyDelete