The Red Baron

A History in Pictures

Norman Franks

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Aviation
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781473861244
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military Biographies
• Index: History

A pictorial history of the infamous German World War I air force pilot, by the author of Dieppe: The Greatest Air Battle. There are numerous books covering the life of Rittmeister Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, and he has remained at the forefront of World War I studies. In commemoration of one hundred years since the beginning of the war, author Norman Franks introduces a new collection of photographs covering the entire span of von Richthofen's war (most of which will have been seen but spread over a variety of literature about First World War flying), consolidated in one book. In the time since the release of Franks earlier titles on a similar theme, a constant trickle of new information has filtered down to him. Although none of it specifically challenges the conclusions drawn in earlier publications, in consolidating them here, he's been able to preserve some significant notes of interest. Following several visits to Belgium and Northern France, Franks has managed to acquire additional images, illustrating the places in which the Red Baron lived and fought between 1916 and 1918. This collection covers the entire span of von Richthofen's recorded history in pictures, some new and lesser known, some iconic and widely circulated, and all housed here under one roof for the very first time. "If you are a Red Baron fan, this book is a must-have. Even if you are new to the topic, the text provides an excellent introduction to his career." —The Miniatures Page "In summation, The Red Baron: A History in Pictures is recommended." —Over the Front

Chapter One

From Soldier to Airman

There can be few people who have not heard of the name of Manfred von Richthofen, or perhaps the more usual term ‘The Red Baron’ (although he never was a ‘baron’, that title being held by his father). He was born into a world so different from modern times that few of us would recognise Europe as it was then, not understanding that for the majority of upper-class Germans military service was a duty, and not something that had to be endured for a short time similar to national service. So it would have been perfectly natural for him and his brother Lothar to become soldiers for the Fatherland without a second thought.

Freiherr Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen, the eldest son of Rittmeister Albrecht Philipp Karl Julius von Richthofen, serving with the Leibkürassier Regiment, was born on 2 May 1892, a brother for sister Ilse, born in 1890. Albrecht was thirty-three years of age when Manfred was born, and he had married Kunigarde von Schickfus und Neudorff, from a wealthy Silesian family. Kunigarde’s father Leopold inherited his father’s estates, while also marrying Therese, the daughter of Baron von Falkenhausen of Wallisfurth. Thus the family itself was wealthy, with a place in society, not that Albrecht and his bride saw much of it, he having to rely mostly on his army pay. Indeed, when their children came along they were living in an apartment in Kleinburg, in the suburbs of Breslau (now part of the city of Wrocław, Poland).

In an endeavour to find cheaper accommodation, the family moved to Schweidnitz (now Świdnica, Poland) and, although helped by Kunigarde’s allowance, when the time came for the children to begin school, there had to be a move back to Breslau, especially as brother Lothar Siegfried von Richthofen came along in September 1894. Then, plunging into an icy river to save the life of one of his soldiers, Albrecht suffered a chill that brought on a serious illness which caused deafness and he had to resign his career.

The children were schooled at home initially, but Manfred was eventually enrolled in a local grammar school before, inevitably, joining the army cadet corps. From here he was eventually assigned to the 1st Uhlan Cavalry Regiment in 1911. Lothar finished his schooling and joined the army in 1914, serving with the 4th Dragoon Regiment. Albrecht volunteered for limited military service with the rank of major.

This story must now jump in time. Manfred saw active duty with his regiment in the opening months of the war but, with the coming of trench warfare, cavalry units on both sides lost their traditional role of reconnaissance and stirring charges, so that many Cavalrymen turned to a more active form of duty, that of flight. Aviation was still new but it was becoming obvious that flying was going to be a major feature in a new kind of warfare, for they could fly high across the trench lines to reconnoitre for the generals and fight the opposing airmen whenever they met. It was going to be an exciting, if dangerous, occupation.

Manfred first saw cavalry duty in Russia before moving to France but was soon the recipient of the Iron Cross 2nd Class. In May 1915 he was accepted into aviation and trained to become an observer. This was quite normal in the First World War; officers were generally the ‘captains’ of the aeroplane, the pilot merely the driver and, more often than not, an NCO. Manfred’s first operational assignment was again on the Russian front, being posted to Flieger-Abteilung Nr. 69 (FA.69) but he then returned to the Western Front, joining a unit with the cover name of Mail Carrier Pigeon Unit, at Ostende, that was in reality a long-range bombing unit. It was known as BAO (Brieftauben-Abteilung-Ostende (or Mail Pigeon Unit), the unit ‘camouflaged’ by this name.

By this time he had decided it would be preferable to fly aeroplanes rather than be a passenger and so applied for pilot training, which he completed at Döberitz; in March 1916 he was assigned to KG.2 (Kampfgeschwader Nr. 2), on the Verdun (French) Front. This was at a period that saw the introduction of serious air battles between the airmen of both sides. While airmen had been happy enough firing pistols or carbines at each other if they met in the air, each side’s aggressive aviators were experimenting with machine guns. The Germans had developed their Fokker Eindecker single-seat aeroplanes, which they assigned piecemeal among the two-seater units for escort duty, but the pilots who volunteered to fly them, once they had been fitted with a machine gun that fired through the arc of the propeller, were more than anxious to become fighter pilots and engage the Allied aeroplanes. The early aeroplanes, fitted with a propeller in the front, made it impossible to fire directly forwards, but Fokker’s team invented a way of doing so, making his, until then, fairly unimpressive monoplane, a deadly aggressor in the air. The Allies, and particularly the British, took on an aggressive stance from the start, and were only too anxious to engage their opposite numbers in air battles. The age of the fighter pilot, the dogfights, the ‘aces’, had begun.

These early aces became household names: Max Immelmann, Oswald Boelcke, Max Mülzer, Kurt Wintgens, Otto Parschau, Hans Buddecke, Walter Höhndorf, et al. They found success flying Anthony Fokker’s monoplane but, because the Germans did not want the secret of their interrupter gear to be discovered, and since there were so few eindeckers, the fighting pilots were forbidden to cross the lines into Allied territory. From this time the Germans continued their air war in a mostly defensive mode.

By the time Manfred began looking towards becoming one of these new air heroes, several had fallen in combat, although all had achieved enough success to receive Germany’s highest award for bravery, the Orden Pour le Mérite, a decorative gold and blue enamel cross worn at the neck; due to its blue enamelling, it was referred to as The Blue Max. This seemed to be a magical magnet for successive German air fighters. The first two awarded went to Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke; when the former was killed, Boelcke was taken away from front-line action. However, he took the time to suggest that rather than distributing Fokkers piecemeal among the two-seater units they should be gathered together in small groups to act independently. They could continue to protect their two-seater comrades while also operating aggressively against British and French aeroplanes over the front.

By the time of the Somme battles in summer 1916 Boelcke’s plan had been approved and the first fighting units were beginning to form. Called Jagdstaffeln, hunting units, which became abbreviated to Jastas, the first were set up in August and September 1916, Boelcke being allowed back into combat commanding Jasta 2. To some degree he was allowed to handpick his pilots, and the first four were Leutnants Wolfgang Günther, Otto Höhne, Ernst Diener and Winard Grafe. On 1 September three more arrived, Manfred von Richthofen, and two NCO pilots, Feldwebel (sergeant) Leopold Reimann and Offizierstellvertreter (warrant officer) Max Müller, while another pilot also named Reimann, Leutnant Hans Reimann, quickly followed. All had some experience for it was normal for single-seat pilots to have had experience on two-seater units. This was a good way of introducing pilots to air actions, and gave them a chance to begin to understand and ‘see’ things in the air. As the war continued, it was more or less a requirement that those posted to a Jasta had to be experienced men who had flown on front-line operations and then attended a Jastaschule.

While still on the Russian Front, Boelcke had been interviewing potential pilots for his new unit and von Richthofen, hearing of this, made sure he was available to meet the great man. They had already met briefly, and by chance, on a train journey in France. Obviously Boelcke saw something in the young Prussian and agreed he would arrange for him to join Jasta 2 when it was formed.

As the new unit came into being there was only one major problem: they had no aeroplanes. Eventually one turned up, a Fokker D.III biplane that Boelcke naturally made his own. Gradually, however, more aircraft began to arrive, by which time Boelcke had added to his previous score of eighteen victories by at least ten. Everyone in the Jasta was eager to get into action and when they did receive adequate aircraft, Fokker Ds and Albatros D.IIs, they began to fly patrols in small formations and to shoot down enemy aeroplanes.

Manfred’s first kill came on the morning of 17 September, a two-seat pus...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Chapter 1: From Soldier to Airman
• Chapter 2: Staffelführer
• Chapter 3: Bloody April
• Chapter 4: Jagdgeschwader Nr. 1
• Chapter 5: Summer 1917
• Chapter 6: The Final Months
• Chapter 7: The Last Day
• Chapter 8: The Participants
• Chapter 9: What Remains?