The Red Baron — 11 Surprising Facts About WW1’s Greatest Flying Ace

Think you knew the story of the Red Baron? Think again. Check out these amazing facts about Manfred von Richthofen.
Think you knew the story of the Red Baron? Think again. Check out these amazing facts about Manfred von Richthofen.

“Von Richthofen’s notoriety grew with each new victory. Eventually, he became the most famous (and feared) pilot of the war.”

IN DECEMBER, MilitaryHistoryNow.com ran this article about the eight air combat maxims of the highest scoring combat pilot of the First World War — Manfred von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron.

While researching the piece, we stumbled across a number of fascinating and lesser-known details about the Kaiser’s most famous flier. Since we didn’t have room enough to include them in December, we’re offering them to readers now. Enjoy!

Manfred von Richthofen. (Image source: WikiCommons)

He came from money

Manfred Von Richthofen was born on May 2, 1892 in the town of Kleinburg, which today isn’t even in Germany at all, but rather near Wroclaw, Poland. Raised in an aristocratic Prussian family, Manfred inherited the medieval title of Freiherr or “free lord”. The designation is roughly equal to a baron in English — it’s one of the lower levels of nobility.

Germany’s most famous flying ace began the war in the cavalry. (Image source: German Federal Archive)

He began in the saddle

Manfred enlisted in the German army in 1912. When war broke out two years later, he served as a mounted scout on both eastern and western fronts in the war’s opening months. Later, his cavalry regiment was forced to give up its horses and fight in the trenches alongside the infantry. The young lieutenant pondered a transfer to supply and logistics but then reconsidered and pushed to join Germany’s fledgling air corps instead. “I have not gone to war in order to collect cheese and eggs, but for another purpose,” he wrote his superiors. [1]

The first plane von Richthofen shot down was a French aircraft, similar to the one seen here. Since no wreckage was found, the victory was unconfirmed. (Image source: WikiCommons)

His first kills weren’t counted

Von Richthofen’s very first air-to-air kill was never officially counted. While serving as an observer and rear gunner on a two-seat reconnaissance plane in late 1915, young Manfred shot down a French pusher bi-plane above the Champagne sector. Since the enemy machine went down over unfriendly territory, the victory couldn’t be confirmed and as such was never added to his official tally of 80 kills. Neither was his second kill. In April of 1916, Von Richthofen riddled a French fighter with bullets while at the controls of an Albatross C.III bomber. Again, since the encounter occurred over enemy territory, the victory couldn’t be confirmed and was never counted.

Tom Rees of Britain’s Royal Flying Corps has the unfortunate distinction of being the Red Baron’s first official victim. (Image source: WikiCommons)

He had a curious way to celebrate his victories

Manfred celebrated his first official victory on Sept. 17, 1916 shortly after being transferred to a fighter squadron. To mark the occasion, he ordered a silver cup for himself that was engraved with the date as well as the make of the enemy aircraft he shot down — a British F.E. 2b. Von Richthofen ordered another new cup for every subsequent victory. He had to discontinue the ritual by the time of his 60th triumph however as silver was becoming scarce in war ravaged Germany.

The pilots of Jasta 11. Von Richthofen is in the cockpit. (Image source: WikiCommons)

He made squadron leader at 24

Von Richthofen’s notoriety grew with each new victory. He became an ace on Oct. 16, 1916 and won the Blue Max, formally known as the Pour le Mérite citation, for his 16th confirmed kill in January 1917. That same month, the young flier was appointed commander of Jagdstaffel or Jasta 11. Manfred’s legend only grew from there. He brought down 22 planes in April of 1917 alone – four of those in just one day! Eventually, he became the most famous (and feared) pilot of the war. German propagandists even circulated rumours that the Allies were so terrified of von Richthofen that they vowed to award at Victoria Cross to any pilot who shot him down.

Von Richthofen may be famous for his Fokker tri-plane (RIGHT), but he shot down far more planes in Albatrosses like this one (LEFT).

He acquired his famous tri-plane at the end of his career

In early 1917, von Richthofen, ever mindful of his growing status as a celebrity, painted the wings of his aircraft a brilliant shade or red. Later he’d colour his entire plane crimson. Eventually, he became known to friend and foe alike as “the Red Knight,” “the Red Devil,” “Little Red” and finally “the Red Baron.” Interestingly enough, he only began flying his signature Fokker Dr.I tri-plane in the final months of his life. Nearly three-quarters of his victories were won in various makes of Albatross as well as the Halberstadt D.II.

He became a best-selling author

After being hospitalized following a crash in July of 1917, Manfred penned a shamelessly self-aggrandizing autobiography from his hospital bed. Entitled Der rote Kampffliegeri or “The Red Battle Flier” (available in its entirety here), the book sold well in Germany and was even translated into English (and heavily censored) the following year. Von Richthofen was later embarrassed by the boasts he’d made and was even hoping to edit out some of the book’s more self-serving aspects. He’d never get the chance.

A dramatization of the final moments of the Red Baron’s life. (Image source: Flickr)

Controversy surrounded his death

Von Richthofen was killed in action on the morning of April 21, 1918 near the Somme. He met his end while chasing a 22-year-old rookie flier from the Canadian prairies named Wilfred “Wop” May. During the low-level dogfight, Manfred was fatally struck in the torso by a .303 round fired by either one of May’s squadron mates, Roy Brown, or by Australian army machine gunners in the trenches below. The angle of von Richthofen’s wounds suggested that it was indeed ground fire that killed the Red Baron. The wounded ace, who was still wearing his pajamas beneath his flight suit when he was hit, managed to force land his plane in a meadow but died from his injuries just as Allied infantrymen arrived at the crash site.

Von Richthofen’s funeral. (Image source: WikiCommons)

His enemies buried him with full military honours

Von Richthofen’s body was turned over to a nearby Australian fighter squadron who buried him with all the pomp and ceremony of a genuine war hero. His largely intact aircraft on the other hand was pulled apart by souvenir hunting solders. Von Richthofen’s body was disinterred in 1925 and repatriated to Germany for a second funeral (click here for footage).

Australian soldiers pose with remains of von Richthofen’s famous tri-plane.

The wreckage of his plane became a trophy

The seat from Manfred’s famous red triplane was recovered by Brown and later handed over to the Royal Canadian Military Institute where it’s been display for decades along with some of the plane’s fabric and a wingtip. Despite what many believe, the hole that’s clearly visible in the back of the seat isn’t from the fatal shot.

Suzane von Richtofen was convicted of murder in 2006.
Suzane von Richtofen was convicted of murder in 2006.

His great grand niece is serving a 40-year prison sentence

Von Richthofen never married and had no known children. His younger brother Lothar, also member of  Jasta 11, survived the war but was killed while flying a commercial aircraft from Berlin to Hamburg on July 4, 1922. He was survived by a son and a daughter. Interestingly enough, Lothar’s great granddaughter, Suzane von Richthofen, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2006 for beating her parents to death in Brazil. She is the Red Baron’s great grand niece.

16 thoughts on “The Red Baron — 11 Surprising Facts About WW1’s Greatest Flying Ace

  1. #3 and #8 are inaccurate. #3, Richthofen did not ‘enlist in 1914’ He was commissioned as a leutnant in the Alexander III Uhlan Regiment in 1912… #8 Richthofen did not only fly the Fokker Dr1 ‘in the last weeks of his career..’ he flew it off and on from September 1917 to his death in April 1918.

  2. Most of these are on wikipedia and according to imperialteutonicorder.com he wasn’t awarded the blue max because he was deemed ineligible

  3. Richthofen painted his plane red so he could be identified by the pilots in his squadron. When he started being targeted by Entente pilots, his pilots started painting the nose of their planes red. He usually did not fly an all red plane in order to maintain some anonymity from enemy pilots. It is just a coincidence that he was shot down in a plane that was all red except for the rudder, which was white.

    Richthofen’s autobiography was not “self aggrandizing”. The book was heavily supplemented by German propagandists. He did state that he was embarrassed by the book. The book was written while he was convalescing from being shot down, not merely crashing. He suffered a head wound that affected him for the rest of his life and has been blamed for the mistakes he made on his fatal flight.

    When he was shot down, Richthofen was chasing Wilfrid May, who was on his first combat flight. Captain Roy Brown, flight leader and school friend of May, had May fly above the fight to observe what happened. Richthofen’s cousin, Wolfram von Richthofen, was in the same situation as May. May saw Wolfram and pursued him. MvR saw this and went to his cousin’s aid. Brown saw May in trouble and dove on MvR. Brown was able to get off shots but was unlikely to have shot down MvR.

    It is likely that Richthofen’s mother had admonished him to to ensure nothing happened to his cousin, like she had with his brother. I’m sure He got a couple nasty letters from her due to the frequent crashes of Lothar. At the time of MvR’s death, his brother was convalescing from a crash in which the top wing came off his plan. He was able to land, but was seriously injured. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was foremost in his mind when he saw May chasing his cousin. I believe it is quite possible that he might have even been enraged at that time, which caused him to forget his basic rules flying.

  4. Another account of Oswald Boelke’s death, different from the one on wikipedia, suggests that an inexperienced Manfred Von Richtofen is at least partly responsible for Boelke’s death. In The Canvas Falcons, by Stephen Longstreet, it’s claimed that MVR broke formation to lunge at an enemy and that his maneuver caused Boelke to evade collision with MVR’s plane, thereby causing Boelke’s collision with Boehme.

  5. My uncle Lt. Jack Weingarth,4 Squadron Australian Flying Corps,who had a German grandfather,was involved in dogfights with Richthofens Flying Circus.
    The Australian fighter pilots of 3 and 4 Squadrons flew with those in the Royal Flying Corps. They were known as a tough adversary of the Germans. Jack survived air warfare at the Western Front only to die in an accident training new pilots in England. He was about the same age as the Red Baron. Many pilots on both sides died in other ways than being shot down. They were mainly young and had a terrible time at the Front risking their lives. Steve Weingarth Nephew

  6. HI
    DO U MIND IF I PLAGIARISE UR WORK CASUE DOING AN ASSIGNMENT AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM DOING IT WOULD BE VERY APPRECIATED THX XX

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