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He was eleven o'clock. April twenty first, nineteen eighteen, Manfred
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vun Richtenfenn was in the cockpit of his red triplane
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in hot pursuit of a sopwith camel, an Allied aircraft
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that had just fired on his cousin's plane. Manfred would
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have none of that, and he was determined to catch
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the Allied plane at all costs. Manfred vun Richdenfenn was
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born on May second, eighteen ninety two in Kleinberg, Lower Silatia,
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which is a region in Poland, Chechia and Germany. He
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was born into a prominent Prussian family. All of the
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males in his family held the title of fry Air,
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which translates to free lord and is often compared to
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a baron. His father, Major Albrecht Philip Carl Julius freihervon Richtenfen,
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if that isn't a mouthful, was an officer in a
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German cavalry division. As a boy, Manfred was involved in
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gymnastics in school. He excelled at the parallel bars and
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won a number of wards. He and his brothers also
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hunted wild boars, elk and birds. When he was eleven
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years old, he was enrolled in military school in nineteen eleven.
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He graduated military school as a commissioned officer and was
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assigned to the first Oln Cavalry Regiment at the beginning
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of World War One. His unit saw action on both
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the Western and Eastern fronts as cavalry reconnaissance. Manfred received
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the Iron Cross for courage under fire. Eventually, after trench
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warfare made the cavalry unit outdated, they became runners for
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field phone operators and supply refills. Manfred did not enlist
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to be off the front lines running supplies, and he
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made his unhappiness very clear. He applied for a transfer
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into the Imperial German Army, which later would be known
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as the Lufstritkrafta. It said that he wrote in his
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application for transfer quote, I have not gone to war
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in order to collect cheese and eggs. Manfred was finally
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up in an airplane, but not behind the controls. He
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was a backseat observer for an aerial reconnaissance plane over Russia.
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He did that for about three months before being transferred
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back to the Western Front, where he earned his pilot's license.
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Not long after, he convinced his brother lotharvon Richtenfend a
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transfer from training new troops to the Imperial German Army
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Air Service. Manfred's first flight behind the controls did not
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go smoothly. He struggled to control the aircraft and ended
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up crashing. He didn't get discouraged, though, and worked hard
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to become attuned to the plane and become a great pilot.
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Manfred ended up meeting Oswald Bolka, one of World War
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one's most famous fighter pilots. Oswald recruited him for a
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new fighter squadron called YASTA two. Manfred quickly made a
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name for himself in the skies. In September of nineteen sixteen,
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he got his first confirmed kill by shooting down a
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two seater British plane. He later rode quote, I gave
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a short series of shots with my machine gun. I
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had gone so close that I was afraid I might
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dash into the Englishmen. Suddenly I nearly yelled with joy,
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for the propeller of the enemy machine had stopped turning.
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The Asta two squadron saw heavy casualties during the battle.
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Oswald Bolka was killed when his plane collided midair with
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a friendly craft. Manfred witnessed the accident, but that didn't
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slow the German flyboy down. By the beginning of nineteen seventeen,
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he had sixteen confirmed kills, which made him Germany's highest
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scoring living pilot. He was awarded the Poor La Mariede
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or Blue Max, Germany's most illustrious military medal. Manfred was
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extremely proud of his accomplishments. Every time he got a
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confirmed kill, he went to a jeweler and ordered a
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small silver cup with an engraving of the date and
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type of aircraft he had shot down. He would eventually
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acquire sixty of the little trophies before the jeweler told
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him that the war caused a silver shortage and he
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could no longer fill his orders. Like many other pilots,
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Manfred also took souvenirs off of planes he shot down.
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His home was decorated with fabric serial numbers, instruments, and
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machine guns eluted from Allied wreckage. He even had a
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chandelier made from the engine of a French plane. In
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January of nineteen seventeen, Manfred was put in command of
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his own squadron, YASTA eleven. He was manned by some
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of the most elite fighter pilots in the German Army
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Air Service. A lot of the pilots were personally trained
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by Manfred himself. One of the pilots was his own brother, Lothar.
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The German Empire loved using those two flying brothers in
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their propaganda campaigns. That was also the time when Manfred
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painted his triplane a bright red color. His enemies took
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notice of the plane and started calling him the Red Devil,
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the Red Knight, Little Red, and most famously, the Red Baron.
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That was another opportunity for the German Empire to use
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Manfred in their propaganda. Lothar was a much different pilot
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than Manfred. He used risky and aggressive tactics, and Manfred
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was a much more calculated tactician and a skilled marksman.
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He would attack his enemy from above, so he had
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the sun behind him and would have other members of
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his squadron protectus flanks. He also believed in a set
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of rules called the Dicta Bolga. Those were a list
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of fundamental aerial maneuvers developed by Oswald Bolga. One, secure
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the benefits of aerial combat, speed, altitude, numerical superiority position
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before attacking, Always attack from the sun. Two. If you
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start the attack, bring it to an end. Three, fire
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the machine gun up close and only if you're sure
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to target your opponent. Four, do not lose sight of
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the enemy. Five. In any form of attack, an approach
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to the opponent from behind is required. Six. If the
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enemy attacks you in a dive, do not try to
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dodge the attack, but turn to the attacker. Seven. If
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you are above the enemy lines, always keep your own
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retreat in mind. Eight. For squadrons in principal, attack only
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in groups of four to six. If the fight breaks
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up into noisy single battles, make sure that not many
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comrades pounce on an opponent. Manfred himself would tell his
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pilots to fight by this basic rule. Aim for the
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man and don't miss him. If you're fighting a two seeds,
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get the observer first until you have silenced the gun.
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Don't bother about the pilot. His skill in leadership brought
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his squadron to unimaginable kill counts. April of nineteen seventeen
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became known as Bloody April due to the fact that
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Yasta eleven shot down eighty nine British planes during the
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Battle of Arras. The Baron himself accounted for twenty one
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of those including four in one day. Soon after, Manfred
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was promoted to command a new four squadron fighter wing
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called Yakash Fodder One. That new fighter wing consisted of
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Yasta four, six, ten, and eleven. They were meant to
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be more mobile and can move on shorter notice to
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various parts of the front as required. Since the pilots
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flying under Manfred took to painting different parts of their
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planes bright colors. Paired with the fact that the four
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squadrons traveled with tents, trains, and caravans, the fighter wing
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became known as the flying Circus. The Red Baron had
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an amazing year in the skies over World War One,
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but his luck was starting to run out. In July
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of nineteen seventeen, as he flew as Fokker dr Ie
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and a dog fight over France, he was hit by
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enemy fire. The bullet grazed his head and fractured his skull,
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which caused him to be temporarily blind and paralyzed. Fortunately,
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he regained his senses in time to pull his plane
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out of a spin and landed in friendly territory. He
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needed multiple operations to remove bone splinters from the area.
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He went back into service two and a half weeks later,
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against doctors' orders. A little over a month later, Manford
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went on convalescence leave. Due to the lasting damage of
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the injury, he would have frequent headaches and suffer from
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postflight nausea and vombed after flights. During his convalescent leave,
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Manfred authored an autobiography. It was titled Del roda Kemfligar,
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which tried translates to the Red battle Flyer. He was
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heavily censored at the time, but its nineteen thirty three
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reissue painted a much more accurate portrayal. Offon Richnenfen. He
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wrote quote, I am in wretched spirits after every aerial combat.
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I believe that the war is not as the people
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at home imagined it with a hurrah and a roar.
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It is very serious, very grim. That was something the
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German Empire would never print during the war. By nineteen eighteen,
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the Red Baron had become so feared that the German
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Empire worried that his death would lower troop morale, so
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they tried to reassign him to a ground job. He refused,
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saying quote, every poor fellow in the trenches must do
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his duty. He explained that he would therefore continue to
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fly in combat. On April twenty first, nineteen eighteen, the
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Red Baron was flying in an aerial battle over vasser Saum, France.
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A Canadian pilot flying with the Royal Air fired on
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a German plane piloted by Manfred's cousin, Wolfram von Richdefen.
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Manfred immediately fired upon his cousin's attacker, causing him to
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pull away and saving Wolfram's life. He then began pursuing
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the Canadian pilot in retribution for firing on his family.
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There are many theories on what may have contributed to
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the death of the Mighty Red Baron. Some say his
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previous head injury played a part. His headaches, nausea, and
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PTSD could have all contributed to his performance in the cockpit.
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He was normally so calculated during his attacks, always following
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the dicta bolca. That time, though, he took an uncalculated
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risk in order to exact revenge on a single pilot.
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In nineteen ninety nine, a German medical researcher, Henning Almers
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published an article in the British medical journal The Lancet
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suggesting it was likely that brain damage from the head
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wound Manfred suffered in July of nineteen seventeen that played
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a major role in the decision he made leading up
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to his death. Another Canadian pilot swooped in to offer
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support for his fellow fighter, but he missed the bright
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red triplane. Manfred dodged the attack and continued his pursuit
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of his cousin's attacker. It was during that pursuit that
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he flew over a series of Allied infantry in placements.
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As soon as the infantry men spotted the red plane,
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they unleashed a hail of machine gun fire at who
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they believed to be the most dangerous man in the skies.
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Manfred was struck by a bullet in his torso. The
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bullet entered near his right arm pit and exited near
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his left nipple, damaging his lungs and heart. It would
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have been a relatively quick death, but not so quick
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that Manfred wasn't able to bring his plane down in
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a controlled, yet rough landing. Many men claimed to be
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the first to reach the downed plane and that his
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final word was couput, but there's no evidence to back
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that up. All we know for sure is that he
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died still strapped into his bright red triplane, having taken
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down eighty enemy planes for a long time. Captain Arthur
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Roy Brown, the Canadian pilot who tried to defend his counterpart,
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was credited with the death of the Red Baron. Modern investigations, though,
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have concluded that the fatal bullet had to have come
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from the ground due to the angle of impact and
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the fact that it would have been unlikely he would
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have lived long enough to continue pursuing Wolfram's attacker and
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still bring the plane down for a landing. His plane,
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a Fokker dr one, was not badly damaged, but soon
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became dismantled by souvenir hunters. His body was recovered by
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ally forces and buried with full military honors. In life,
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he was the most hated adversary of the Allied pilots,
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but in death they honored him as a fallen hero.
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A correspondent for the British magazine Aeroplane later wrote quote,
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anybody would have been proud to have killed Rich defen
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in action, but every member of the Royal Flying Corp
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would have also been proud to shake his hand had
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he fallen into captivity alive. On April twenty second, he
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was given a full military funeral that included a guard
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of honor and six Royal Flying Corps pallbearers. As a
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sign of respect for the war's most lethal pilot, a
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wreath was placed on his grave that read quote to
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our galliant and worthy foe. After World War One, authors
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questioned the accuracy that Manfred got eighty confirmed kills, claiming
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that the German Empire inflated the count in their propaganda.
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In fact, very accurate records were kept of the Red
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Baron's kills and are listed with the aircraft serial numbers
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and the names of the airmen who were killed or captured.
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Seventy three out of eighty on that list match the
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record of British losses, and the number eighty is only
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confirmed kills, so it's likely that the Red Baron shot
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down more than one hundred planes. Captain Roy Brown donated
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the seat of the Fokker triplane in which the German
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flying ace made his final fight to the Royal Canadian
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Military Institute in nineteen twenty. The Royal Canadian Military Institute
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in Toronto. Apart from the triplane seat, also holds a
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side panel signed by the pilots of Brown Squadron. The
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engine of Manfred's Dr Ie was donated to the Imperial
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War Museum in London, where it's still on display. The
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museum also holds the Baron's machine guns. The control column
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or joystick of the aircraft can be seen at the
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Australian War Memorial in Canberra. His death and his legend
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will forever be part of our imagination. He will continue
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to be depicted in movies, books, TV shows and songs.
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The legend of the Red Battleflyer and his deadly flying
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circus will always be a part of our history that
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will fascinate people. And though he was on what most
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would consider the wrong side, don't let his allegiance discourage
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you from using his story as an inspiration to become
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the best at what you love to do. Thanks so
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much for letting us tell you this sinister story. If
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Be safe,
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He was eleven o'clock. April twenty first, nineteen eighteen, Manfred
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vun Richtenfenn was in the cockpit of his red triplane
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in hot pursuit of a sopwith camel, an Allied aircraft
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that had just fired on his cousin's plane. Manfred would
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have none of that, and he was determined to catch
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the Allied plane at all costs. Manfred vun Richdenfenn was
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born on May second, eighteen ninety two in Kleinberg, Lower Silatia,
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which is a region in Poland, Chechia and Germany. He
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was born into a prominent Prussian family. All of the
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males in his family held the title of fry Air,
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which translates to free lord and is often compared to
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a baron. His father, Major Albrecht Philip Carl Julius freihervon Richtenfen,
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if that isn't a mouthful, was an officer in a
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German cavalry division. As a boy, Manfred was involved in
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gymnastics in school. He excelled at the parallel bars and
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won a number of wards. He and his brothers also
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hunted wild boars, elk and birds. When he was eleven
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years old, he was enrolled in military school in nineteen eleven.
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He graduated military school as a commissioned officer and was
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assigned to the first Oln Cavalry Regiment at the beginning
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of World War One. His unit saw action on both
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the Western and Eastern fronts as cavalry reconnaissance. Manfred received
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the Iron Cross for courage under fire. Eventually, after trench
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warfare made the cavalry unit outdated, they became runners for
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field phone operators and supply refills. Manfred did not enlist
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to be off the front lines running supplies, and he
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made his unhappiness very clear. He applied for a transfer
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into the Imperial German Army, which later would be known
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as the Lufstritkrafta. It said that he wrote in his
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application for transfer quote, I have not gone to war
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in order to collect cheese and eggs. Manfred was finally
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up in an airplane, but not behind the controls. He
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was a backseat observer for an aerial reconnaissance plane over Russia.
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He did that for about three months before being transferred
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back to the Western Front, where he earned his pilot's license.
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Not long after, he convinced his brother lotharvon Richtenfend a
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transfer from training new troops to the Imperial German Army
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Air Service. Manfred's first flight behind the controls did not
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go smoothly. He struggled to control the aircraft and ended
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up crashing. He didn't get discouraged, though, and worked hard
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to become attuned to the plane and become a great pilot.
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Manfred ended up meeting Oswald Bolka, one of World War
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one's most famous fighter pilots. Oswald recruited him for a
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new fighter squadron called YASTA two. Manfred quickly made a
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name for himself in the skies. In September of nineteen sixteen,
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he got his first confirmed kill by shooting down a
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two seater British plane. He later rode quote, I gave
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a short series of shots with my machine gun. I
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had gone so close that I was afraid I might
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dash into the Englishmen. Suddenly I nearly yelled with joy,
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for the propeller of the enemy machine had stopped turning.
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The Asta two squadron saw heavy casualties during the battle.
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Oswald Bolka was killed when his plane collided midair with
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a friendly craft. Manfred witnessed the accident, but that didn't
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slow the German flyboy down. By the beginning of nineteen seventeen,
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he had sixteen confirmed kills, which made him Germany's highest
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scoring living pilot. He was awarded the Poor La Mariede
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or Blue Max, Germany's most illustrious military medal. Manfred was
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extremely proud of his accomplishments. Every time he got a
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confirmed kill, he went to a jeweler and ordered a
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small silver cup with an engraving of the date and
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type of aircraft he had shot down. He would eventually
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acquire sixty of the little trophies before the jeweler told
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him that the war caused a silver shortage and he
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could no longer fill his orders. Like many other pilots,
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Manfred also took souvenirs off of planes he shot down.
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His home was decorated with fabric serial numbers, instruments, and
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machine guns eluted from Allied wreckage. He even had a
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chandelier made from the engine of a French plane. In
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January of nineteen seventeen, Manfred was put in command of
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his own squadron, YASTA eleven. He was manned by some
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of the most elite fighter pilots in the German Army
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Air Service. A lot of the pilots were personally trained
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by Manfred himself. One of the pilots was his own brother, Lothar.
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The German Empire loved using those two flying brothers in
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their propaganda campaigns. That was also the time when Manfred
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painted his triplane a bright red color. His enemies took
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notice of the plane and started calling him the Red Devil,
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the Red Knight, Little Red, and most famously, the Red Baron.
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That was another opportunity for the German Empire to use
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Manfred in their propaganda. Lothar was a much different pilot
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than Manfred. He used risky and aggressive tactics, and Manfred
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was a much more calculated tactician and a skilled marksman.
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He would attack his enemy from above, so he had
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the sun behind him and would have other members of
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his squadron protectus flanks. He also believed in a set
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of rules called the Dicta Bolga. Those were a list
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of fundamental aerial maneuvers developed by Oswald Bolga. One, secure
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the benefits of aerial combat, speed, altitude, numerical superiority position
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before attacking, Always attack from the sun. Two. If you
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start the attack, bring it to an end. Three, fire
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the machine gun up close and only if you're sure
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to target your opponent. Four, do not lose sight of
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the enemy. Five. In any form of attack, an approach
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to the opponent from behind is required. Six. If the
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enemy attacks you in a dive, do not try to
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dodge the attack, but turn to the attacker. Seven. If
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you are above the enemy lines, always keep your own
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retreat in mind. Eight. For squadrons in principal, attack only
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in groups of four to six. If the fight breaks
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up into noisy single battles, make sure that not many
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comrades pounce on an opponent. Manfred himself would tell his
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pilots to fight by this basic rule. Aim for the
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man and don't miss him. If you're fighting a two seeds,
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get the observer first until you have silenced the gun.
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Don't bother about the pilot. His skill in leadership brought
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his squadron to unimaginable kill counts. April of nineteen seventeen
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became known as Bloody April due to the fact that
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Yasta eleven shot down eighty nine British planes during the
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Battle of Arras. The Baron himself accounted for twenty one
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of those including four in one day. Soon after, Manfred
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was promoted to command a new four squadron fighter wing
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called Yakash Fodder One. That new fighter wing consisted of
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Yasta four, six, ten, and eleven. They were meant to
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be more mobile and can move on shorter notice to
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various parts of the front as required. Since the pilots
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flying under Manfred took to painting different parts of their
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planes bright colors. Paired with the fact that the four
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squadrons traveled with tents, trains, and caravans, the fighter wing
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became known as the flying Circus. The Red Baron had
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an amazing year in the skies over World War One,
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but his luck was starting to run out. In July
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of nineteen seventeen, as he flew as Fokker dr Ie
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and a dog fight over France, he was hit by
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enemy fire. The bullet grazed his head and fractured his skull,
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which caused him to be temporarily blind and paralyzed. Fortunately,
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he regained his senses in time to pull his plane
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out of a spin and landed in friendly territory. He
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needed multiple operations to remove bone splinters from the area.
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He went back into service two and a half weeks later,
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against doctors' orders. A little over a month later, Manford
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went on convalescence leave. Due to the lasting damage of
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the injury, he would have frequent headaches and suffer from
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postflight nausea and vombed after flights. During his convalescent leave,
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Manfred authored an autobiography. It was titled Del roda Kemfligar,
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which tried translates to the Red battle Flyer. He was
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heavily censored at the time, but its nineteen thirty three
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reissue painted a much more accurate portrayal. Offon Richnenfen. He
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wrote quote, I am in wretched spirits after every aerial combat.
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I believe that the war is not as the people
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at home imagined it with a hurrah and a roar.
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It is very serious, very grim. That was something the
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German Empire would never print during the war. By nineteen eighteen,
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the Red Baron had become so feared that the German
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Empire worried that his death would lower troop morale, so
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they tried to reassign him to a ground job. He refused,
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saying quote, every poor fellow in the trenches must do
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his duty. He explained that he would therefore continue to
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fly in combat. On April twenty first, nineteen eighteen, the
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Red Baron was flying in an aerial battle over vasser Saum, France.
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A Canadian pilot flying with the Royal Air fired on
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a German plane piloted by Manfred's cousin, Wolfram von Richdefen.
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Manfred immediately fired upon his cousin's attacker, causing him to
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pull away and saving Wolfram's life. He then began pursuing
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the Canadian pilot in retribution for firing on his family.
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There are many theories on what may have contributed to
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the death of the Mighty Red Baron. Some say his
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previous head injury played a part. His headaches, nausea, and
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PTSD could have all contributed to his performance in the cockpit.
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He was normally so calculated during his attacks, always following
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the dicta bolca. That time, though, he took an uncalculated
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risk in order to exact revenge on a single pilot.
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In nineteen ninety nine, a German medical researcher, Henning Almers
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published an article in the British medical journal The Lancet
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suggesting it was likely that brain damage from the head
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wound Manfred suffered in July of nineteen seventeen that played
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a major role in the decision he made leading up
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to his death. Another Canadian pilot swooped in to offer
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support for his fellow fighter, but he missed the bright
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red triplane. Manfred dodged the attack and continued his pursuit
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of his cousin's attacker. It was during that pursuit that
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he flew over a series of Allied infantry in placements.
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As soon as the infantry men spotted the red plane,
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they unleashed a hail of machine gun fire at who
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they believed to be the most dangerous man in the skies.
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Manfred was struck by a bullet in his torso. The
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bullet entered near his right arm pit and exited near
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his left nipple, damaging his lungs and heart. It would
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have been a relatively quick death, but not so quick
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that Manfred wasn't able to bring his plane down in
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a controlled, yet rough landing. Many men claimed to be
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the first to reach the downed plane and that his
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final word was couput, but there's no evidence to back
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that up. All we know for sure is that he
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died still strapped into his bright red triplane, having taken
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down eighty enemy planes for a long time. Captain Arthur
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Roy Brown, the Canadian pilot who tried to defend his counterpart,
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was credited with the death of the Red Baron. Modern investigations, though,
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have concluded that the fatal bullet had to have come
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from the ground due to the angle of impact and
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the fact that it would have been unlikely he would
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have lived long enough to continue pursuing Wolfram's attacker and
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still bring the plane down for a landing. His plane,
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a Fokker dr one, was not badly damaged, but soon
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became dismantled by souvenir hunters. His body was recovered by
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ally forces and buried with full military honors. In life,
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he was the most hated adversary of the Allied pilots,
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but in death they honored him as a fallen hero.
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A correspondent for the British magazine Aeroplane later wrote quote,
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anybody would have been proud to have killed Rich defen
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in action, but every member of the Royal Flying Corp
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would have also been proud to shake his hand had
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he fallen into captivity alive. On April twenty second, he
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was given a full military funeral that included a guard
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of honor and six Royal Flying Corps pallbearers. As a
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sign of respect for the war's most lethal pilot, a
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wreath was placed on his grave that read quote to
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our galliant and worthy foe. After World War One, authors
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questioned the accuracy that Manfred got eighty confirmed kills, claiming
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that the German Empire inflated the count in their propaganda.
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In fact, very accurate records were kept of the Red
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Baron's kills and are listed with the aircraft serial numbers
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and the names of the airmen who were killed or captured.
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Seventy three out of eighty on that list match the
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record of British losses, and the number eighty is only
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confirmed kills, so it's likely that the Red Baron shot
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down more than one hundred planes. Captain Roy Brown donated
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the seat of the Fokker triplane in which the German
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flying ace made his final fight to the Royal Canadian
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Military Institute in nineteen twenty. The Royal Canadian Military Institute
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in Toronto. Apart from the triplane seat, also holds a
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side panel signed by the pilots of Brown Squadron. The
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engine of Manfred's Dr Ie was donated to the Imperial
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War Museum in London, where it's still on display. The
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museum also holds the Baron's machine guns. The control column
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or joystick of the aircraft can be seen at the
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Australian War Memorial in Canberra. His death and his legend
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will forever be part of our imagination. He will continue
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to be depicted in movies, books, TV shows and songs.
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The legend of the Red Battleflyer and his deadly flying
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circus will always be a part of our history that
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will fascinate people. And though he was on what most
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would consider the wrong side, don't let his allegiance discourage
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you from using his story as an inspiration to become
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the best at what you love to do. Thanks so
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much for letting us tell you this sinister story. If
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you enjoyed it, subscribe on whatever platform you're on and
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hit like, rate it, or leave a comment. Join us
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again for more dark and interesting stories from around the world.
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Be safe,
