Just theTwo of Us

Manfred von Richthofen was born on May 2, 1892 in Breslau, Germany as the son of Major Albrecht von Richthofen, a Prussian nobleman and his wife, Kunigunde. Manfred was the eldest of three sons. At the age of eleven he was enrolled into the military school at Wahlstatt and then attended the Royal Military Academy at Lichterfelde. Manfred was a far better athlete than he was a scholar, and applied his horseback riding skills to become a cavalry officer. He was commissioned in April, 1911 in the 1st Regiment of Uhlans Kaiser Alexander III. H e was promoted to Lieutenant in 1912.

However, twentieth century warfare had little use for mounted cavalry. The invention of the Maxim machine gun had led to the need for combat operations to be carried out from trenches dug into the country side. When war broke out in August, 1914, Richthofen looked to the air service for a new challenge. He initially joined the Fliegertruppe (air service) in 1915 as an observer because the training course was shorter and would get him to combat faster. After meeting Oswald Boelcke, who would remain his hero and idol, Manfred was committed to becoming a pilot. After only 24 hours of flight training from his friend, Oberleutnant Georg Zeumer, he mad

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Brown because of his speed after the dive had swung wide. We can only hope that he can finally rest in peace. Field Marshal von Hindenburg, the president of the Weimar republic, accompanied by many dignitaries in uniform, walked behind the family. In 1925, Manfred von Richthofen's younger brother Bolko recovered the body and took it home.

The males in the Richthofen family were all sportsman and hunters. Soon his men painted their planes red, although all but the Baron were required to display at least one other color. A British pilot dropped a note in German territory containing the news. He had his Fokker painted bright red. In this flight von Richthofen was supposed to be an observer of the dogfighting going on below him. May began evasive actions after the Baron's initial burst. It is then not surprising that during the war, he awarded himself an engraved silver cup for each Allied plane he downed. In 1976 the East German government announced some border changes.

He died on April 21, 1918 in the skies over Vaux sur Somme, France. He and the 'Baron' screamed along just above the ground, the Triplane steadily gaining. He was called der rote Kampfflieger (The Red Battle-Flyer) by his own people, le petit rouge by the French, and the Red Baron by the English.

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