Facts About the Red Baron

He was respected by even his enemies.

Creative Commons: Great War Observer

What knowledge many of us have about the Red Baron comes from song about his ariel battles with Snoopy. Part of the song goes:

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more The Bloody Red Baron was rollin’ up the score Eighty men died tryin’ to end that spree Of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany

They part of an upbeat song is actually pretty accurate.

For those of us not familiar with the song, perhaps we’re more familiar with the Baron’s culinary achievements, aka Red Baron pizzas. Hold on, being told the pizza didn’t come from him. Well, here are some actual facts about the Red Baron.

1: The Red Baron was born Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen.

Yeah, the Red Baron definitely has a better ring to it.

2: Originally, Manfred was part of the cavalry but transferred to the Air Service in 1915. In 1916 he one of the first members of fighter squadron Jagdstaffel 2. In 1917 he became one of the first members of fighter squadron *Jagdstaffel 2. Then he went on to join the circus.*

Actually, he became the leader of *Jagdgeschwader I*, known as The Flying Circus.

3: Before the question, “Who Shot JR?” the question was “Who Shot the Red Baron?”

The Red Baron was shot down and killed in France near Vaux-sur-Somme on 21 April 1918. There is some question about who killed the Red Baron, but it definitely wasn’t Snoopy. Some think Canadian Captain Arthur “Roy” Brown shot him while others think ground fire did the Baron in.

4: The Baron actually started off poorly as a pilot.

He crashed during his first flight at the controls. But he ultimately proved to be a quick learner.

5: Manfred had an unusual way to celebrate victories.

He would order a silver cup engraved with the date and the type of enemy aircraft he shot down. He did that for his first 60 victories until silver became hard to get in Germany. This guy could have actually affected the silver market.

6: Manfred’s brother, Lothar, who had 40 victories, was actually a flashier pilot than Manfred.

Lothar was known as the Scarlet Baron. Hold on, being told that’s not right.

7: As far as his personality went, the Baron was often described as distant, unemotional, and rather humorless.

Well, I didn’t really think he would have been a wild and crazy guy.

8: Allies handled the initial burial of the Red Baron, and he was given a full military funeral.

Imagine if political foes showed each other that type of respect.

9: While there is some question about how many victories the Red Baron had, 80 seems like a reasonable estimate.

Actually, most of his victories are well documented. That was probably because the media wasn’t as active back then.

10: Not surprisingly, the plane he was shot down in became a treasure trove for souvenir hunters.

Well, he was sort of the Elvis of World War I.

11: The Red Baron suffered a serious injury on his first serious war wound on July 6, 1917, when he was shot in the head while engaged in an ariel battle.

The bullet fractured his skull. It has also been speculated that the Red Baron also suffered from PTSD.

12: The Red Baron did eventually paint his plane red.

That made much more of a statement than just painting, “Hey, Look at Me!” on his plane.

13: He published a popular book in 1917.

It was called, “Fear of Flying.” Wait, being told it was actually called, “The Red Fighter Pilot.”

14: A large part of the Red Baron’s success was the fact he was an accurate shot.

Back then ariel battles where a combination of flying a shooting ability. Sounds like a possible Olympic event.

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