Red Baron Richthofen: Mysteries of History
As soon as the German infantrymen saw his red plane above their positions, their morale was revived. For the enemies, this red plane was the herald of a quick death. After all, everyone knew that the pilot-pilot, pilot-legend, Manfred von Richthofen - God. God painting the wings of his plane in the color of blood ...
Manfred von Richthofen was born on May 2 of 1892 in the city of Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland) in the family of a Prussian aristocrat, which meant that his military career was predetermined to him. At the end of the military school in Waldstadt, he entered the military academy and became an excellent shooter and rider. In the 1912 year in the rank of lieutenant, he began to serve in the horse regiment. In August 1914, the peace rhythm of the army service was interrupted by the war. Manfred was appointed commander of the unit that participated in the attack on Russia. Soon his company was transferred to the western front. However, the war in France was not for cavalry: a man on a horse among trenches and barbed wire would be just a helpless target for enemy machine guns. Like the Allies, Germany held cavalry in the rear guard, waiting in vain for a breakthrough. Richthofen had to fulfill the duties of the quartermaster. Fussing with paperwork, tedious business affairs turned the dreams of military exploits into something unrealizable. The young officer had a lot of time to observe how a new form of military action was born over his head. This made it possible to get rid of boredom and trench mud. Richthofen began to learn the profession of an observer and was soon transferred to the eastern front, where he regularly participated in reconnaissance flights. It was the time of motors, and the former trooper moved from his horse to the plane. He understood that flying is his element. Manfred wrote to his mother: "Every day I fly over the troops of the enemies and report on their movement. Three days ago I reported on the retreat of the Russians. You have no idea how happy I was."
In August 1915, Richthofen was redirected to the western front to a top-secret unit, codenamed “Brigade of Pigeons”, intended for bombing operations. Having finished the training course for Christmas of the same year and having received the long-awaited wings, the newly-made pilot was finally able to fully satisfy his ambitions. In preparation for the sorties, Richthofen screwed a machine gun to the upper wing of his reconnaissance aircraft.
Now the air battles looked different than at the beginning, when the pilots used carbines and revolvers. The jump was made in February 1915, when the Frenchman Roland Gaross installed a stationary machine gun, firing through a rotating propeller. The German aircraft designer Fokker, having studied the captured French aircraft, came up with an interrupter, thanks to which the machine gun fired bullets only at the moment when there was no propeller in their path. The Fokker breaker was placed on the Aydekker monoplane, which became the first real fighter. The machine gun on Aydekkerah became a hell of a scourge for practically defenseless Allied reconnaissance aircraft. In the ten months of the terror that began in August 1915 of the year, the Idedeckers practically cleared the sky from the enemy’s vehicles. In January 1916, the headquarters of the British Royal Air Forces gave the order to accompany each reconnaissance aircraft with three fighters in close formation.
1 September 1916, Richthofen is being transferred to the Western Front. He begins his career in the squadron Jagdstaffel-2 on a biplane "Albatross D. II". And although for all Richthofen remained in the memory with his Fokker Dr. I triplane, he made the vast majority of his flights on the Albatross D. II and Albatross D. III.
17 September 1916, Richthofen officially opens the scoring for his air victories - the downed plane finally fell where it should be - in Germany. Two planes sent by Richthofen in the first year of his flight career to the land of France were not counted.
4 January 1917, Richthofen brings his score to 16 air victories, which makes him the best German ace living. 12 January, he is awarded the Order of Pour le Merite. He is entrusted with the command of the squadron Jasta 11. Richthofen decides to paint some parts of his car in red, partly so that his ground forces easily recognize him in the air and do not shoot at him. It is also believed that he chose red because he was the color of his Ulan cavalry unit. Richthofen’s act spawned a number of traditions: each airplane of his squadron was also painted red (but other colors were necessarily present in the coloring - only the squadron commander, von Richthofen’s red flew in a red car without other additional colors), and later English The pilots began to paint the nose of their cars in red, thereby expressing their intention to incite the "red baron".
The British also created a special squadron in order to bring down the "red baron" - the so-called "anti-ichthofen squadron", or "anti-ryhtgofensky club." Unsuccessful.
In April 1917, Richtofen surpassed Belke himself, his teacher, by shooting down 40 planes. He became an instrument of German propaganda. The allies also had their own heroes - the names of such aces as the Englishman Ball and the French Guynemer became legendary. These bright personalities, "knights of the air", as they were called, became famous all over the world. Of the American aces, one of the best was Raoul Loughberry (16 victories), who had previously served in the French squadron of Lafayette. But all these heroes died. First Loughberry and Guynemer, and then Ball. The latter, in a fierce battle with the Air Circus, knocked down Richtofen's brother Lothar, but he survived, and Ball died in the same battle. Only the Red Baron seemed invincible. He turned aerial combat into an exact science. In addition, Richtofen became an excellent aerial acrobat. He shot the victim from very close range, opening fire only at the moment when he was sure that he could deliver a fatal blow to the car or the pilot himself. Manfred von Richthofen was not a joker, but he once said: "I prefer to see my client's face." In July 1917, the incredible happened - in a fierce battle with six FE-2s at once, the Red Baron was seriously wounded in the head. Miraculously escaping death, almost blind, in a semi-conscious state, he nevertheless landed his Albatross. Three weeks later, he escaped from the hospital and, with his head bandaged, led his pilots into battle.
Fokker DR-1 Plans
Many believed that a red airplane was actually run by a woman, a certain German Jeanne d'Arc. Once the von Richthofen squadron captured an English pilot who, of course, began to try to find out who was flying on a red airplane. He himself was firmly convinced that he was ruled by a girl. As Manfred von Richthofen himself describes this incident: “He was extremely surprised when I assured him that this hypothetical girl was now standing right in front of him. He was not in the mood for joking. He was really convinced that only a girl could sit in a car like that extravagant coloring. "
Enemies called Richthofen not only the "Red Baron", but also the "Red Devil" and the "Red Knight." When the red airplane appeared over the enemy positions, everyone already knew that, as long as he stayed here, the sky would belong to the Germans. For everyone firmly believed that the "red baron" was invincible. The morale in the troops immediately fell sharply.
Air superiority often depends on a bit more speed, a slightly steeper turn, a slightly higher rate of fire of the machine gun and, of course, on the pilot's ability to squeeze all of these advantages. There were a lot of pilots no worse than Manfred von Richthofen, but he knew how to fight to the end. 16 November 1917 was awarded the Order For Personal Bravery. Then he was appointed commander of Jasta-2. Unlike the British Air Force, the Germans assembled their best pilots into elite units. Under the command of Richthofen, his brother Lothar also served, ending the war with 40 victories. Their colorful planes gave the unit the nickname "Air Circus". With the further reorganization of the German Air Force in June 1917, Manfred von Richthofen commanded four Jasta groups already assembled in the Jagdgeschwader-1 combat wing.
Richthofen's fame was due to the fact that from September 1917 of the year to the day of his death in April 1918 of the year, he demonstrated his unique skill on the Red Fokker. Flying on this triplane, Richthofen won the last victories 17. Meanwhile, the resistance of the British in the air increased day by day. Thanks to the ever-increasing number of aircraft of the new generation, the balance of power in the airspace swayed toward the Allies. Among their new aircraft, SE5А stood out, opposed to the triplanes of the Red Baron, as well as Sopwith Camel, whose nickname comes from the double-humped shape of the casing covering its twin machine guns. Towards the end of the war, Camels shot down over 1300 German aircraft. But the number of victories of the Richthofen all grew. Sopwith Pap, which he shot down while flying the Fokker, was 61 his victory. The English pilot of the shot down plane, Bird, taken prisoner by the Red Baron, was happy to have survived. But one person is not able to change the course of events, moreover, in April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. Five months later, the US Air Force combat squadron entered the battle on the side of the British and French. The Americans flew British and French aircraft, as the United States did not yet have its own combat vehicles. However, the very participation of Americans in hostilities sharply raised the morale of the allies. Time worked against Germany.
By this time, Richthofen has become something of a national icon. But the Red Baron began to tire of his popularity and with great pleasure spent his free time with his beloved dog Moritz, than with people. It seemed that not only those around him, but Manfred von Richthofen himself believed in his exclusivity and immortality. He behaved arrogantly, evoking respect in people, but not worship.
The final chapter of the Red Baron began on 21 on March 1918, when selected parts of Germany rushed into the last offensive on the Western Front. While the infantry was advancing, the Yag-1 link was on the ground, but at the dawn of April 3 the triplanes took off. By April 20, the Red Baron had already 80 victories. His last victim was Svvitch Camel, who was shot almost at point blank range. And then came the fateful day for Richthofen. On 21 on April his unit attacked two reconnaissance aircraft. A fierce battle over the English line of defense caused anti-aircraft fire. To help his scouts, Captain Brown's squadron flew up into the air. Richthofen immediately chose Lieutenant May, who in the heat of battle shot all his cartridges, and began to press him to the ground. Now they were over the area of the Austrian troops. Flying very low over enemy trenches, Richthofen violated one of his basic rules - never to be exposed to unnecessary risk. Australian machine gunners fired on a triplane flying over them. During the pursuit of May, who tried in vain to dodge, Richtofen set himself up under the machine gun under him. The persecutor became persecuted. On the tail of Richthofen, absorbed in the desire to finish off the enemy, Captain Brown sat trying to get the red Fokker by machine-gun fire. What happened next is unclear. All that is known is that a triplane was shot both from the ground and from the air. A minute later he collapsed into the field.
Richthofen's body was on the plane, and his hands were still clutching the wheel. Soon nothing was left of the Fokker equipment - is there a better souvenir than the detail of the plane of the famous ace? No one looked at what angle the holes were made in the downed plane and how many of them. The next day, Richthofen was buried in the cemetery near the village of Bertangu. No autopsy was performed on his body. After a superficial medical examination, it was concluded that the Red Baron was killed by a bullet fired by Captain Brown. In ten days, Manfred von Richthofen would have turned 26. In November 1925, the remains of the Red Baron were transported to Germany and buried at the Berlin cemetery for the disabled.
Richthofen died, but the question of who fired the bullet that killed him remained open. After the death of the Red Baron, General Rowlenson personally congratulated two Australian machine-gunners Ivans and Buje on his victory over the formidable ace. However, the pilots of the British Royal Air Force, commanded by Captain Brown, stood their ground firmly. They claimed that the honor of victory belongs to their commander. It was almost impossible to prove anything - Richtofen's plane was taken as a souvenir, eyewitnesses to the event showed that Richthofen was wounded in the legs and stomach, and there was a sea of blood on the floor of his cabin. In general, eyewitness testimony suggests that he was killed by a burst from the ground, not by a Brown bullet. But we will never know the truth.
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