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'''Baron Manfred von Richthofen''' (2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918) was a German [[Flying ace|ace]] fighter pilot in [[World War I]], and known in history as the "Red Baron"<ref>httphttps://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0151771723&id=XB0HAAAAMAAJ&q=%22bloody+red+baron%22&dq=%22bloody+red+baron%22&[[Image:redbaron.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]pgis=1</ref> (2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918) due to the bright red colour scheme on a plane he used late in the war. He was the most successful [[flying ace]] during World War I, being officially credited with 80 confirmed air combat victories during his service with the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte).
==Early Life and Outbreak of War==
Following the outbreak of [[World War One]], he served as a cavalry recon officer on both the Western and Eastern fronts. However, upon the bogging down of fighting on the Western front into [[trench warfare]], the cavalry became increasingly disused, and Richthofen was not satisfied with being used in a role that eventually became that of an infantry messenger. Leaving his cavalry regiment behind him, Richthofen applied, and was accepted into, the Imperial German Army Air Service (later Luftstreitkräfte).
==Piloting Careercareer==
Richthofen began as an observer in a recon plane over the Eastern front between June and August 1915 with No. 69 Flying Squadron, before his unit was transferred to the Western front. Between October 1915 and March 1916, he completed his training as a pilot, and joined a bomber squadron. During his time as an observer and bomber pilot, he claimed to have downed two French aircraft, although he was unable to produce enough evidence to be given official credit for the victories.
During another stint flying bombers over the Eastern front, he was approached by [[Oswald Boelcke]], who was searching for promising pilots for the new fighter squadron, Jasta 2. After joining the unit, he won his first confirmed victory on September 17th17, 1916.
Manfred was taught how to be an effective fighter pilot by his squadron commander, Oswald Boelcke. At the time, Boelcke was the German Ace-of Aces (the highest scoring German ace), and the first to write down the basic tactics for being a good fighter pilot, many of which he pioneered, and most are still used today. These were known as the [[Dicta Boelcke]]. Boelcke was killed in a flying accident after colliding with a member of his own jasta on October 28th28, 1916, shortly after his 40th victory.
In January 1917, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite, the highest award for bravery that could be awarded to a member of the German army. Shortly afterwards, he was given command of Jasta 11, his now-famous "flying circus". Around this time, one of his pilots awoke one morning to see Manfred painting his plane red. When asked why, he responded with: "No reason in particular". This red colour scheme would eventually be shared by all the members of Jasta 11, with each plane having distinct personal markings for identification while airborne. Richthofen's however, was the only one to be painted almost purely red.
Contrary to popular belief, he did not fly exclusively in his Fokker dr.1 triplane, although he did use that aircraft for 20 of his victories. Many of the others were gained using a wide variety of planes at his disposal, most notably the Albatros D.III.
[[James Thurber]] wrote a famous story entitled ''[[The Secret Life of Walter Mitty]],'' in which a mild-mannered man has heroic daydreams while running shopping errands for his wife. In one of them, he imagines himself a World War I pilot in the RAF fighting Von Richthofen's Flying Circus.
In [[Charles M. Schulz]]'s Peanuts cartoons, the beagle Snoopy, in a reference to Walter Mitty, is constantly daydreaming of being a World War I flying ace and fighting the Red Baron.
[[Image:snoppy.jpg]]
:Now, Snoopy had sworn that he'd get that man<br>:So he asked the Great Pumpkin for a new battle plan<br>:He challenged the German to a real dogfight<br>:While the Baron was laughing, he got him in his sight....<br>
*A videogame was made based on the song
==References==
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[[Category:Military Commanders]]
[[Category:World War I]]
[[categoryCategory:Air Power]]