Manfred von Richthofen

Manfred von Richthofen (1892-1918) was a German ace fighter pilot in World War I. He was also called the "Red Baron," the "Bloody Red Baron," the "Jolly Red Baron," the "Red Falcon," the "Red Devil," and "Le Diable Rouge." He flew a bright red Fokker Albatross airplane, and is credited with over 80 "kills", the number of enemy aircraft shot down, and 127 personnel killed. During the last year of his life, he was not mentally healthy. He suffered a some brain damage from a minor crash. He was not as smart as he used to be breaking many of the rules of flying. He flew into enemy territory and was KIA in 1918 ending his famous high flying career.

In Popular Culture

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.

Then, in 1966, The Royal Guardsmen recorded a hit song entitled "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" which retells Schulz's story in song lyric form:

Now, Snoopy had sworn that he'd get that man

So he asked the Great Pumpkin for a new battle plan

He challenged the German to a real dogfight

While the Baron was laughing, he got him in his sight....

• A videogame was made based on the song