It has been 93 years since the Rittmeister fell. Not a god, not superman, but a dedicated soldier. They existed on all sides. Ritt. Manfred von Richthofen fell all wounds facing the front. His luck ran out when he ignored his own Dicta.



March 5, 1917. The Blue Max was added to the negative after the award was made.

Steven,
Nice touch! The history and indeed heritage aspects of the hobby are so often overlooked. "Der Rote Kampfflieger" was indeed a great man.
In the early 80's when I was a young Fighter Pilot instructing "Baby Fighter Pilots" I had a Ground School Course assignment "The History and Lessons of Fighter Aviation". I incorporated a lot of the dicta of this legendary ace along with that of his mentor and idol, Boelke, in the syllabus. The basics were still valid then, as they are now and I dare say will continue to be so in the future.
These were great men, Years ago I had the privilege of meeting with and speaking to Donald McLaren socially just before his passing and will never forget his words, "we weren't special, we did what we had to do on both sides of that awful conflict". Some did it much better then others and the Red Baron stands as a fine example of leadership, devotion to duty, and loyalty to this day in the fighter community.
Thanks for reminding us all of the significance of 21 April. I thought of the anniversary of his falling yesterday; even had an extra large single malt in his honor at the end of the day.
Cheers,
Lance

Just to remember.

I did.......... Hard to believe that the 100th year since the beginning of the "War to end all Wars" is almost upon us.
Ironically I was in a bookstore this morning looking for a Birthday Card for my wife (21 April is her birthday)and spotted one of the few books I didn't have on the Baron; "The Red Baron's Last Flight" by Franks and Bennett. Needless to say I have it now; and was reminded of the other reason 21 April is significant.

Lance

Greetings all,

The folks at Over the Front have some tributes to him on Facebook.

Click here.

Even some Swedish Newspapers noted on the Barons demise yesterday... They normally never write much about the Great War at all, so it is very much a measure of how famous he still is!

Mikael

95 years, and still a legend.............!
Nice to hear that he's still being remembered.
Cheers,
Lance