Death of the Red Baron (1918): Manfred von Richthofen

The death of the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, on 21 April 1918 removed the most famous fighter pilot of the First World War. Germany’s top ace, credited with 80 victories, was hit by a single bullet while chasing a British fighter low over the Somme valley, and he died after landing behind Australian lines. Who fired that bullet has been argued about ever since.

From cavalry officer to fighter ace

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was born on 2 May 1892 near Breslau in Prussian Silesia (now Wrocław, Poland), into a Prussian noble family. He began the war as a cavalry officer in an Uhlan regiment, but trench warfare left little role for horsemen, and in 1915 he transferred to the air service, first as an observer and then as a pilot.

In 1916 the leading German ace Oswald Boelcke picked him for the new fighter squadron Jasta 2. Richthofen scored his first confirmed victory on 17 September 1916, over the Battle of the Somme front. In November that year he shot down and killed the British ace Major Lanoe Hawker after a long duel, a victory that made his name.

Fame and command

In January 1917 he received the Pour le Mérite, Prussia’s highest military honour, and took command of Jasta 11. Around this time he had his Albatros fighter painted red. During “Bloody April” 1917, when British air losses over Arras were very heavy, he claimed more than 20 aircraft.

In June 1917 he was given command of Jagdgeschwader 1, a wing of four squadrons that moved along the front by train and tent and became known to the Allies as the “Flying Circus”. On 6 July 1917 he suffered a serious head wound and, though he returned to flying, some historians believe the injury affected him for the rest of his life. His ghost-written memoir, Der rote Kampfflieger (The Red Battle Flier), appeared in 1917 and made him a national celebrity.

The last flight

By April 1918 Germany’s Spring Offensive had pushed the front close to Amiens. On the morning of 21 April Richthofen, flying a red Fokker Dr.I triplane, joined a fight with Sopwith Camels of No. 209 Squadron of the newly formed Royal Air Force. He pursued an inexperienced Canadian pilot, Lieutenant Wilfrid “Wop” May, westwards at very low level along the Somme and over the Morlancourt Ridge.

May’s flight commander, Captain Arthur Roy Brown, dived to help and fired at the triplane. At the same time Australian troops on the ridge were firing at it with machine guns and rifles. Richthofen was hit by a single .303 bullet that passed through his chest. He made a rough landing in a field near the Bray–Corbie road and died within moments, probably before soldiers reached the aircraft. He was 25 years old.

Who fired the fatal shot?

The RAF credited Brown with the kill, and that remained the official version for years. However, examinations of the body suggested that the bullet entered under the right armpit and travelled upwards and towards the left side of the chest. Many researchers argue that such a path is hard to reconcile with Brown’s attack from behind and above, and fits better with fire from the ground to the right of the aircraft.

Several Australians have been proposed. The most frequently named is Sergeant Cedric Popkin of the 24th Machine Gun Company, who fired as the triplane passed; gunners Robert Buie and William “Snowy” Evans of the 53rd Battery were also credited at the time. Because the evidence is incomplete and witnesses disagreed, the question cannot be settled with certainty. Most modern accounts conclude that ground fire, rather than Brown, was probably responsible.

Funeral and burial

The Australian Flying Corps’ No. 3 Squadron took charge of the body. On 22 April 1918 Richthofen was buried at Bertangles with full military honours: officers acted as pallbearers, a firing party gave a salute, and wreaths were laid, including tributes from Allied airmen honouring him as a brave opponent. In 1925 his remains were moved to the Invalidenfriedhof in Berlin, and in 1975 to the family plot in Wiesbaden.

Myths and facts

Myth: he won all his victories in the red triplane. The Fokker Dr.I is the aircraft most associated with him, but the large majority of his 80 victories were scored in Albatros biplanes.

Myth: he was a chivalrous knight of the air. He was respected by opponents, but his tactics were cautious and methodical, favouring surprise attacks with height advantage, as Boelcke had taught. He was a professional soldier, not a duellist.

Myth: the Red Baron was his wartime nickname. In English the name spread mostly after the war; the British often called him the “Red Knight” and the French “le petit rouge”.

Timeline

• 1892, 2 May: Manfred von Richthofen is born near Breslau.
• 1916, 17 September: He scores his first confirmed victory with Jasta 2.
• 1916, 23 November: He shoots down the British ace Lanoe Hawker.
• 1917, January: He receives the Pour le Mérite and takes command of Jasta 11.
• 1917, 6 July: He is badly wounded in the head.
• 1918, 20 April: He claims his 79th and 80th victories.
• 1918, 21 April: He is killed over the Morlancourt Ridge.
• 1918, 22 April: Australian airmen bury him at Bertangles.

Why it matters

Richthofen’s death was a blow to German morale at a critical moment in 1918, and it ended the career of the war’s most successful fighter pilot. His fame, the red aircraft and the unsolved question of the fatal shot turned him into one of the most enduring legends of the First World War, still recognised a century later in films, books and popular culture.