Posted on 12/08/2009 7:55:56 AM PST by GonzoII
Published: 5 Dec 09 18:03 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091205-23749.html
The death certificate of German World War I fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen has turned up in western Poland, the daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported on Saturday.
Genealogist Maciej Kowalski came across it in the archives of the town of Ostrow Wielkopolski, which was the base of his regiment and his last official address, the paper said.
Richthofen, a Prussian aristocrat dubbed the Red Baron from the favourite colour of his aircraft, was born in what is now Wroclaw in Poland, formerly Breslau, in 1892.
After scoring victories over 80 allied aircraft during the war, he was finally downed near Vaux-sur-Somme on April 21, 1918, though arguments still rage as to whether he was hit by ground fire or shot down by Canadian pilot Roy Brown.
Richthofen was buried in a local cemetery with full military honours by British and Australian troops, but his body was later moved to the family vault at Wiesbaden in Germany.
Great. They can find this, but not the president’s birth certificate.
At 80 kills is he still the #1 flying ace of all time?
Not even close. Erich Hartmann of the Luftwaffe shot down something like 352 airgraft. There were other Luftwaffe pilots well up in the 200s. there was a Japanese pilot [can’t remember his nme] with more than Hartmann.
While Richtofen was the only pilot in the Flying Circus to fly an all red airplane, all the others had a bit of red in their color schem to show their unit.
http://www.acesofww2.com/japan/Japan.htm
According to this site, the top scoring Jap ace had 350 kills when drunk, 250 sober.
Hartmen fought on the Russian front... not to diminish his achievement, but he was definitely working in a “target-rich environment.”
And officially with 30
Nothing but a 404 error.
"...A 404 error is often returned when pages have been moved or deleted"
Achtung!
Jetzt wir singen zusammen die Geschichte
Über den schweinköpfigen Hund
Und den lieben Red Baron
After the turn of the century
In the clear blue skies over Germany
Came a roar and a thunder men have never heard
Like the scream and the sound of a big war bird
Eins, zwei, drei, vier ....
Up in the sky, a man in a plane
Baron von Richthofen was his name
Eighty men tried and eighty men died
Now they’re buried together on the countryside
Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin’ out the score
Eighty men died tryin’ to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany
Left, two, three, four ....
In the nick of time, a hero arose
A funny-lookin’ dog with a big black nose
He flew into the sky to seek revenge
But the Baron shot him down “Curses, foiled again!”
Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin’ out the score
Eighty men died tryin’ to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany
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
That Bloody Red Baron was in a fix
He’d tried everything, but he’d run out of tricks
Snoopy fired once and he fired twice
And that Bloody Red Baron went spinning out of sight
Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin’ out the score
Eighty men died tryin’ to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany
The Jap's success rate had a tendency to go down as the war progressed especially if they continued in the areas where the US was active. The Hellcat, Lightning, Corsair in the hands of combat experienced pilots saw to that. Additionally, a good pilot could have success only to return to his carrier and find it sunk, miles to go with no fuel. It was a long swim back to Nippon.
Historical fact: Roy Brown, flying a Sopwith Camel, eventually shot down the Red Baron. It’s uncertain whether Snoopy’s namesake inspired his fantasies about WWI.
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