Rittmeister: A Biography of Manfred von Richthofen

Barely more than 10 years after the Wright brothers flew at Kittyhawk, North

Carolina; World War I thrust aviation into warfare. Aviation was still in its infancyaircraft

designers and pilots were still learning about the most basic aerodynamics: the

how and why airplanes actually fly!

With the start of the war, pilots not only had to worry about the aircraft and if it would

actually fly, they had to worry about fighting each other in the sky!

The airmen of World War I flew in open, exposed cockpits; often at altitudes that

would cause frostbite on any uncovered portion of the pilot's skin. The pilots flew

without oxygen; the effects of altitude and the danger of narcosis were unknown at

the time. Aircraft fell apart during combat maneuvers and engines stopped working

while in flight so often that in the First World War, more pilots were killed because

of accidents than in actual combat.

The airman of World War I had no parachute. There was no escape from any malfunction

in his airplane other than trying to control the plane into a crash landing. In addition,

the aircraft these men flew were made of canvas glued onto wood: a virtual fire

bomb. The airplanes could catch fire as a result of the hot engine, leaked gasoline

from a fuel line or the fuel tank (which the pilot often sat upon) or the effects of

enemy bullets.

Manfred von Richthofen faced these perils, as did thousands of other men. Since they

all faced the same incredible dangers and shared the same risks: Manfred in some

ways typifies the airman of World War I.

However, von Richthofen has achieved legendary status in the chronicles of aviation

history. He achieved this status because he was the most successful fighter pilot in the war. He was a "good" pilot, but he was a superb fighter wing leader, a hunter in the

skies. He also became a first rate aerial tactician and an excellent jagdgeschwader

kommodore (squadron leader).

Von Richthofen helped to organize jagdgeschwader 1: the flying circus of legend. By

the time of his death: his leadership, organizational and tactical skills had developed

his squadron into the most effective air group in World War I. He also laid out the

strategies for air combat so well, that his dicta (along with those of his mentor Oswald

Boelcke) are still used by today's jet fighter pilots.

The war that was to end before Christmas1914 actually lasted four years. A blockade

by the Allied navies resulted in severe shortages of food and other necessities which

caused tremendous suffering among the civilian population in Germany. The German

military needed to bolster the support for the war from the civilian population. War

heroes served a very useful purpose in this regard, and the new warfare in the skies

provided plenty of heroes.

Propagated by his country's propaganda service, von Richthofen's image as a modern

Teutonic knight of the air propelled him to a legendary hero status in Germany during

the war.

Ultimately, nearly 7,000 German aviators died in the First World War. Manfred von

Richthofen was one of those airmen, a young man who died at age 25. In the war that

was to end all wars von Richthofen paid the ultimate sacrifice for his country: but his

legend lives on to this day.