574 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



several fights protected the newer mem- 

 bers of his flight, thus keeping their cas- 

 ualties down to a minimum. (The italics 

 are my own.) This officer is considered 

 by the record which he has made, by his 

 fearlessness, and by the great services 

 which he has rendered to his country, 

 deserving of the very highest honor." 



It requires bravery truly to bring down 

 54 armed aeroplanes. But that bravery 

 becomes conspicuous and deserving of 

 the very highest honor when it includes 

 shielding from danger the little fellows 

 who are devotedly following their daring 

 leader. 



the: career of captain von RICHTHOFEN 



Manfred von Richthofen, favorite of 

 the Kaiser, a brilliant fighter, a chivalrous 

 gentleman, and the pride of the German 

 army, was the celebrated commander of 

 the enemy air squadron officially known 

 as Judgstaffel No. n, but familiar to all 

 airmen as the Tango Circus. Of aristo- 

 cratic birth, he was a lieutenant of Uhlans 

 before the outbreak of the war. The 

 former air champion, Captain Boelke, in- 

 duced him to enter the Air Service in 

 191 5, and his first victory was won in 

 September, 1916. In seven months the 

 flying squadron which he led shot down 

 200 aeroplane antagonists. 



In less than fifteen months active fly- 

 ing, von Richthofen personally brought 

 down 70 aeroplanes and 10 observation 

 balloons, mostly British. He flew the 

 swiftest type of aeroplanes that German 

 constructors could build, and he mounted 

 upon them two Spandau machine-guns 

 that fired straight ahead between the 

 blades of the propeller. His machine he 

 painted a bright red, and for the past 

 eight months his menacing presence thus 

 courted identification from his enemies 

 with a self-confidence and audacity truly 

 admirable. 



He was shot down April 21, 1918, over 

 the Somme River, at the Amiens front, 

 and his new Fokker triplane, a personal 

 gift to him from Fokker himself, fell into 

 the British lines. This machine flew 140 

 miles per hour and climbed 15,000 feet 

 in 17 minutes. Orders found in his 

 pockets indicated that the enemy army 

 commanders desired this sector cleared 

 of British aeroplanes on the morning of 



April 21 at all costs. But it is doubtful 

 whether the fall of Amiens itself would 

 have compensated Germany for the cost 

 she paid in the loss of this great ace. 



GENEROUS TRIBUTE TO THE ENEMY ACE 



The following generous tribute to an 

 enemy airman is written by C. G. Grey, 

 of London : 



"The greatest of our enemies in the 

 air, Rittmeister Freiherr Manfred von 

 Richthofen, is dead. The Royal Flying 

 Corps, his particular foes, will hear the 

 news with mixed feelings. They will re- 

 joice that he is out of action, but will re- 

 gret sincerely the death of a gallant gen- 

 tleman who fell bravely doing his duty. 



"Only a few days ago one of the best 

 of our airmen expressed the hope that, he 

 and von Richthofen might survive the 

 war, so that they might compare notes. 

 Some few months ago a dinner was given 

 to another of our renowned fighting 

 pilots by his squadron, in honor of his 

 winning the Distinguished Service Order. 

 In returning thanks, the hero of the 

 evening, as gallant a lad as ever flew, 

 stood up and proposed the health of von 

 Richthofen. And the fighting pilots of 

 the squadron arose and duly honored an 

 enemy whom they respected. Both the 

 proposer of the toast and his enemy are 

 now dead. One hopes that beyond the 

 shadows they have met, as gallant ene- 

 mies do when they have fought a good 

 fight and peace has come to them. 



"These two incidents indicate, one be- 

 lieves, the feelings of the Royal Flying 

 Corps toward Rittmeister von Richtho- 

 fen. There is not one in the corps who 

 would not gladly have killed him. But 

 there is not one who would not equally 

 gladly have shaken hands with him had 

 he been brought down without being 

 killed or who would not so have shaken 

 hands if brought down by him. 



"His death is bound to have a depress- 

 ing effect upon the German Flying Serv- 

 ice, for obviously the younger and less 

 brave pilots will argue that if a von 

 Richthofen cannot survive their chances 

 must be small. Equally, his death is an 

 encouragement to the younger Allied 

 pilots who can no longer imagine that 

 every skillful German who attacks them 

 is von Richthofen himself. 



