Recommended: Bruce Charlton Asks: How Great Was the Red Baron?

Richthofen in the Cockpit of an Albatross D.III with
His Squadron Mates

One of my favorite bloggers, Dr. Bruce Charlton, who writes on an amazing variety of topics, is also an aviation buff with a particular interest in the 1914–18 period. Three years ago, I presented his delightful article on Biggles. (HERE)

Recently, he explored the Richthofen legend and, as usual, has some interesting insights I hadn't previously thought about. These views and opinions, of course, are his. (I've have added some photos from my own collection, though.) MH

By Dr. Bruce Charlton

Manfred von Richthofen—the Red Baron—was the top-scoring ace in World War I, with 80 confirmed kills, a number that seems likely to be essentially valid.*  

The greatness of the Red Baron was always contested (or, at least, ambivalent) in the British air force—Royal Flying Corps/ Royal Air Force*—both at the time and since, with people on both sides.

On the one side, Manfred von R was proven as a very good pilot and (perhaps even more important) an excellent marksman. 

On the other side, once he had become a German national hero, he fought with tremendous advantages that were not available to anybody else—especially not on the Allied side. 

The Red Baron was a combat theoretician and inspiring leader who devised methods for achieving successful results in combat under the most favorable conditions, with the minimum losses on his side. 

He would fly at high altitude with a very large "circus" of other scout (i.e. fighter) pilots—larger than any groupings that the Allies were using, so that von Richthofen would nearly always have the vital air combat advantages of height and outnumbering. 

As leader of this circus, MvR had several (not just one) other pilots "covering his tail," so he could concentrate on downing his chosen victim, without the usual (for the Allies) need to be vigilant. 

Furthermore, the Baron benefited from the usual German strategy of staying on the German side of the lines and waiting for the Allies to come to him. 

Also, he would usually avoid combat unless under favorable conditions (especially altitude advantage and numerical superiority). There was a relatively low threshold for breaking off an engagement if it was not going well or when altitude superiority had been lost, rather than fighting it out from a position of mere parity. 

Richthofen from Youth to Legend

What this amounted to is that the Red Baron was certainly an excellent fighter pilot and that his supremacy in numbers of kills was attained substantially because of his prolonged survival—and this was due to the unique advantages he fought under.

These advantages were necessarily obtained at the cost of limiting and reducing the combat effectiveness of the German air force in general and Richthofen's circus in particular. 

By contrast, the RFC (under the aggressive leadership of Hugh Trenchard) had a much higher-risk "offensive" strategy of seeking out the enemy and taking on other formations even when disadvantaged by being over enemy lines, at lower altitudes, and with fewer numbers. 

The Allied air forces were used primarily in support of the army (their primary role was reconnaissance and artillery ranging) and were often sacrificed to the needs on the ground. For example the RFC/RAF played a decisive role in containing the massive German counter-attack of March 1918 by close infantry support, bombing and strafing throughout daylight hours—at the cost of very heavy losses of men and machines, mainly to ground fire. 

In contrast, the German command seem to have regarded the Red Baron as providing most value to the war effort, as a national symbol of heroic individual prowess—his personal survival was therefore important, so he was undoubtedly protected.    

It is unsurprising that some RFC/RAF regarded von Richthofen's supreme numerical success as significantly "manufactured" and therefore artificial—despite his undoubted excellence as a fighting flyer. 

Kiosk at the Fatal Crash Site

This must have seemed confirmed when the Red Baron's death was caused by breaking his own rules of engagement (perhaps due to combat fatigue?) when he followed his intended victim across to the British side of the lines, alone, without anyone to guard his tail, down to a very low level, where he became vulnerable to rifle and machine gun fire. 

Yet these were fighting conditions that most RFC/RAF pilots were compelled to endure on a daily basis. 

In the event, it was some unclear combination of being attacked from behind by an Allied fighter, and/or ground fire, that led to the Red Baron's demise.  

The distinctive red Fokker Triplane came down on the Allied side of the lines, with Baron von Richthofen already dead (probably from a single bullet)—where his body was treated with respect by the RAF and accorded a full military funeral.

That night, some British pilots held a party in honor of the Red Baron and toasted his health. Others refused to participate—including the great Irish ace Mick Mannock, who was made very angry by his squadron's celebration.

In conclusion, I think both sides were correct. Manfred von Richthofen was a great leader, tactician, and ace. Also, the magnitude of his achievement was significantly manufactured and the result of unique privileges. 

BC Notes: 

*This post was stimulated by reading Aces Falling: War Above the Trenches, 1918 by Peter Hart (2008).

**The Royal Flying Corps was part of the British Army. Combined with the smaller Royal Naval Air Service, it became the first independent air military, the Royal Air Force, on 1April 1918—smack in the middle of the first massive German attack of that year.