Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Serviceduring the First World War. He is considered the ace-of-aces of the war, being officially credited with 80 air combat victories...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionAviator
Date of Birth2 May 1892
CountryGermany
splendid catch-me bring-me-down
The English had hit upon a splendid joke. They intended to catch me or to bring me down.
taken combat
Whatever Boelcke told us was taken as Gospel!
last-words
What's the hurry? Are you afraid I won't come back?
air combat lost
Everything in the air that is beneath me, especially if it is a one seater . . . is lost, for it cannot shoot to the rear.
trophies pity collections
It is a pity that my collection of trophies contains not a single Russian.
war air spirit
The aggressive spirit, the offensive, is the chief thing everywhere in war, and the air is no exception.
father boys wish
As a little boy of eleven I entered the Cadet Corps. I was not particularly eager to become a Cadet, but my father wished it. So my wishes were not consulted.
mean curves flying
I started shooting when I was much too far away. That was merely a trick of mine. I did not mean so much as to hit him as to frighten him, and I succeeded in catching him. He began flying curves and this enabled me to draw near.
littles opinion enough
I never was good at learning things. I did just enough work to pass. In my opinion it would have been wrong to do more than was just sufficient, so I worked as little as possible.
opponents firsts done
When one has shot down one's first, second or third opponent, then one begins to find out how the trick is done.
sports blood hands
Sometimes, however, the Gaelic blood asserts itself. The Frenchmen will then attack. But the French attacking spirit is like bottled lemonade. It lacks tenacity. The Englishmen, on the other hand, one notices that they are of Germanic blood. Sportsmen easily take to flying, and Englishmen see in flying nothing but a sport.
war luck brain
If I should come out of this war alive, I will have more luck than brains.
military enemy nonsense
Find the enemy and shoot him down. Anything else is nonsense.
sky enemy pilots
The duty of the fighter pilot is to patrol his area of the sky, and shoot down any enemy fighters in that area. Anything else is rubbish.