Who Killed The Red Baron? (WW1 Documentary)

in early spring 1918 deadlock reigned Across the Western Front for more than three years millions of men on all sides have fallen tried to break the stalemate of trench warfare that struggle would eventually lead both below and above ground heralding as it did so a new era of warfare and a new type of military icon the aerial Place fighting in single combat in highly unreliable aircraft of freezing conditions and usually without the benefit of parachutes it was only the bravest of the Brave who took to the skies when life expectancy was often measured only in hours Elite of the elite became Aces and was celebrated at home as Heroes though few lived to enjoy that status long of all of the aces of the Great War one man stands out Manfred Von Ritter known as the Red Baron he too wouldn't live to see the end of the war this is the incredible story of his final flight when war was declared in 1914 sustained powered flight was just 11 years old that said the possible applications of aircraft in the military had been seen early but in such a short time little progress had been made and the major Powers respective aerial forces were tiny in 1914. with the British royal flying Corps heading to France with just 63 aircraft it would end the war with a total complement of 22 000 across the globe these first few aircraft were all given similar roles scouting and reconnaissance it had been foreseen that an aircraft over flying Enemy Lines could gather key intelligence such as details of enemy movements troop concentrations artillery positions and logistical details in relative safety in fact this is exactly what all major Powers did in the early months of the Great War and as movement gave way to stalemate and opposing armies dug in the need for information grew resulting in ever more demand for pilots and aircraft it wasn't long before opposing unarmed aircraft were passing each other in the sky often at close ranges and the series of tit-for-tat developments which followed ultimately led to the modern fighter aircraft today it worked something like this a two-man Scout aircraft passing another on a given day may do nothing to hinder the operations of the enemy but before long The aircraft's Observers would begin to bring pistols and rifles into the air and to take pot shots of the enemy and drive them away the other side of course quickly responded bringing their own weapons such as shotguns and multiple pistols banked together to provide extra Firepower on the ground observers and Fitters will work together to create mounts for light machine guns which could be fired at the enemy from an observer's position single guns turn into Pairs and before long aircraft whose purpose was no longer scouting but actually attacking other aircraft were in development of course the slower Scouts needed protection so the other side followed suit and before long numbers rocketed specialist fighter pilots were born whose main role was to defeat enemy Fighters and knock down the far more important enemy Scout and reconnaissance planes things really changed in mid-1915 when Dutch aircraft designer and pilot Anton focker working with the German government came up with the famed interrupter gear itself an improvement on the French deflector gear developed by aerial Ace rolong Garros in short this device could be synchronized with an aircraft's propeller rotation to allow a machine gun to fire through a spinning prop without the admittedly major disadvantage of destroying your own propeller in the process in turn this did away with the need for a second rearward facing crewmen meaning that a pilot could actually Point his aircraft directly at a Target and shoot it down the result was the birth of the true single-seat fighter whilst this development was underway a young German Aristocrat from Lower Side leisure in Modern Day Poland named Thai hair Manfred von Richthofen found himself in an elite if a little outdated and underused unit as a nobleman by birth it had always been expected that young Manfred would go into the military and the most prestigious Branch fit at that the cavalry in early 1915 Manfred was an officer in an Ulan Cavalry Regiment which although it had seen some action early was soon after dismounted and relegated to support roles behind the front lines frustrated and eager for Action Manfred applied for a transfer and in May 1915 during number 69 Squadron of the Imperial German air service as an aerial Observer serving in that role for several months it wasn't until November of that year that young Manfred finally got a chance to Pilot an aircraft of his own training on the albatross C3 bomber which he eventually took into combat against the French and later the Russians claiming one an official aerial Victory several months later a chance meeting with German Ace Oswald balka changed everything for rich people always a keen student and possessing Instinct honed in the hunt throughout his childhood Manfred joined balka's new yagstaffle or Fighter Squadron commonly referred to as a yaster learning all he could from the great apes from the moment he first went into action as a fighter pilot during the battle of the Somme he adopted and refined borka's tactics and applied his own methods with great success over the next six months ripped off and claimed 31 aerial victories with yasters 2 and 11. including his own 11th victory in which he shot down major Lano Hawker VC the famed British Ace Richtofen himself remembered the event one day I was blightly flying through with Chase when I noticed three English men who had apparently gone hunting I noticed they were flying in my direction and as I feel much inclination to ever fight I did not want to disappoint them I was flying at lower altitude and constantly had to wait until one of my English friends tried to do up on me after a short while he came sailing along and wanted to tackle me from the rear we cycled around and around like Mad Men one after the other at 10 000 feet first recycled 20 times to the left then 30 times to the right each trying to get above and behind the other soon I realized I was not meeting a beginner he had not the slightest intention to break off the fight however my aircraft was better at climbing at this and At Last I got behind my English words in partner the Golan fellow was full of plaque and when we got down to 3000 feet he merrily waved at me as if he would say how do you do my English man was a good Sportsman but by and buy is a thing become a little too helpful after having endeavored in vain to escape Me by looping such tricks I followed him down to 500 feet firing all the time and the Englishman could not have fallen shot through the head 500 feet behind our line it was manfred's tactical mind and instinct which made him so effective singularly determined but cautious too he would wherever Possible only attack when the situation favored him it was during these early months that wreaked off and developed the habit of having a silver cut made to commemorate each of his aerial victories he would also often visit crash sites to take souvenirs and on several occasions met and spoke with surviving air Crew He had shot down manfred's Fame grew with his victories and in January 1917 he was awarded the Ole merits commonly known as the Blue Max at the same time being promoted to command his own yester flying alongside him at this time were Ernst udet who would go on to senior luftwaffe command in World War II and richtofen's own brother Lota himself and accomplished Ace by April 1917 the Battle of Aras was underway and Rich often now a household name in Germany was in the thick of the fighting a few months earlier he had taken the unprecedented step of having his aircraft painted bright red there is still uncertainty about the reason today ritoff and star continued to rise and throughout bloody April yaster 11 achieved a legendary status with Manfred alone claiming 22 victories in that single month shortly afterwards Manfred was awarded the command of a wing of three squadrons Each of which followed their Leader's example hated their aircraft in bright colors this Flying Circus as it became known was often thrown into areas where the fighting was heaviest and more than once turned the tide of the air war in that sector badly wounded in the head in early July 1917 Richthofen spent some time recovering before returning to action probably too quickly several weeks later he claimed to further six victories by the end of 1917 bringing his tally to 63 but was again forced to stop Flying for several months whilst recuperating Richtofen wrote A Memoir of his wartime experiences which gave an interesting insight into the calculating Mind of a hunter my former excitement was gone in such a position one sings quite calmly and collectively weights the probabilities of hitting or being hit altogether the fight is the least exciting part of the business as a rule he who gets excited in firing and sure to make mistakes he will never get his enemy down by April 1918 German ground forces were finally on the move on the 21st of March they'd smashed through the Allied lines in the great spring offensive and were desperately trying to split British and French forces around the city of amyan Richtofen and his wing were once again in action flying day after day in support of the offensive on the morning of the 21st of April 1918 Manfred von Richthofen left his home Aerodrome at capite flying a dr-1 triplane to begin a sortie westwards along the Somme River also flying that day was manfred's 22 year old cousin vulfram a novice pilot who had been told to stay clear of any action some 25 miles away behind Allied lines a bird tangle Aerodrome number 209 Squadron RAF was also getting Airborne amongst them were Canadian Ace Roy Brown and newly arrived pilot Wilfred May the two men had been old school friends back in Canada though May who had much less experience was very much under the guidance of brown like richtofen's cousin Wolfram May too have been told to stay clear of any action and observe to a nine Squadron were at that time flying the famed sock with camel a highly agile fast and maneuverable biplane mounting twin Vickers machine guns with very sensitive controls it was notoriously difficult to handle for novices but in the hands of a skilled pilot could be a match for anything in the air at that time at around 11 45 over the village of Le Amel 209 Squadron spotted a group of German focker Tri planes and attacked them directly Fierce dogfight erupted as May watched on from above several minutes later May no doubt frustrated had been relegated to Simply observe saw a single German aircraft apparently doing the same thing Wolfram Von Richtofen seizing the opportunity is set off in Pursuit trying his best to get the enemy aircraft into his crosshairs not knowing that he too had been spotted witnessing this from some distance away Manfred in the main dogfight disengaged and traveled at full speed to the rescue of his cousin the first May was aware of it was the sound of bullets whipping past his open cockpit he immediately broke off his own attack and put his aircraft into a barely controlled dive spiraling down towards the song as May descended so too uncharacteristically did Rich offer steadily closing on what was to be his 81st victim as the pair broke through the main melee they were spotted by Roy Brown who two disengaged and gave Chase as all three aircraft approached the ground at high speed with May weaving a ripped off and firing continually Brown was trying desperately to catch up with very little altitude left to help him May began to weave along the River Song back towards friendly lines hoping the fear of ground fire would deter Rich orphan it didn't Justice may have run out of ground and retort them with at least one Jam machine gun closed in brown opened up for the burst of 303 fire from his own machine richtofen's aircraft was seen to bank steeply and turn to the right close to the brick chimney of a factory then continue on for a short time before turning 180 degrees and crashing down into a field just north of the River Song on the ground troops rushed to the spot where the Red tri-plane Lace smashed it's been a matter of debate ever since some say root of them was still alive and mumbled a few words others that he was unconscious but what we can be sure is that within a few moments Manfred Von Richtofen the highest scoring Ace of the first world war was dead but who fired the Fatal shots it's a question that's been asked ever since that moment in April 1918 and is still hotly debated to this day let's look at the evidence the immediate suggestion at the time and in fact the official credited kill was given to Canadian Ace Roy Brown who had dived on Richthofen from directly behind moments before he crashed he had opened up with a burst of machine gun and was in Prime position and certainly had a plausible claim Brown himself would go and visit richtofen's body shortly after the action and later left this incredibly powerful account the site of Richtofen as I walked closer gave me a start he appeared so small to me so delicate he looked so friendly blonde silk soft hair like that of a child fell from the broad High forehead his face particularly peaceful had an expression of gentleness and goodness of refinement suddenly I felt miserable desperately unhappy as if I'd committed an injustice with a feeling of Shame a kind of anger against myself moved in my thoughts that I'd forced him to lay there and in my heart I cursed the force that is devoted to death and that's my teeth I cursed the war if I could I would have gladly brought him back to life but that is somewhat different than shooting a gun I could no longer look him in the face I went away I did not feel like a Victor there was a lump in my throat if it had been my dearest friend I could not have felt greater sorrow no doubt Roy Brown's feelings were heartfelt and clearly The Experience had a profound effect on him but was it he who fired the Fatal shot in recent years a perhaps more likely possibility has been put forward that it was in fact ground fire which ended the Red Baron's life two main candidates stand out either a Vicar's gun at the North Bank of the river Somme and facing north manned by Sergeant Cedric Popkin or anti-aircraft Lewis Gunners Bob bury and snowy Evans who were on a low Ridge North of the Somme looking East now let's combine this with what we know from the medical examination of richtofen's body shortly after his death there's some uncertainty here too as not all post-mortem accounts agree but it's generally held that the Fatal bullet location was found and that it was a single shot entering on the right side of richthofen's body passing through the main chest cavity hitting heart and right lung before exiting slightly higher up at the left breast this if correct strongly suggests ground fire and in fact effectively rules out Roy Brown who was shooting from above and directly behind Richthofen so can anything be gleaned from his aircraft remains well it was pretty heavily souvenired by Australian troops and subjected to enemy shell fight almost immediately after his death so apart from knowing that Richthofen in his final moments had time to turn off his engine and fuel supply proving he was at least alive for a few seconds after being hit the aircraft itself can tell us very little what we can do though is superimpose the various key positions over richthofen's flight path in those final moments and examine the evidence from the many eyewitnesses we do know that ritofen was gaining on the inexperience May along the Somme River in his final few minutes May decided then to make a treetop level dash for a low Ridge to his right in fact cutting it so close that his wheels touched the ground we also know that Richtofen followed this route for a time being shot at by Brown about the same time that it began his right turn Rita from passed to the left of Cedric popkin's position at several hundred yards range and a game passed buien Evans to their right all of whom were firing before hurriedly Banking and turning almost 180 degrees close to that factory chimney his aircraft then reared up and crashed landed in a field south of the main road between the Villages of Bray and Corby as we can see the route Rich often took was closer to Burien Evans than Popkin but the bullet entry from the lower right if to be believed would be far more likely to have come from Popkin who was shooting from that angle for quite some time the truth is there's no real clear answer as to who was ultimately responsible for shooting down the Red Baron nor in the grand scheme of things should it really matter I suppose like any success in the Great War whether big or small it almost always comes down to a combination of factors in short teamwork following his death Manfred Von richtofen's body was taken to pulanville Aerodrome before being moved to bur Tangles where he was buried with full military honors on the 22nd of April 1918. video today exists of the funeral itself attended by officers and Men of the Australian flying Corps and Australian Infantry it highlights the esteem in which this enemy combatant was held both as a pilot and also a worthy adversary that wasn't the end of the travels for the Red Barons remains however his body was moved no less than three times in the post-war years first in 1920 to free chord German military cemetery on the Somme then in 1925 to Berlin's famous invalidenfridhof where bullet damage can still be seen on his headstone fired by an East German Border guard during an attempted Escape over the Berlin Wall in the 1970s and finally in 1975 to his family's home in Wiesbaden where today he lies in the Richtofen family plot glory of the Red Baron's life and death has captivated people for more than 100 years and no doubt will continue to do so long into the future what certainly shouldn't be overlooked in studying this period of history is The Bravery shown by air crew on all sides take to the air in mechanically unreliable machines often without parachutes with no guarantee of coming home and to do so day after day was and is incredibly Brave and fully deserving of our remembrance foreign so that ends this battle guide video which we hope you enjoyed and found interesting of course if you'd like to see more be sure to subscribe and hit that Bell icon to keep up to date with our monthly videos and for the Die Hard history fans amongst you why not check out battleguide.co.uk where each week we combine the very latest technology and Battlefield footage with the world's leading historius to deliver a live virtual tour at some of the world's most spectacular battlefields so tell us what do you think who do you believe finally ended the Red Baron's remarkable career no doubt the debate will continue but we'd love to hear your comments below thanks again and we'll see you next time

Channel: Battle Guide

Views: 771,230

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Id: BaVKln0n99k

Length: 22min 13sec (1333 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 01 2022