 Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was born in Schweidnitz, Germany on May 2nd, 1892.
Entering the military at the age of 11, he initially became a cavalry officer, transferring to the German Army Air Service in May 1915. Starting as an observer on reconnaissance flights over the Eastern Front, Richthofen became a fighter pilot after meeting the legendary Oswald Boelcke, and served under Boelcke on the Western Front.
By January 1917, Richthofen had shot down fifteen aircraft and been appointed commander of his own unit. Painting the fuselage of his Albatros D-III bright red, he gained the nickname the Red Baron and, after the death of Boelcke, became the most famous war ace in Germany.
In June 1917, Richthofen assumed command of Justa 11 and the squadron became known as Richthofen’s Flying Circus. Made up of Germany's top fighter pilots, the Flying Circus was highly mobile and could deploy quickly to any part of the Western Front. Richthofen and his pilots achieved immediate success during the air war over Ypres during August and September of that year.
Manfred von Richthofen was killed on 21st April 1918, when he was brought down by ground fire while flying over Morlancourt Ridge, near the Somme River. The prevailing theory is von Richthofen was killed by an anti-aircraft (AA) machine gunner, probably Sergeant Cedric Popkin of the Australian 24th Machine Gun Company.
Allied forces buried Manfred von Richthofen with full military honours in the cemetery at the village of Bertangles near Amiens on April 22, 1918. Six airmen acted as pallbearers and an honour guard fired a salute. After the war, Richthofen’s remains were exhumed and reburied in the family cemetery in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Manfred von Richthofen, The Red Baron, was responsible for shooting down 80 allied aircraft, the highest score of any fighter pilot during the First World War.
For more information on Manfred Von Richthofen click here.
An online edition of Von Richthofen's autobiography can be found here.
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In Australia, the first Red Baron, David Voight, took to the skies in a Tiger Moth in June 1983. For the next nine years Red Baron's Tiger Moth was a familiar sight over Sydney Harbour. In August 1992 the Tiger Moth was retired and replaced by a Pitts Special S2A aerobatic biplane. The Pitts was painted in identical colours to the Tiger Moth, so the transition passed virtually unnoticed except to aircraft aficionados.
For many it is the chance to fly in an open cockpit bi-plane which makes Red Baron flight the ultimate experience. As Red Baron flies right over the heart of Sydney, there is nothing between you and the spectacular views of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Manly and Bondi Beach or the lush eucalypt filled valleys of The Blue Mountains.