Manfred Von Richthofen Essay

The nature of warfare changed completely on August 26, 1914 when Lieut. It was on that glorious day Hubert Dunsterville Harvey-Kelly became the first pilot to down an aircraft in aerial combat. Lieut. Harvey-Kelly had spotted a German Taube below him ,he dove on the lone craft armed only with a pistol. The art of aerial combat was born , along with came birth to the Ace , a premiere calliber of pilot who stood above the rest. Two of history’s most regonized aces from the first world war, are Manfred von Richthofen of Germany and Billy Bishop of Canada. Two very distinguished pilots and debated to be the worlds best but on April 30th 1917. To of the world best square up for one of the most famous dogfights of the great war. But as with every
He was celebrated by Germans as der rote Kampfflieger, the Red-Battle Flyer. The Allies thought of him as the 'ace of aces.' The French called him 'le petit rouge,' known to the English-speaking world as the Red Baron. Manfred von Richthofen was born 1892 in Breslau, Germany which today is Wroclaw, Poland. He graduated from the Royal military academy, he became a cavalry officer in the 1st Regiment . After the war broke out, he saw action as a very briefly as a Calvary officer. The new machine gun and trench warfare tactics made cavalry obsolete. But he still wanted to fight for his country ,So Richthofen transferred to the German Army Air Service.
He made his first solo flight after only 24 hours of training but crashed the two-seater Albatros on landing. He received his first official kill on Sept. 17 1916 To celebrate this achievement, the pilot purchased a silver cup engraved with the date and type of plane he shot down .He did this for his first 60 kills. He loved the battle and many historians surmise von Richthofen conquored fear believing he was invulnerable. "I am a hunter," von Richthofen once wrote. "My brother, Lothar, is a butcher. When I have shot down an Englishman, my hunting passion is satisfied for a quarter of an