Monday, April 21, 2008
This Day in the History of Heroic Flier's Deaths
On this day in 1918, Freiherr Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace known as the "Red Baron," was killed in action during World War I. He shot down 80 Allied planes. That confirmed number is probably lower than the real number. There still is controversy whether it was ground fire or the machine gun fire from a Canadian pilot, Roy Brown, that got him. I think ground fire. What I really want to know is where was Richtofen's wingman, Hermann Göring?
Many historians put the death to target fixation by Richtofen. Could have been. It was a single .303 in under the arm and out through the chest which quickly killed him. He was still able to land his plane before he died.
Labels: WWI history
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 7:33 AM 
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Too bad he wasn't hit with a .45 round. Those always stop the bad guy immediately ... even if you hit him in the little toe.
8-)
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