MvR was an excellent marksman and made many kills from far away from the target. Probably a target who felt safe.

He also was a master of team tactics and known for getting assited kills. According to his brother Lothar, Manfred was a butcher.

The Germans had a system where ground units would notify air units of the presence of enemy planes by firing shells off to the side of the German flights. How many bursts and the direction told how many enemy planes and the direction of them.

Since each sides' shells had different color smoke (IIRC German was black smoke, Allied was white) the fliers could tell whose guns were firing. If you saw a lot of flak in the distance the color of your side then that would alert to enemy planes. RB2 and RB3D also used church bells as tips, at least if you were over your own side of the lines.