Salute

Couple comments about Manfred Von Richtofen and the effects of his injury:

MvR was the son of a Prussian aristocrat, (albeit not a particularly wealthy one) and he grew up with the concept of war as a big game. He was also an avid hunter, who liked nothing better than to gain trophies. His original regiment was mounted, (hence his ranks were cavalry ranks, ie. "Ritter", instead of Hauptmann) and he didn't see a lot of the horrible trench warfare combat which the infantry were subjected to.

When he transferred to the German Air Service, he arrived in single seaters at exactly the right time, ie. when the Germans were on the technological upswing, with total superiourity. The Albatros DII and DIII were considerably better than most of their opposition. Plus most of the British aircraft MvR encountered were nearly defenceless two seaters. If you look at the list of the aircraft he shot down between his debut in the fall of 1916, and the time of his wounding in the spring of 1917, most are BE-2's or RE-8's. In the case of the BE-2, this was an aircraft which could barely do 65 mph, had the gunner position in the forward seat, where operator had a very limited field of fire, and was notable for being extremely unmaneuverable. (the British 1913 design team which created the aircraft were using a set of criteria from the RFC which emphasised stability and easy operation, to the point that the BE took forever to roll into a bank) Rarely he encountered Allied fighters with competent pilots, even when that happened as with his fight with Major Lanoe Hawker, his opponent was flying an obsolete DH-2, which was 40 kph slower than his Albatros, with a significantly inferior climb.

So it is understandable that he treated aerial as nothing more than a more interesting version of a hunting party, with trophies to be collected, (for a while he took something from every aircraft he shot down) and awarding himself a silver engraved cup for each victory, with the type and date carefully inscripted.

But as 1917 wore on, his opponents gradually became more difficult, he encountered the Sopwith Triplanes, which were clearly superior to the Alb DIII, (although in very small numbers, most of the British fighters were Nieuport 17's which were inferior to the Albatros's over 10,000 ft) he nearly died when a wing of his Albatros DIII partially collapsed, and finally he was hit in the combat with the FE-2E's.

By the way, the hit was not as much of an accident as might be expected. The FE-2E was actually quite a doughty opponent, the same Squadron which wounded MvR had shot down an killed another German Ace earlier. When the FE's formed a defensive circle, with each aircraft following the other's tail, the gunners had a stable platform to fire from, with multiple gunners able to focus on the lead attacking aircraft. (MvR invariably led the attacks)

And if a German fighter was silly enough to slow down and dogfight an FE, he often got a real surprise, since, while slow, they had a very tight turning circle.

MvR was lucky enough that the combat occurred on the German side of the lines, (as they most often did during this period due to RFC commander "Boom" Trenchard's orders for his airmen to be aggressive) or his career would have ended at that point.

Although MvR was definitely seriously affected by his injury, and re-entered the aerial ring much chastened, I do not agree that he was severely psychologically impaired.

He certainly put aside much of his earlier boyishness, but the changes were also positive.

He directed his energies to improving the lot of the German Air Service, focusing on improving training, getting high quality aircraft, and generally acting as the senior Jagdflieger should. It was due to his efforts that the Fokker DVII was picked as the replacement for the Alb DVa and DR1.

He was not in a hurry to get back to combat, but his time away was not wasted, and the administrative work he did was invaluable.

However, when he came back, he was faced with a much different enviroment.

The Germans no longer had technological superiority, the Alb DVa was inferior to the Spad XIII, Camel and SE5a, and the DR1, although a superb dogfighter, was too slow. (the DVII only arrived a few days before he was killed, and he didn't fly it in combat)

Plus he was now expected to lead the Jagdgeschwader in an offensive role, flying over the enemy side of the lines, in support of the German Spring 1918 offensive. Which meant supporting the ground attack aircraft, flying at low levels with all the dangers that entailed, ie. AAA, plus the potential of being bounced by Allied Squadrons entering the fray from a superior altitude. (as was the case with MvR's last combat when Brown's Camel Flight attacked from a superior alt)

MvR was definitely suffering from headaches and tired more easily, so that he would retire to his cabin immediately after a combat to rest, but he was scoring at a very high rate, and showing no impairment of his extraordinary gunnery skills. (he was also a very fine pilot as well, but quite rightly emphasised gunnery as the most important aspect of combat flying) If you look at his kills during this period, they were the most dangerous enemy aircraft types.

His luck ran out with the lucky AAA MG round which hit him, (if it was AAA) but in any case, having a Camel on your tail on the enemy side of the lines is not a recipe for longevity.

By that stage, he was clearly expecting to die, (simple mathematics told him he would be unlikely to survive) but it was not a fearful anticipation on his part. He was clearly determined to do his duty to the best of his abilities, and to present an example to his fellow German pilots.

If there is a stage of MvR's career that is the most admirable, it would be this period, AFTER his injury, when he focused on his responsibilities, improved the lot of the G.A.S. Pilots, and continued to fly and fight in an extraordinarily effective fashion.