How many of us have read Peanuts and laughed at Snoopy as the Red Baron? You can just see him sitting on the roof of his doghouse with his goggles on his head and his jaunty neck scarf trailing behind him. Did you know that Snoopy\’s character was actually inspired by a real person? The real Red Baron was not a cartoon. He was a fighter pilot flying with the Imperial German Army Air Service during the First World War. The Red Baron’s real name was Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen.

The Red Baron reached the pinnacle of his short career when he was awarded The Blue Max, also known as the Pour Le Merite. This was Prussia’s highest military rank for a German soldier to achieve and he received it after his 16th kill. Shortly after receiving the rank of Blue Max in 1915, he transferred from the cavalry to the Air Service and served as one of the first members of Jasta, the specialized fighter squadrons of World War I Germany.

By that time, the Red Baron had already proven himself to be a talented fighter pilot. He soon became the leader of Jasta 11, a squadron known as the Flying Circus. After he joined the Flying Circus
he painted his plane bright red, hence the nickname The Red Baron. The baron distinguished himself for making approximately 80 kills. His career as a pilot was highly publicized and during this time he was known for being the most interesting character to arrive on the scene.

He was young, dashing, and on the cutting edge of technology during his day, flying Germany\’s latest fighter planes in the skies of World War I. On July 6th 1917, von Richthofen received a head wound during a battle which resulted in temporary blindness. During his rehabilitation, the German army used propaganda to pump up the Red Baron’s legendary ability as a fighter pilot. As a result, he achieved nationwide fame and a nearly cult following by the German people.

As part of the efforts of the German government\’s wartime propaganda machine, the Red Baron was directed to write his autobiography while still convalescing from his head wound. This book was censored and edited in such a way as to portray Germany as a mighty force to be reckoned with. The Red Baron later tried to recant his portrayal of himself, as he felt that he was not the arrogant man that he was directed to describe himself as. The book was published without these later edits, so the Autobiography still stands as the German propaganda machine directed him to write it.

The Red Baron’s last battle was his most famous, and theories abound as to how it ended. What is known is that the Baron was in hot pursuit of a Canadian pilot in his Sopwith Camel. The two planes were reportedly flying at a low altitude. The Royal Air Force claimed that Captain Arthur Roy Brown was responsible for shooting down the plane of the famed Red Baron, though what truly happened will never be known. It has been said that the Australian ground forces were actually the individuals responsible for his death, with some arguing that the angle of the bullet entries would suggest that he was shot from the ground, rather than by another airborne plane in the battle. Whatever the true story, Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, the famed Red Baron, was shot down on April 21, 1918.

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