The Red Baron was a World War I commander of a fighter plane. Manfred Baron von Richthofen was the Red Baron’s real name. He was born on May 2, 1892 in Breslau, Germany. In 1912 he became a lieutenant in the first Uhlan Cavalry regiment in the Prussian army. He fought in Russia just after the outbreak of World War I. He was in the invasion of Belgium and France. Trench Warfare had settled and the Calvary became sidelined. Then he joined the infantry.
In 1915 he was transferred to the Imperial Air Service. In September 1916 he entered combat as a fighter pilot. He became a commander of Fighter Wing 1 (Jagdeschuvader). The Red Baron shot down 4 planes in a single day and 80 confirmed kills plus 80 air victories. The Red Baron’s plane color was red. Every other plane color was white, blue, and yellow. Everyone thought he would die instantly in battle, but he proved them all wrong .
He died on April 29 1918. He was 25 years old, and he died because the plane crashed because of the British gun fire. The man that killed him was Roy Brown, a Canadian commander of a fighter plane. After he was shot down, his plane caught fire. His last words were “Kaput” which means “broken”.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/manfred-baron-von-richthofen
