Death of the Red Baron

[Gil Boyd]

Bob,
The remains of the engine and other objets d'art belonging to the brave Baron are indeed in the Imperial War Museum in London
On checking the location of his medals, they are in the San Diego Air Museum donated by his grand daughter.

Out of the 90 allied aircraft shot down by him or attributed to him, 83 were British pilots. He certainly was someone who had "his eye in" when it came to firing the twin Spandaus on his airframe.

A list of Manfred Von Richthofen's awards and medals are :-

Orden Pour le Merit - Prussia
Order of the Red Eagle, 3d class, w/Crown & Swords - Prussia
Iron Cross, 1st Class - Prussia
War Merit Cross, 1st Class – Lippe
Order of Bravery, 4th Class – Bulgaria
Imtjaz Medal, w/Swords – Turkey
Liskat Medal, w/Swords – Turkey
War Medal (aka Iron Crescent/Gallipoli Star) – Turkey
Pilot’s Badge – Prussia
Pilot’s Badge – Austria-Hungary

Worn on the Order Bar:

Iron Cross, 2nd Class – Prussia
Order of the House of Hohenzollern, Knight’s Cross w/Swords – Prussia
Military Order of St Henry, Knight’s Cross – Saxony
Order of the house of Ernestine, Knight’s Cross, 1st Class w/Swords – Saxony
Order of Military Merit, 3d Class, w/Crown & Swords – Bavaria
Order of Military Merit, Knight’s Cross - Wurttemburg
Duke Carl Edward Medal, w/Swords on Band – Sax-Coburg-Gotha
General Honor Medal for Bravery – Hessen
Cross for Faithful Service – Schaumburg-Lippe
War Merit Cross, 2nd Class – Brunswick
Wound Badge - Prussia
Hanseatic Cross - Lubeck
Hanseatic Cross - Bremen
Hanseatic Cross - Hamburg
Order of the Iron Crown, Knight’s Cross, w/War Decoration – Austria Hungary

[WarPig1976]

Steven Spielberg was said to have a large collections of German weapons.

Bob

That's even more ironic.
It isn't vogue these days to be pro gun in Hollywood, that was my point. Next we'll find out Leo Di'caprio owns stock in Exxon...

[browningautorifle]

But no guns? Wonder where the MGs went? Wonder if anyone even knows where they came from? He apparently had a "Pilots" luger which I expect was a P'08, wonder where that is today...also likely that owner is unaware. The seat from his aircraft, bullet hole and all, is in an armory in Ontario.

[Gil Boyd]

There's a story in how all these bits got spread so far and wide, from one end of the globe to the other.
I can certainly understand Australia having bits and perhaps shared with the UK because it was close to the front line in France, but I would need convincing of anything else being authentic I'm afraid.....thats just the cynical me coming out

[browningautorifle]

There's a story in how all these bits got spread so far and wide

Exactly. It must have been a frenzy. Apparently no one understood who this was initially, there were lots of red planes at that point...and other colors too...

[mike webb]

Just like in the Middle Ages, there were so many pieces of the True Cross that Christ was crucified on kept as relics it would have to have been larger than a giant redwood.

[Gil Boyd]

Yes ha ha.................. but what is sad Mike, and something I keep banging the drum about is, if people were just slightly honest, it would be so much easier to be a true believer of anything, and you had half a chance to investigate the real truth. Ebay for me has shown human frailty big time, the deceit that goes on is unbelievable.
I could have a Holy Grail here, is it the one and only, or one of hundreds for instance
So poor old Von Richtofen has no chance

[Harlan (Deceased)]

You're sure correct about eBay.... and gunbroker.... and gunsinternational..... and Mitchelsmausers..... etc.....

It seems there as many unscrupulous, act stupid sellers as there are honest sellers. Pity.

[Gil Boyd]

Imagine....................its the First World War. Trauma all around you, daily routine of shelling, shooting aerial combat above you well out of reach, and suddenly a German red Tri plane lands on the field in front of you, with its pilot slumped over in the cockpit.
Once its been established the pilot is dead, and someone suddenly realises its Baron Von Richoften and the body is removed....................does someone with a full set of tools appear and start stripping down his plane and sending parts to the four corners of the earth, in the middle of the biggest war since man began, so it can have a piece in a museum somewhere??? well thats the last thing on my mind!
Cynical me says not, sorry to burst bubbles, but if you have been in any conflict as a soldier, you just don't have the time to bugger about with things like this, even with all the technology available today it would have been a massive logistical operation.........so I am still a disbeliever in all of this.
Yes he was shot and killed by a bullet (whose bullet??)and stayed conscious long enough to put his plane down without crashing. Thats it ...........Happy Christmas soldier on!

[Bob Womack]

Well, not to be oppositional for its own sake, I just finished Fly for Your Life, the story of Robert Tuck, a British pilot and wing commander in the Battle of Britain. In one particular battle, Italy sent her planes across the channel to aid the Germans. After the battle, Tuck and his pilots rushed to a crash site to take souvenirs (the tail insignias, some sidearms, and a hamper with wine and cheese) from a crash-landed bomber, before they were looted by the home forces.

Remember that the Battle in France in WWI spent large periods, the one in question included, in static trench warfare rather than modern mobile warfare. Support services piled up behind the lines waiting for moves that never happened, making them readily available.

Also remember that taking apart the kites of the period could largely be done with physical force - feet and hands.

I don't doubt that there is at least 300% of the Baron's plane presented n museums and auctions but some of the stuff is real. I wouldn't want to venture a guess which is which.

Bob