Von Richthofen triplane on April 18, 1918

[Surpmil]

Tired of hearing about the man myself. He was a trophy-hunting sniper who specialized in picking off the inexperienced and careless while his supporters held off the rest. Never crossed our lines if he could avoid it.

Quite a different mentality from what prevailed in the RFC and your great uncle's flight being a perfect example Sapper: they didn't turn back because of a lack of escorts though they must have known the risks. Some might argue they should have turned back, but that wasn't the spirit of the time and place.

And in case anyone's forgotten Canadians made up about a third of the pilots in the RFC by 1918 and most of the top aces. Then there was Collishaw and the RNAS Black Flight etc.

[Sapper740]

Tired of hearing about the man myself. He was a trophy-hunting sniper who specialized in picking off the inexperienced and careless while his supporters held off the rest. Never crossed our lines if he could avoid it

Truth. It has been suggested that Canadian WWI ace William (Billy) Avery Bishop's total score exceeded that of the Red Baron's but since Bishop's regular forays over German held territory meant many of his "kills" could not be officially counted. You are correct in your comment that Richtofen preferred to stay above friendly territory which ensured all his kills would be confirmed by ground troops who recovered the crashed aircraft.