The Red Baron

[lawman56]

A question for all you Von Richthofen fans. I currently have two books about him, one, The Red Knight of Germany, by Floyd Gibbons, is a fun, albeit inaccurate read, but the other is by William Burrows and titled Richthofen, published in 1969.

I know Gibbons essentially glorified the Red Baron legend of the time, so I primarily read it for amusement, but what about the Burrows' book? How accurate is that?

[lcarroll]

Lawman 56,
    I have both books, in fact Gibbon's was the very first hard cover book I ever owned,presented to me by my Grandfather in the mid 1950's, and which I still have and treasure to this day. I just did a quick count and I have 17 books about the Red Knight on my shelves, actually 19 when I add a couple of volumes such as "Under the Guns of" etc.
   I very much enjoyed the Burrows book, my recommmendation would be to follow up with Peter Kilduff's latest (2007) work "Red Baron, The Life and Death of an Ace". It's a great mix of fact and objective interpretaton of the speculation still running amok out there, and I believe a great historical summary of the real events and milestones in MvR's short lifetime. Kilduff's earlier biography, "The Red Baron, Beyond the Legend", is another good read. If nothing else, Kilduff does his homework, and keeps it all pretty objective. And you can, of course, go to the books of the time, particularly the those of the Bodenschatz Diaries of which there are several versions.
  Have fun with this, it never ends!
Cheers,
Lance

[JFM]

Hello,

Extremely late to this thread but I just signed up here today and this is my first post!

All MvR books have an innacuracy in them somewhere, although some more than others.. IMO, if very interested in the man, I feel it's important to read as many as possible to figure out what's meat and what's gristle.

Regarding Gibbons' book, I don't dismiss it as an inaccurate read. A real strength is his inclusion of reports and postwar interviews with RFC/RAF airmen. These are useful for cross-referencing.

I agree with Icarroll about Peter's books. He also has a book called "Talking with the Red Baron." It's a fictionalized series of "interviews" with MvR. The interviews are invented, but the material within them is factual. It's a different slant, for sure, and some were offput by the concept, but I quite enjoyed it. It's certainly much more accurate than that rubbish seen in theaters a few years back.

[mike in calif]

At least we can all agree on what his aircraft looked like.
 ..... not really stirring the pot, but just a nudge...

[lawman56]

First and foremost, James, welcome to the forum! I'm a history freak and will read anything on a subject to do just as you mentioned. One of the things I love about these forums is tossing out a question like that to see what others know and which sources I may have missed. MvR being who he was, has created an interesting amount of truth, myth and legend. Which is probably why he's so fascinating to so many.

Some day I plan to do a model of both, his Albatros and his Driedeker. The one he loved and the one he tolerated!

[Ernie]

Some day I plan to do a model of both, his Albatros and his Driedeker. The one he loved and the one he tolerated!

Out of curiosity Joe, which was which?

Cheers,
Ernie

[lawman56]

Ernie, I guess that could be interchangeable, but only if he had lived long enough to influence the design of the Dr1. From everything I've read, he really liked the Albatros D.III all around. I know, again from reading, he was very fond of the Dr1's agility, but felt it was underpowered. I know most of his kills were scored in an Albatros, so I'll probably do that first.

Ironic that the plane he flew the least, scored the fewest kills in, yet died flying, is the one he's most often associated with. Personally, I like Voss' paint job better. 

[Ernie]

You're right, Joe.  That is ironic, but I think he and the Dr.1 will be forever almost
thought of as one.  I don't know if that will have Manfred exactly rolling in his grave,
but it certainly would be interesting to hear what he thinks of this.  One of those "what if's" .

Cheers,
Ernie

[uncletony]

Extremely late to this thread but I just signed up here today and this is my first post!

James, welcome to the forum! Your Albatros D.I/D.II book is a valuable resource as I prepare to model both of these iconic types. I look forward to your participation and hope that you will share your considerable knowledge here.

Cheers,