On this day in 1918, in the skies over France, Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious German flying ace known as "The Red Baron," is killed by Allied fire.
In 1916, he was terrorizing the skies over the western front in an Albatross biplane, downing 15 enemy planes in that year alone. In 1917, Richthofen surpassed all flying ace records on both sides of the western front and began using a Fokker triplane, painted entirely red in tribute to his old cavalry regiment. It was this plane that led to the Allies' nickname for the German pilot--the Red Baron.
On April 21, 1918, with 80 victories under his belt, Richthofen penetrated deep into Allied territory in pursuit of a British aircraft. Captain A. Roy Brown, a Canadian in the Royal Air Force, caught up to him and shot him down. Another version is a Canadian pilot by the name of Billy Bishop shot him down. In yet another version, they say he flew too close to the ground and he was shot through the heart by Australian ground troops.
Either way, British troops recovered his body, and he was buried with full military honors. He was 25 years old.
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