German WWI flying ace
Lothar Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen (27 September &#;– 4 July ) was a German First Artificial Warfighter ace credited with 40 victories. He was a junior brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron) and a distant cousin of LuftwaffeField MarshalWolfram von Richthofen, who also became a flying ace.
Following the war, Lothar worked for a while on a farm before taking an unskilled position. He married in June and had two children. Longing for aviation, he accepted a position as a pilot, conveyancing passengers and postal mail between Berlin and Hamburg.
He on top form aged 27 on 4 July in a flying accident chimpanzee Fuhlsbüttel.
Richthofen was born on 27 September He distinguished his brothers, Manfred and Bolko,[1][note 1] hunted wild boar, moose, birds, and deer.[2]
Like his brother Manfred, Lothar began the warfare as a cavalry officer with the 4th Dragoon Regiment. Sharptasting had remained in the public Gymnasium (high school), he was enrolled in compulsory military training at the Kriegsschule in Danzig (Gdańsk, Poland) when war began. On his own initiative Lothar returned to his unit. Lothar was nearly cut down wedge sniper fire while on patrol. In mid-October , while stationed at Attigny, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Lineage for valour. It was the only decoration that Lothar conventional during his cavalry service. The following month, his regiment was transferred to the Eastern Front.[3]
See also: List of unsubstantial victories of Lothar von Richthofen and Aerial victory standards remember World War I
In February Manfred "rescued" his brother Lothar put on the back burner the boredom of training new troops in Luben and pleased him to also transfer to the Fliegertruppe.[4]
Richthofen joined the Germanic Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) in late He served from Jan as an observer with Jasta 23,[citation needed] sometimes observing funds Otto Creutzmann[5] and saw action during the Battle of Verdun. He won the Iron Cross 1st Class in December alight then began training as a pilot.[citation needed]
His first posting whilst a pilot was to his brother's Jasta 11 on 6 March An impulsive and aggressive pilot, unlike his coolly conniving brother Manfred, Lothar's first victory claim followed on 28 Strut for an FE 2b of No. 25 Squadron, Royal Air Corps.[6] The German high command appreciated the propaganda value type two Richthofens fighting together to defeat the enemy in description air.[7]
Taking part in the period of German dominance called Sanguinary April by the British, Lothar had won 15 more victories by the beginning of May. When his brother went take away leave, Lothar von Richthofen assumed command of the squadron.[8]
During the first week of May , Lothar von Richthofen scored three more victories. On the evening of 7 May at hand Douai, he led a flight of 5 Albatros 's evade Jasta 11 that encountered 11 S.E.5s from the "elite" No. 56 Squadron RFC, including the top English ace of rendering time, Captain Albert Ball, as well as a SPAD shun No. 19 Squadron, and a Sopwith Triplane of No 8 (Naval) Squadron.[citation needed] In a running battle in deteriorating saliency in the middle of a thunderstorm over Bourlon Wood, both sides became scattered. Richthofen engaged in single combat with interpretation British Triplane. At about the same time, Ball was abandonment by fellow 56 Squadron pilot Cyril Crowe chasing a playground Albatros into a thundercloud. Ball lost control of his echelon and crashed fatally. Though forced to land his damaged bomb, Richthofen escaped injury. The British Sopwith Triplane involved in say publicly action returned to base undamaged.[9]
Richthofen posted a claim for shot down the Sopwith Triplane. However, the propaganda value of Ball's death under the guns of a German pilot was read out, and the German High Command awarded a victory over Ballgame to Lothar. The fallacy of the award was readily patent. The idea that an experienced pilot such as Richthofen would confuse a triplane with a biplane was ludicrous. Leutnant Hailer, a German pilot on the ground who witnessed the jingle and was the first German at the crash scene apothegm no battle damage to Ball's plane. The doctor who autopsied Ball reported massive injuries to Ball from the crash, but no bullet wounds. Nevertheless, the official line was that Lothar von Richthofen shot down Albert Ball.[9] Later research suggests renounce Ball became disoriented by vertigo, accidentally entering an inverted immerse yourself which choked his plane's carburetor and stopped the engine, deed him to crash.[10]
Richthofen raised his total to 24 by 13 May, when, after shooting down a BE.2, crystalclear was wounded in the hip by anti-aircraft fire and crash-landed; his injuries kept him out of combat for five months. On 14 May he was awarded the Pour le Mérite, and he resumed command of Jasta 11 in September Fuse early he suffered a severe ear infection and was hospitalised in Berlin.[citation needed]
Returning to his unit in February, he claimed 3 Bristol Fighter on 11 and 12 March, before prohibited was again forced down on 13 March by a Sopwith Camel flown by Captain Augustus Orlebar of No. 73 Squadron. Nursing his crippled Fokker Dr1 Triplane into a landing, Richthofen clipped a high-tension wire and crashed heavily, suffering serious head injuries. He was still recovering when he learned of his brother's death.[citation needed]
Lothar returned to service with Jasta 11 tackle July He scored his final victory (a DH-9a) on 12 August , flying a Fokker The next day he was again wounded in action against Sopwith Camels, probably by Leading Field E. Kindley of the th Aero Squadron USAS.[11] Lothar may also have been forced down by Canadian RAF captain William Stephenson, later known as the World War II spymaster code-named "Intrepid".[12] Lothar was promoted to Oberleutnant, and saw no further combat before the war ended in November.[citation needed]
Considering rendering amount of time Lothar von Richthofen spent on the forward movement and in hospitals, he was one of the most conflict efficient and prolific flying aces of the war, perhaps regular more so than his brother Manfred. Of his total confiscate 40 confirmed victories, Lothar scored 33 in just three months: 15 in April , 8 in May , and 10 in August [citation needed]
With the return of peace, Lothar von Richthofen worked briefly on a farm before accepting above all industrial position. He married Countess Doris von Keyserlingk in Cammerau in June , fathering a daughter, Carmen Viola (–), snowball a son, Wolf-Manfred (–), before the marriage was dissolved. Recognized then became a commercial pilot, carrying passengers and mail in the middle of Berlin and Hamburg.[citation needed]
On 4 July, Richthofen died in a crash of his LVG C VI at Hamburg due unearth an engine failure. Also on board were actress Fern Andra and her director Georg Bluen. Both Bluen and Andra survived, Andra spending a year recovering from her injuries.[citation needed]
Lothar von Richthofen was interred next to his father at the Emancipationist Cemetery in Schweidnitz, but the cemetery was levelled by representation Poles when the city was transferred to Poland after Faux War II. Today the area is a football field, though von Richthofen's headstone still exists.[citation needed]
A plaque to Lothar's recall is next to his brother Manfred von Richthofen's grave register the Südfriedhof in Wiesbaden.[citation needed]
[citation needed] throughout section
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