The Red Air Fighter

Ref: 4355

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{detailed description}Manfred von Richthofen and his 'flying circus' are a legend. In the First World War, he scored 80 aerial victories, becoming an international household name.
In 1917 Der Rote Kampfflieger, in which von Richthofen tells his own story of this path to fame and his victories, was published in German. Unavailable for many years, this remarkable memoir is now reissued in a new English language edition with twenty-five photographs added, an introduction by aviation historian Norman Franks, and detailed information on von Richthofen's aircraft and victories.
Manfred von Richthofen was not quite twenty-six when at the height of his fame he was killed over the Somme in 1918. He began his service career as a cavalry officer, became a flying observer, and at last a pilot.
Then in 1916 Oswald Boelcke picked him as a pilot for Jasta 2, one of his new fighting units of single-seater machines, for the Western front where the Battle of the Somme had begun. In September von Richthofen won his first victory, and in November came the epic duel and victory over Major Lanoe Hawker, vc, DSO, that riveted public attention on him. He went on to lead Jasta 11, then to command a group of four squadrons, Jagdgeschwader 1, his famed `flying circus'. His all red Fokker triplane became a quickly recognisable and familiar sight on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918.
In his authoritative introduction, Norman Franks examines the legend of Manfred von Richthofen and the facts behind it, vindicating him from the charges laid at his door by his critics, and confirming that his reputation was fully deserved.
In this exciting memoir von Richthofen tells his own story in his own words, a memoir that was published in Britain the same year that he was shot down. Von Richthofen was killed, but the legend lived on.
{Author / Publisher / Date}by Manfred von Richthofen
Published by Greenhill Books 1990 edition. 192pp illustrated, appendices.
{condition}14x22 good, inc d/j.
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