The Red Barons testament

[Creaghorn]

http://www.bundesarchiv.de/aktuelles/aus_dem_archiv/galerie/00195/index.html

 

very interesting read in the german archives. it's a kind of dicta or guide, written by MvR, which was sent to every german flying unit. what to do, how to do it, how to lead a formation, how to approach enemies...

it's considered unofficially as his testament, because it was finished and sent by him on april 19th 1918, 2 days before his death.

 

i have sent it several month ago, but i read it again and think it's always worth posting again every now and then.

unfortunately it's in german.

[zoomzoom]

Interesting.

 

ZZ.

Edited September 9, 2009 by zoomzoom

[+Olham]

Danke, Creaghorn, werd ich heut abend mal lesen.

Hab ich beim ersten Mal verpasst.

[Creaghorn]

no, you have to scroll down and klick onto the photos of the original pages. when it's shown you can click on it again to make it bigger. it's not the red fighterpilot book or a biography. i don't mean the stuff next to his picture at the top of the page. that's of course only some explanation.

Edited September 9, 2009 by Creaghorn

[DukeIronHand]

That's always been one of my favorite period photos- the one with MvR sitting in the Alb with Jasta 11 around him.

[Check Six]

Are there any bored German speakers who could translate for us? You can't cut the text out and put it into an online translator, nor is it easy to read due to the gothic type.

[Creaghorn]

Are there any bored German speakers who could translate for us? You can't cut the text out and put it into an online translator, nor is it easy to read due to the gothic type.

 

i'll do it, although not bored at all

but it'll take a day or two

Edited September 11, 2009 by Creaghorn

[UK_Widowmaker]

Danke, Creaghorn, werd ich heut abend mal lesen.

Hab ich beim ersten Mal verpasst.

 

Thank goodness for Google Translator!

 

I had no idea that "My Hovercraft is full of Eels"

[Check Six]

Thank goodness for Google Translator!

 

I had no idea that "My Hovercraft is full of Eels"

 

 

My nipples explode with delight!

 

 

But seriously. Thank you Creaghorn. I have been going through our aviation society's journals to gut them all in one place, and have read a few such "rules of aerial combat" from Mannock and Cobby to name a few. Boelcke's Dicta is, of course, legendary. It would be interesting to see the Rittmeister's version, being the careful hunter that he was.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Check Six

[+Hasse Wind]

Thanks, Creaghorn. I had no idea that kind of stuff has been digitized in Germany - it wasn't that long ago you had to physically go to an archives building and order the documents you wanted to read. But this is Internet at its best.

 

Extremely interesting reading. Unfortunately people who don't speak German won't get much out of those documents.

 

Maybe some day we'll see a whole Geschwader flying and fighting together in OFF, exactly like MvR describes it in his notes...

[JFM]

You can find a full translation of this in Peter Kilduff's Richthofen, Beyond the Legend of The Red Baron, 1993.