HUN'S GREATEST AIR FIGHTER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 251, 11 July 1918, Page 6

HUN'S GREATEST AIR FIGHTER

, j ,s, THE DEATH OF BARON RICHTHOFEN ik •e- . lit Bar , on von Bichfhofcn, the most famj ous of Gorman airmen, has been brought o r ow " f?3" l he Uritish in the Romme Valo ley. His body was leeovered and buried ~r with lull military lu.noiirs. a ~ P De "1' olle famous airmen have woix n3 their last victories end have been themL selves brought down, writes iir. Hamil,jj ton life i u the "Daily Mail." Ycster-- : 0 day it was Richthofen's turn. He-was a | tho most famous of the enemy's "star" pilots. As a pilot he wis brilliantly nt skill u and resourceful, All our men |fe gavo him tall credit fw that, but they is y ld uot think lie was entitled to so much is ' an ) e «w his "victories" as-tho Germane ,'. insisted upon conferring on him. of w ' la * our a ' rmi!ll called a "cir--cus, meaning a number of 'planes which. fl always went nbout with him. Tho "cir- •"' cus" would manoeuvre one of our mathmes into a position in which it could bo struck at, and then Eichthofen would deliver the blow. He was in much the ,? 6ame cose as the espada in the bu,UJ ring, the bull-fighter whose task it ia ■' to kill the auiniDl otter it had been . weakened and woa-ried by his comrades. This is no easy task, nor was it easy for Richthofen to bring down, our 'planes, even when they could be manoeuvred '° into tho right position for the dealing 1" of the coup de grace, but a good deal. ]' of credit was due to his "circus" as well , as to him. 0 Mr. F. If. Cutlack, correspondent with °" the Australians in Fiance, says that tho bullet which killed lUchthofen was proh- '" ably fired by a Lewis gunner attached to. '' an Austiralian buttery. A British air- ? man bolioyes he fired the'■ shot which IS brought him dewn. Tllo Germans first J* talked of a defeofc in his motor, but now '1 6ay, "Hβ appears to have fallen a vien tim to a chance hit from the ground." His Blood-red Machine. Officers of the E.A.F. in London who have fought Richthofeu and his gaily painted circus, on hearing of his death. said "they were sorry, he had not come' r out of it alive. Ho had all the grit in. * tho world, and was ono of tho few Gery man pilots who would fight it out man. ■ to man—but he was better out of tho j, way." ''Eichthofen's victories were won," said ' an officer, "by his outstanding ability aa a pilot, aided by hie wonderful marksj manship. Flying either with his circusi. or alone ho was always in the fastest: ._" and nippiest scout machine. Latterly he.r flew an Albatross double V strutter, with. ISO h.p. Mercedes online, which gave him t a speed of 105 to 110 miles an hour at 1 10,000 ft. The machine was painted blood 3 red all over, mid there was no mistaking it from the other camouflaged maj chines belonging to his troop. Ho liad , two machine-guns firing through tho pro- '• peller." ■ ', ■ r . Another pilot with many victories to j hie credit told how he fought Richthofen . for'half >an hour. They camo to grips . at 11,000 ft. Swerving, diving, and jockeyf mg for positions they came lower and j lower until at 4000 ft. Eichthofen'got a. t shot in a vital spot and sent the Eur- . lishman to. earth. "During the wholo r time," he said, "I got only one shot at . him. I tried to get him' in lino with . my sights, but he was too quick awl s clever. j Another describes how he was flying: ! quietly homo one evening in what up-' pcared to be a clear and peaceful sky when Bichthofen fell upon him like '"a. red and flaming comet. I instinctively felt uiat I was up , against something out. of the ordiniiry. In a few seconds I got a shot through my tunic and he left me bb best I could." it "Most Germau pilots," said another, 'make a single dive at a man, and if ■ they miss brenk off the fight,, but I havo : seen Richthofen come bock to it again ; and again many times when the odds were against him." ' Richthofen was married five months ago to a German millionairess. The Kaiser ' ; recently conferred on him the Order of ' the Red Eagle., and is said (o have aplointed him his cquerry-airmnn. - His trother brought down ■ Captain Ball, the British "crack" nirman.