I can never really understand why the fact that Von Richtofen’s score contains many vulnerable reconnaissance aircraft somehow counts against him. That was precisely his task as a scout pilot, during the early part of the war. The war was essentially a ground based war, the artillery demanded slow flying spotting aircraft for the guns and it was the task of the Jastas to shoot those aircraft down…..and of course vice versa for the RFC. He was therefore very successful in his role…. and only as fighter aircraft began to escort those spotters did individual air combat begin to develop..and he was clearly no slouch in that department either.
And judging by the comments on the web about “The Red Baron”, do not watch it if you are after rigorous historical accuracy. I gather you don’t get a lot more of the CGI aircraft than you see in the trailer, the nurse photographed with him when he was recovering from his head injury is turned into the great love of his life, and he is portrayed as an antiwar hero in his last months.
There is little doubt that sheer combat fatigue, and the effect of a significant head injury had a cumulative effect on him and very probably led to the misjudgement over the Corbie-Bray road that led to his death. He really was a remarkable young man and an inspirational fighter leader and deserves better.
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