The Red Baron

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		Almost all old signatures are found on paper that has discolourd and or darkened through age. This example was originally signed on the flyleaf of a book and over the last 100 years the paper has acquired a mellow colour, but is in excellent condition. Vintage signatures are found signed in a variety of ways, including in grease pencil, graphite pencil and ink. This particular example was signed with a regular graphite pencil and exhibits no fading. The signature looks the way it must have done during the Great War.

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	Iron Cross First Class Included in the mount is this original First World War Iron Cross 1st Class. The medal has a pin back which is completely intact and was used to faclitate mounting, there is no glue nor modifications of any kind, the medal is in completely original, if slightly aged condition.

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was born on 2 May 1892 in Breslau, the son of Major Albrecht von Richthofen, a Prussian nobleman and his wife, Kunigunde. At age 11 he enrolled at the military school at Wahlstatt, and then attended the Royal Military Academy at Lichterfelde. He was a better athlete than he was a scholar, and applied his horseback riding skills to become a cavalry officer. He was commissioned in April 1911 in the 1st Regiment of Uhlans Kaiser Alexander III, and promoted to Lieutenant in 1912.

Richthofen served briefly in the trenches before transferring to the German Air Force in May 1915.
The star pupil of Oswald Boelcke, Richthofen learned quickly and achieved immediate success. He took his first solo flight after only 24 hours of flight training, on 10 October 1915. A month after receiving his first Albatros, Richthofen had scored six ‘kills’ against Allied aircraft.

After scoring 80 confirmed kills, Richthofen was finally shot down as he flew deep into British lines in pursuit of Wilfrid May on 21 April 1918. Although Canadian flyer Arthur ‘Roy’ Brown, who was flying to May’s aid, was officially credited with the victory, controversy remains over who actually shot Richthofen down; other evidence suggests he was hit by a single bullet fired by Australian gunners in the trenches. In any event, Manfred von Richthofen crashed into a field alongside the road from Corbie to Bray. He was 25. He was survived by his brother Lothar, also a noted ace.

Due to the colour of his Fokker Dr-1 and his noble title, Richthofen was dubbed 'The Red Baron' by his British adversaries. It was a title later also adopted by the Germans.