Germany
Manfred von Richthofen
1892–1918 Fighter ace, 'the Red Baron'
Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen was a Prussian cavalry officer who moved to the air service in 1915, was trained by Oswald Boelcke and made his first kill in September 1916. By April 1918 he had 80 credited victories, the highest of the war. He commanded Jagdstaffel 11 and then Jagdgeschwader 1, a squadron group whose brightly painted aircraft earned it the name 'the Flying Circus'. He flew a red Albatros and later a red Fokker triplane. He was shot down on 21 April 1918 near Vaux-sur-Somme and killed by a single bullet; whether it came from Australian machine gunners on the ground or from the Canadian pilot Roy Brown is still debated. He was buried by the Australians with military honors.