Well said.
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Our little red triplanes wouldn't be the same without him.
Imperial German certainly lost not only a very successful fighter pilot, but a major tactical innovator in his own right.
He was a Boelke Babe and learned from the master himself.
Thankfully he fell, can you imagine him surviving & running the Luftwaffe instead of fat Herman..
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
For those who may not have seen it before here is an image of the Diorama of MvR's fatal crash which is in the Omaka Aerodrome Museum in New Zealand (Thanks to Sir Peter Jackson)
MvR diorama take 2.jpg Views: 29 Size: 104.6 KB ID: 221638" class="thumbnail" style="float:CONFIG" />
As was Uncle Adi !
Wolfram served in the Luftwaffe throughout WW2, I don't find it a stretch to believe that, had they survived, both Manfred & Lothar would not have done the same and, like others from the previous conflict, possibly becoming ardent national socialists.
We can but speculate; all of them served their country with distinction and I can respect that.
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
A lot of good points made.
I tend to think MvR would have ended up like Rommel if he had survived and gone on to the second war.
Thanks for posting Carl - and thanks for that diorama photo, Baz.
As a young officer involved in a war I don't believe his 'political' views ever went beyond a desire to serve his country to the best of his ability in order to achieve victory.
How he would have responded to the defeat of November 1918 and the subsequent Versailles Treaty we will never know, but like many of his comrades it may have pushed him to the same political standpoint adopted by many of his brother officers.
A man well respected by his peers. To the man who was the greatest of all time.
His legend only grew with his death.
In reading about MVR and family members, an uncle of his lived in Colorado and started the Denver Chamber of Commerce. So the question can be asked, If MVR had survived the war, would he have stayed in Prussia or visited the U.S. enough to switch sides for WWII?
Or would he have joined the Polish units fighting for the British?
May he rest in peace.
i suspect his reaction wouldve been much like rommels, initially pleased with germany being restored to her former glories in defiance of the restrictions of the versailles treaty with increasing disquiet and outright distaste with how hitler and the nazis were behaving and their policies.
With the greatest respect to him and everyone else who fought in the war.
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