Poor Lothar Von Richthofen

[Ironworker]

So I was watching the documentries packaged with the 2nd set of Young Indianna Jones and there was one on Manfred Von Richthofen that went with the episode he was in.  It was an hour long documentry I think but for the entire documentry they couldn't even fit in a mention of Lothar a 40 victory ace.  No mention of him at all.  It was as if The Red Baron didn't even have a brother much less a top Ace of the Empire.  All the other documentries talk about brothers and fathers and mothers and wives even if they didn't contribute anything to history other than beeing related to a famous person yet here is Lothar a winner of the Pour le Merite and he doesn't even merit a brief mention.  

I know the documentry was about Manfred but really it's pretty absurd to not mention Lothar who was an equally good fighter pilots who might have scored as high as Manfred has he not been seriously wounded three times during his service.

[Chairface]

He was did have the second highest amount of German kills. You're absolutely right.

[xeoran]

Manfred is a name, Lothar is not. Sadly that is how it works. It's like asking why ever documentary/film/game from WW2 has to be set in Normandy, or, if you really want to push the boat out- Arnhem. Considering the documentary was presumably an extra the research done will have been minimal and the writers may not even have been aware.

[Ironworker]

Manfred is a name, Lothar is not. Sadly that is how it works. It's like asking why ever documentary/film/game from WW2 has to be set in Normandy, or, if you really want to push the boat out- Arnhem. Considering the documentary was presumably an extra the research done will have been minimal and the writers may not even have been aware.

Well Lothar was acknowledged in the movie just not the documentary.  I'm not an expert on the Richthofens but every thing I've read about Manfred has at least some information about Lothar as well.  Also the documentry cited and quoted Manfred's autobiography and he speaks of his brother in that.  Considering that the other documentaries had at least some mention of family no matter how little influence that family had to leave out Lothar in a documentary about Manfred just seems kinda dumb.

[pnweerar]

My first source for Lothar in was ye olde Sierra game, "Red Baron," they had bios on all the big aces of the war. It was also my last source, I have not seen a word written about him since, till this thread.

I always figured he was the more dashing of the two since he was always getting injured.

Seems a bit silly to do a film on Manfred and not mention his air ace brother -- they're all the more interesting for it.

[dominic]

I was flying from Hamburg to Berlin a few years back on a small Lufthansa plane.  The pilot's welcome announcement came on and I was pleasantly surprised when he said "this is Captain von Richtofen welcoming you on board this Lufthansa flight ..."

[JollyBob]

Nice to see the family tradition being upheld Dominic.

I read Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series of novels recently, and Lothar von Richthofen features in that quite a bit (alongside Sir Richard Burton, Sam Clements and Cyrano de Bergerac).

It may be a work of fiction, but Farmer does include a lot of biographical information. At first I thought it odd that he didn't use the more famous brother as a character, but Lothar definitely deserves his place in history too.

[Prof.Witchheimer]

I read Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series of novels recently,

always loved Farmer's books, especially Riverworld!

[Poliorketes]

He was did have the second highest amount of German kills. You're absolutely right.

Not so, but that doesn't make his carrer less noteworthy. But htere are many others in the shadow of the red baron. René Fonck, second only by 4 or 5 kills, is still leading allied ace of all times, but nobody seems to care (Did I write that? Never thought I'd break a lance for a frenchman).

[Le matou rouge]

Not so, but that doesn't make his carrer less noteworthy. But htere are many others in the shadow of the red baron. René Fonck, second only by 4 or 5 kills, is still leading allied ace of all times, but nobody seems to care (Did I write that? Never thought I'd break a lance for a frenchman).

Because René Fonck "collaborated" with the Governement of Vichy during WW2... not really a matter of pride.

But even as pilot, he was not very popular among the other French pilots, cause he despised style and "beau geste". He was a very fine shooter above all, with always the same "strategy" : climb up the highest possible, wait and see, and aim the last plane of the formation, by shooting the pilot.
Sometimes, he climb again quickly to shoot the formation's leader, and then flee : simple, very efficient but not gallant at all.

Meow,
Matt

EDIT : Fonck strategy, But you can't escape Plynkes'speed about the Great War

[Plynkes]

Yes, history can be a little cruel. Roland Garros, arguably France's most famous flier, wasn't even an ace if I recall. Yet he got his own tennis tournament and an airport named after him.

I guess he had good PR people, and also had the good sense to get himself killed, so there was zero chance of getting his honour sullied by entanglements with the Vichy regime.

[Le matou rouge]

Yes, history can be a little cruel. Roland Garros, arguably France's most famous flier, wasn't even an ace if I recall. Yet he got his own tennis tournament and an airport named after him.

So cruel, that I'm sure that half the French believe now he was a tennisman.  :roll:

But he was the first to install a light machine gun on his plane, and I think he broke several flight-lenght records
 

I guess he had good PR people

PR people ? My english is so limited that, if you use misteryous acronyms, I'm totally OOS.  :wink:

Meow,
Matt

[Plynkes]

PR= Public Relations (Relations Publiques?)

People who work to maintain a good image for a person or organisation. Like 'spin doctors' for politicians.

[Le matou rouge]

PR= Public Relations (Relations Publiques?)

Thanks ! obvious now, with your perfect translation.

Like 'spin doctors' for politicians.

I knew this one, cause it's hard to follow foreign politics without, but it sounds so strange literally : "Docteur Vrille" would be a great pulp name (VRIL !)

Meow,
Matt

[Hammers]

"Docteur Vrille" would be a great pulp name (VRIL !)

Meow,
Matt

Taken! :-)