Von Richthofens Medals

[Bill D.]

When he was shot down and killed Von Richthofen was presumably wearing his pilots badge, his EK I, and his Pour Le Merite. I also presume that, like his flight boots and scarf and goggles and monogramed hankerchief, they became someone's souvenirs.

Have they ever turned up to anyone's knowledge ?

[gregM]

I might be way off base here but I think I read somewhere that
his medals were returned to his family.

[Scott Powell]

when MVR was shot down,he had on SILK pajamas, over which he donned his fleece lined flying suit, knee high fleece boots,gloves,scarf, some type of hedwear and googles. the gloves and boots are on in the Australian War memorial in Canberra,along with bits and pieces of his plane. he was buried in his PJ's, and i believe his flight suit was cut away and later discarded( i could be wrong on the flying suit as i am relying on memory,but i am certain he was buried in his PJ's) the plane was stripped by aussie souvienr hunters, and there is a very good video on you tube that shows his plane being dismantled. his awards were sent home to his family in Silesia
here are some pics i took of the Von Richtofen display at the Australian War Memorial when i visited last July

[Luftm40]

Bill...I don't think he was wearing them. In fact I seem to recall that he was actually wearing pajamas under his flying clothes the day he was killed...

[Will Brown]

Just going from memory here, but if I am correct then I wonder if any of his medals made their way to his family or any other known destination. After his tri-plane made a deadstick landing (there is an apt term) in a field behind the Allied lines (fully intact) with the Rittmeister dead in his seat, it became a foot race between allied soldiers to see who could get there first. They stripped the plane down to the wires for souvenirs, I am sure there were some among them who were not below taking the fliers' medals off his body if he was wearing them.

Correct me if I am wrong.

Regards, Will.

[gregM]

I really was "way off".

[Luftm40]

A large set of medals and badges attributed to MvR is on display at the San Diego Air and Space museum. They were badly damaged in a fire in the 60s and then restored. I'm not sure what their provenance is...The set includes a laaarge mounted medal bar, PLM and assorted pilot badges and an EK1 as I remember

[Steinar]

he had many awards? was is standard to have copies of PLM, EK1 etc. in WW1/2?

[Ferg 1]

I know that the radial engine from his fokker is now in the Imperial War Museum in London.Ferg1.

[Will Brown]

not to be outdone here in Canada...

Here are a couple of interesting links. Apparently he did crash land, as opposed to a dead stick landing. No mention of pyjamas or awards however.

See fourth paragraph down:

http://www.rcmi.org/museum/about-museum.html

and this one which gives a good account:

(click on the picture of his Fokker's seat at the bottom)

http://www.westernfrontassociation.c...richthofen.htm

[bunyip]

It's already been pointed out that Richtofen was wearing pajamas under his flying gear. There is a photo of MvR lying on a sheet of corrugated metal with his face messed up from hitting the machine-gun butts. In the photo it's clear he's not wearing a uniform. The pajamas according to one eye-witness account were light blue.

His medals and personal affects were sent to his family home. His medals, mememorbilia, and those of his brother Lothar were on set up as a small museum in the family home where they remained until the end of WWII.

The Russians overan Schweidntiz in late 1944. The family (mother and daughter) fled before the Russians got there with little more than the clothes on their backs. Before leaving they buried most of the family silver and other valuables in the backyard.

The Russians went to the family home immediately. They searched the property, found the buried stuff, dug it up, and shipped it all back to Moscow.

The Russian government has officially denied having the Richtofen materials. Over the years the Richtofen family has quietly spoken to various Russian officials about the items and if there is a chance of ever getting the personal effects of the two brothers back. So far, nothing has come of it.

Despite stories that some of MvR's personal affects have surfaced on the market the "paper trail" or chain of custody of items offered for sale at various times and by various people is usually shaky at best. When you hear stories that one family member or another gve, traded, sold whatever the item is to someone else treat the story for what it is. A story. Nothing more.

Bunyip

[Will Brown]

Great information! Just too bad the family did not bury it further away and deeper. They certainly had more than enough time and advance warning to do a better job of it IMO.

[VtwinVince]

Wrong. When my family fled their estate in East Prussia, they had virtually no warning that the Russian armies were advancing so rapidly. To have reported this or to have talked about it would have been deemed "defeatist" and would have resulted in grave penalties for those who even mentioned it. In fact, the local Gauleiter, Erich Koch, forbade civilian evacuation from the province whilst secretly preparing his own escape via units of the Kriegsmarine.

[Will Brown]

Point well taken. I have read that about the TR but had forgotten to take that into account. Knowledge is power, whether in 1945 or 2007.

[darryl-P]

not to be outdone here in Canada...

Here are a couple of interesting links. Apparently he did crash land, as opposed to a dead stick landing. No mention of pyjamas or awards however.

See fourth paragraph down:

http://www.rcmi.org/museum/about-museum.html

and this one which gives a good account:

(click on the picture of his Fokker's seat at the bottom)

http://www.westernfrontassociation.c...richthofen.htm

Will,

I have seen MvR's Fokker DR1 seat and other artefacts which are on display at the RCMI in Toronto...very impressive indeed.

Regarding the second link you posted...interesting in that you can't always believe what you read is true. The writer describes the pilot MvR was chasing as British when in fact, he was also a Canadian. He was Wilfred "Wop" May, who later in his civilian bush-pilot flying career was largely responsible for opening up the Canadian Far North.

Also, in his postscriptum, he forgets that Wlliam Avery "Billy" Bishop, with 72 victories (another Canadian) was the leading British Empire ace, not Mannock, with 61. Rene Fonck was indeed the second highest Allied scorer with 75 victories.

Anyway...just thought that I would set the record straight. This WW1 era of flying history has always been a favorite of mine.

Cheers,