War and Game

Born in Barzdorf, Silesia, on 10 October 1895, Richthofen was a cousin of the famous World War 1 ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen and in 1918 served in the squadron that had been named after his legendary relative. After Germany's defeat in World War 1 he studied engineering and then joined the much diminished Reichswehr, where he participated in several flying competitions. Between 1929 and 1933 he travelled to Italy as a member of the German General Staff. Returning to Germany he was attached to the Technical Division of the air ministry but in 1936 was appointed chief-of-staff of the Condor Legion for service in Spain. After serving in this capacity under Hugo Sperrle and Helmuth Volkmann, Richthofen took command of the Condor Legion in November 1938. During his time in Spain he shown excellent diplomatic skills in dealing with the Nationalist command and was also largely responsible for developing air tactics that would become standard within the Luftwaffe during World War 2, particularly in the field of ground-attack techniques. He returned home in May 1939 and served with Stuka units during the invasion of Poland in September and the Blitzkrieg against France and the Low Countries in May 1940. During July he was given command of Fliegerkorps VIII, a specialist unit of Stukas and reconnaissance aircraft that suffered severe losses during the Battle of Britain. In 1941 he gained the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and was made General der Flieger. During this period he served on the Eastern Front and was made a Generalfeldmarschall in February 1943. As head of Luftflotte IV he was privy to the preparations for the Kursk offensive but did not take part in the attack as he transferred to Italy to take command of Luftflotte II shortly before the battle opened. Von Richthofen died on 12 July 1945, after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.