Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a German fighter pilot known for his 80 official victories during the First World War. Born into an aristocrat Prussian family, he passed out from Prussian military school and began his career as a lieutenant in the Uhlan cavalry unit at the age of 19. When the cavalry operation was made redundant during the First World War, he moved to the Imperial German Army Air Service. Initially trained as an observer, he later became a fighter pilot and scored his first confirmed aerial victory in September 1916. He shot down his most famous adversary, British ace Major Lanoe Hawker, in November. He started painting his aircrafts red when he assumed the command of Jasta 11 at the age of 25, soon becoming known as the ‘Red Baron’. Eventually, he was given his own wing, which became known as the ‘Red Flying Circus’ because it was ready to operate at any front with minimal notice. Although he was offered a ground job after he sustained a severe head injury, he continued to fly, dying a few days before his 26th birthday during an aerial fight against the Allied Forces.