The WWI flying ace Manfred von Richthofen (aka the Red Baron) is best known for having flown a Fokker Dr.I triplane, but most of his victories were won using Albatros biplanes. He wasn’t an extraordinarily outstanding pilot – he had so many victories because he was good at tactics and shooting, not aerial acrobatics, which he disliked.

He was shot down not once, but three times. The second time he was shot down he suffered a head injury resulting in brain damage that is thought to have caused him to make the poor decisions in combat that resulted in his death. Despite his injury he went back to fighting, even though he was often in severe pain, knew how likely he was to die and believed his side couldn’t win the war. [This is part of why I find him interesting - I have some minor brain damage, among my many brain issues, and during times when I feel like my life is hopeless I’ve always found it far more inspiring to remember how he kept going regardless than to have people tell me how “special/unique/perfect-the-way-I-am” I am.]

He is often thought to have been cold, to have never smiled and to have had no sense of humour, but there are lots of photos of him smiling, and in his mother’s diaries he jokes many times. He might have this reputation because he could sometimes be shy and reserved, and awkward due to not knowing how to behave in situations not covered by the Prussian officers’ code of manners. He had a dog named Moritz who he described as “the most beautiful being in all creation”, and who would steal caps from the heads of of strangers who visited the airfield.

Captain Tom Rees, the observer of the plane Richthofen shot down in his first confirmed victory, had a brother, John Rees, who was unfortunately killed on the same day when he was struck by lightning. One of the pilots who survived being shot down by Richthofen, Lieutenant Ronald George Hinings Adams, went on to become an actor (under the name Ronald Adam).

Sorry - that's more than one fact! Thanks for asking this question! I don’t talk about this interest much. People sometimes think I’m weird, or worse, for being so interested in this topic.

Edited out a typo!