‘Red Baron’ Rated Burned Out at the End : ‘Ace of Aces’: New biography traces the exploits of Manfred von Richthofen. British and French casualty reports matched claims of aerial victories, writer says.

Manfred von Richthofen has been dead since 1918, but the famed Red Baron is still flying high in the imaginations of comic strip creator Charles M. Schulz and New Britain writer Peter Kilduff.

In his Peanuts comic strip Schulz frequently has Snoopy assume the persona of a World War I aviator--complete with scarf, leather cap and goggles. The ubiquitous beagle is always bested by the Red Baron, the German ace.

Snoopy’s wartime encounters are not always appreciated in academic circles.

“Some historians call it ‘the Snoopification’ of the Red Baron,” said Kilduff. “But, personally, I think Schulz has done a pretty good job of inserting aviation history into his comic strip.”

And Kilduff should know, given that he has written a detailed history of aerial warfare during World War I, and two books about Von Richthofen. In addition, he says he has read everything he can find about the man, both in English and German.

“I’ve been intensely interested in Manfred von Richthofen, and his era, since I was a teen-ager,” says the 53-year-old Central Connecticut State University administrator. “I’ve done extensive research on his life, even to the point of procuring the weekly reports of his wartime activities from the German military archives in Munich and Potsdam. Some of the material hadn’t been seen in the West for more than 50 years.”

In his 1969 book, “The Red Baron,” Kilduff translated Von Richthofen’s memoirs into English. In “Beyond The Legend of the Red Baron,” which came out in this country several weeks ago, Kilduff says he thinks he has written the definitive biography of the World War I “ace of aces,” who shot down 80 Allied airplanes before being killed in France at age 25.

Kilduff says archival material obtained several years ago from East Germany gave him the chance to match German aerial victory claims with British and French casualty reports. Not only has he been able to document the Red Baron’s military career, but he says his book is the only unbiased account of Von Richthofen’s life.

“I warned my British publisher--Arms and Armour Press of London--that this book will make nobody happy,” he said. “In Germany, Von Richthofen is the ‘hero of heroes.’ In England he is ‘the bloody Hun.’ What I’ve tried to do is write a biography that cuts right down the middle, that separates fact from myth.”

Kilduff says his research shows that Von Richthofen, who was killed shortly after shooting down his 80th plane, was a likable, principled man but was in very shaky health at the end, both mentally and physically.

“He was at the peak of his military career, but he also was emotionally tired and deeply depressed, and was suffering severe headaches from injuries he received in a previous crash,” Kilduff said. “In effect, he was burned out.”

On the day he was killed, Kilduff says, the Red Baron’s all-red Fokker triplane was shot down in the Somme River valley after Von Richthofen violated one of his own cardinal rules--never fly too low in enemy territory.

“He was practically at eye level with a group of Australian ground troops, in pursuit of a Sopwith Camel flown by a Canadian pilot,” Kilduff said. “It was Sunday, April 21, 1918. It’s not clear whether he was killed by a pursuing aircraft or by a bullet from one of the troops on the ground. It’s a continuing controversy.”

The Red Baron’s plane crash-landed and he was pulled from the wreckage, already dead. The German ace was buried on the battlefield but later was exhumed and taken to Germany, where he was given a hero’s funeral.

“He’s still larger than life in Germany,” said Kilduff, who noted that his book contains more than a dozen battlefield photographs and a full-text translation of the Red Baron’s air combat operations manual.

“Basically, he recommended getting behind your enemy and closing in on him before opening fire,” he said. “It’s still good advice, even in the jet age. I had a recent call from an F-16 fighter pilot who said these techniques are still being taught to new pilots.”