#flying ace

[uwmspeccoll]

Milestone Monday

Aces High

On April 21, 1918, the famous German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, widely known as the Red Baron, was killed during World War I. This is the subject of the book, The Day the Red Baron Died, published in New York by Bonanza Books in 1970, which is presented here. Written by Dale M. Titler Sr. (1926-2014), an aviation and military history writer, it provides a detailed account of Richthofen’s death, which occurred while he was engaged in a dogfight over the Somme River in France. He was ultimately brought down by a single bullet. 

The exact circumstances of his death are disputed. It is widely believed that he was shot by Canadian pilot Arthur “Roy” Brown. However, some accounts suggest that the fatal shot may have come from anti-aircraft troops, as argued by Titler. 

From the jacket of the book:

This is the most detailed and colorful biography of the many that have been written about Manfred von Richthofen—the famed ‘Red Baron,’ so named for the all-red triplane he flew and was flying the day he was shot out of the sky. As a documentary it is a story that evokes the romantic legend of the knight of the air, white silk scarf and all.  Ever since World War I the manner of death of Germany’s most famous ace has remained a controversy--until the publication of this book. The Day the Red Baron Died presents the facts that prove conclusively that von Richthofen was not shot down by a fighter but was brought down by ground fire.

This groundbreaking work shakes up old stories and enriches our understanding of one of aviation's most iconic legends.

Our copy of this book comes from our George Hardie Aviation and Aerospace History Collection.

-View more Milestone Monday posts

--Melissa, Special Collections Library Assistant

[vintage-tigre]

[peanuts-fan]

Snoopy imagining he is a World War I flying ace in the French countryside.

[outofeverythingthisnamewasleft]

[carbone14]

Le lieutenant Ralph 'Kidd' Hofer montre le cockpit de son P-51 Mustang à Virginia Irwin, journaliste du St. Louis Post-Dispatch – 1940's

[scotianostra]

Harbourne Mackay Stephen was born in Elgin on 18 April 1916.

His parents were Thomas Milne Stephen and Kathleen Vincent Stephen, nee Park, who were married in Croydon in 1903. The house in which he was born was the North of Scotland Bank House at 151 High Street, his father at the time being the Bank’s manager. This house, erected in 1857 on the site of Drummuir House, one-time site of Elgin’s Theatre Royal, was replaced by the present branch of the Clydesdale Bank in 1969.

It is not known exactly when the Stephen family left Elgin, but Harbourne, known to his family and close friends as Harry, was educated between the ages of four and seven in Elgin by a governess, then in Edinburgh and finally as a pupil at Shrewsbury School. No doubt his somewhat disjointed education was caused by family moves, in association with his father’s banking career.

He left school at the age of 15 to become a Copy Boy, at 15 shillings a week, for Allied Newspapers in Grays Inn Road, London. After some years at Allied Newspapers, he joined the staff of the Evening Standard.

Flying had long interested him and, at the age of 20 in April of 1936, he joined the Volunteer Reserve of the Royal Air Force at White Waltham as a Sergeant pilot. He fitted his training around his newspaper work, flying Tiger Moths on Saturdays and Sundays. From the Tiger Moth he graduated to the Hawker Hart and, just prior to the outbreak of WWII, he converted to the Hawker Hurricane.

At the outbreak of war, he was called up to be a Sergeant pilot and the weekend training rapidly developed into a seven day a week process. In April 1940 Harbourne Mackay Stephen was commissioned as a Pilot Officer and was posted to 605 Squadron at Drem in East Lothian. During his short stay there he was credited with shooting down a Heinkel bomber.

Posted to 74 Squadron at Hornchurch in May 1940, and converting to the Spitfire, he was thrown in at the deep end of the RAF’s frontline in the Battle of Britain. By August 1940 Stephen had personally shot down a dozen German aircraft and had contributed to the demise of several others. His most memorable day was 11 August 1940 when, in the morning three sorties, he shot down four enemy aircraft and in the afternoon shot down another one and damaged a further three.

By the end of 1940 his personal tally was more than 20 aircraft destroyed and he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar. In December 1940, now a Flight Lieutenant, he was awarded a Distinguished Service Order by King George VI on the personal recommendation of Sir William Sholto-Douglas, Air Officer Commanding in Chief of RAF Fighter Command. This DSO was the first ever to be awarded to an airman in the field. Harbourne Stephen was a “Fighter Ace” indeed.

After the war he had a successful career in newspapers where he became managing Director of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph. He died on 20th August 2001.

[cannedbluesblog]

James McCudden WW1 British Flying Ace VC. The girl on the motorbike with him is his sister. He died in Auxi-le-Château, France, 1918 aged 23.

[winguontheweb]

GET READY! Clipper McDonnell... aka, Flying Ace, is about to take off! Doing the "raindrops frozen in time" effect for this one was really fun~ Icon commission for !!

[foolishlyzephyrus]

thought I would share my hastily painted snoopy

[pianodogdodge]

United Universes Special Concert! Thriller!!

It was time for the special concert start! In an area unknown at first but then out of nowhere it is revealed to be Halloween Town With a figured dressed as Michael Jackson!!

One by one the band revealed themselves as Dodger was on the piano wearing his Jackolantern bandanna!! And everyone started cheering as THRILLER started to play!!! :3

Snoopy- It's close to midnight And something evil's lurking in the dark Under the moonlight You see a sight that almost stops your heart You try to scream But terror takes the sound before you make it You start to freeze As horror looks you right between the eyes You're paralyzed!!!!! :3

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike You know it's thriller, thriller night You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight, yeah

Ooh, ooh You hear the door slam And realize there's nowhere left to run You feel the cold hand And wonder if you'll ever see the sun

You close your eyes And hope that this is just imagination Girl, but all the while You hear a creature creepin' up behind You're out of time!! Snoopy had yellow eyes then!!

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night There ain't no second chance against the thing with forty eyes, girl Thriller, thriller night You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight!!

Night creatures call And the dead start to walk in their masquerade There's no escaping the jaws of the alien this time (they're open wide) This is the end of your life, ooh

They're out to get you There's demons closin' in on every side

They will possess you Unless you change that number on your dial!!

Now is the time For you and I to cuddle close together, yeah All through the night I'll save you from the terror on the screen I'll make you see!!!

That this is thriller, thriller night 'Cause I can thrill you more than any ghoul would ever dare try Thriller, thriller night So let me hold you tight and share a killer, thriller Chiller, thriller here tonight

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night Girl, I can thrill you more than any ghoul would ever dare try Thriller, thriller night So let me hold you tight and share a killer, thriller, ow

Just then Q appeared with a smirk :3. As he was going to do the speaking part :3

Q- I'm gonna thrill you tonight Darkness falls across the land The midnight hour is close at hand Creatures crawl in search of blood To terrorize y'all's neighborhood (I'm gonna thrill you tonight) And whosoever shall be found Without the soul for getting down Must stand and face the hounds of hell And rot inside a corpse's shell

Snoopy-I'm gonna thrill you tonight Thriller, ooh baby (thriller) I'm gonna thrill you tonight (thriller night) Thriller, all night, oh baby I'm gonna thrill you tonight Thriller, thriller night (oh baby) I'm gonna thrill you tonight Thriller, all night (oh baby) Thriller night, babe (thriller night, babe), ooh

Q- The foulest stench is in the air The funk of forty thousand years And grizzly ghouls from every tomb Are closing in to seal your doom And though you fight to stay alive Your body starts to shiver For no mere mortal can resist The evil of the thriller!!! :3

AHAHAHAHAHA!!!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!! :3

The crowd was on its feet!!! With Snoopy dressed up as Michael Jackson!!! And Q!!!! And the band!! It was going to be spooky time!!!!!!! :3

@thelittlemermaidfan1989

@mellowwpopper

@teen-lyoko-fan7777

@goldmudder

@andy-squirrel-and-friends

@askdj-timelord2

@keirastarlightdraconequus

(Credits to Peanuts, Star Trek TNG, Disney, Michael Jackson, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Supernatural, Halloweentown, and Scooby Doo!)

[vintage-tigre]

[peanuts-fan]

Head Beagle

[nocternalrandomness]

All American Flying Ace

[carbone14]

Vladimir Pokrovsky, as de l'aviation soviétique – 1941

[ghoulsister1]

Manfred Von Richtofen Moodboard: King Of The Skies

Higher! The King Of The Sky!

He's flying too fast and he's flying too high

Higher!

An eye for an eye, the legend will never die!

A moodboard for the king of the skies, Manfred Von Richtofen, The Red Baron👑

[bucketinyourwalls]

Manfred community how would u guys feel abt him being drawn in a field of poppies