| After the message came in that Manfred von Richthofen did not return from a sortie, his adjutant Karl Bodenschatz' duty was it to open the sealed envelope containing the last military will of his commander: | ||
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| This is a copy of the orginal handwritten text of the last will of Manfred von Richthofen. It reads: | ||
| Am 10. III. 18 | ||
| Sollte ich
nicht zurück kommen, so soll Oblt. Reinhard (Jasta 6) die Führung vom Geschwader übernehmen. |
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| Frhr. v.
Richthofen Rittmeister |
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| Translation: | ||
| On the 10. III. 18 | ||
| Obltn Reinhard (Jasta 6) shall take command of the Wing if I shouldn't come back. | ||
| Frhr. v.
Richthofen Rittmeister |
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Note that von Richthofen wrote the date in a way that is nowadays unusual by using the Roman number III (3) for the month. So his last will had been written by him on March 10, 1918. Source: "Jagd in Flanderns Himmel - aus den sechzehn Kampfmonaten des Jagdgeschwaders Freiherr von Richthofen" from Karl Bodenschatz 1935. The English translation of this book is known as the "Bodenschatz Diaries" |
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Copyright© 2001 by Gaston Graf last revised: January 18, 2003 |
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