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Originally Posted by Stephan
I caught a few. 1. It mentioned Manfred "ordered" a silver victory cup for himself after his 1st victory, when in fact it was Boelke who awarded these to his cubs.
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In 1915 Kaiser Wilhelm II set aside personal funds, and commissioned the firm Godet in Berlin, to produce a one litre silver goblet to be awarded to “Den Sieger im Luftkampf” (The victor in Air Combat) after achieving the then rare first air victory.
It is important to remember that the Ehrenbecher was an official award, and neither
Manfred von Richthofen, nor Boelcke, could have awarded it. Like any other official award, it was authorized and given by the high authorities. At first, the award documents were signed by the Inspector der Flieger, and then by the Chief of the Air Service. (Most documents are seen signed by either Hoeppner or Thomsen)
As commanding officer of Jasta 2, Boelcke presented the Ehrenbecher to MvR after his first confirmed victory on Sept 17, 1916. Also as commanding officer, MvR must have presented the Ehrenbecher to several of his pilots.
Of course, I am sure MvR loved the idea of the silver cup after every victory, and thus he followed with a private purchase of sliver cups after each of his victories.
George