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Old 7 October 2009, 04:50 PM   #5 (permalink)
Chock
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The grim north of England
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The cups Richthofen ordered for his victories were 5cm high and 3cm diameter at the top, slightly fluted, probably being 925 silver, since that is typical for such objects. They had a simple inscription noting the aircraft type, details, date of the victory and number (Richthofen clearly assuming there would be many of them). Nevertheless, Richthofen like a lot of German pilots, often incorrectly identified the aircraft type, invariably referring to aircraft as 'Vickers', this being based on the guns retrieved from the wreckage. For example, his first victory was an FE2b, serial number 7018, but the cup he ordered for that first confirmed victory had the inscription 1 Vickers 2 17.9.16, the number two indicating that it was a two seater he had shot down.

As you say, Richthofen probably got the idea to have those cups made from the similar Honour Goblet. The Honour Goblet looked like this, as you can see, it was much more ornate than Richthofen's own personal trophies:



Al
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