MvR's time in the Uhlans?

[GuynemersGhost]

Hi, I'm curious about MvR's time in the cavalry.

My questions are these:

1) Is there a definitive account of his time from August 1914-May 1915?

2) Is there a good source for the movements/activities of 1st Uhlans in this period?

3) What did MvR do to be awarded Iron Cross, Second Class in late September, 1914?

Thanks,
G's Ghost

[tcrean7828]

Mate,
For starters try having a gander at MvR own autobiography 'Der Rote Kampfflieger' it will give you a hint and then try some searches on the the internet for Manfred von Richthofen should get you to a whole group more places of interest. There are some sights that are in German and those are the ones that I like, as they give me a bit more info.

Hope this helps ya' get a base line of info.

ttfn

tcrean7828

P.S. Sorry mate forgot to include: ‘Mein Kriegstagebuch’ by Baroness Kunigunde von Richthofen in German. tc

tom

[frontflieger]

Originally Posted by GuynemersGhost

1) Is there a definitive account of his time from August 1914-May 1915?

2) Is there a good source for the movements/activities of 1st Uhlans in this period?

3) What did MvR do to be awarded Iron Cross, Second Class in late September, 1914?

No 1) He describes his time in his book. In his mother's book you find additional information

No 2) Yes. The History of the "Ulanen-Regiment 'Kaiser Alexander III. von Russland' (westpreußisches) Nr. 1" during WW1... though MvR is (not/hardly) mentioned. In his regiment he was 'just a young Leutnant'. His regiment was a part of the 9. Infantrie-Division in den V'th German Army (Crownprince).

No 3) You should read the books mentioned in No 1

Thorsten

[TeamStewart]

I have an old paperback called "The Red Knight of GErmany", by Floyd Gibbons. First published in 1927, but this issue is by Bantam books 1959.

It has quite a lot of "information" of his time in the Uhlans, on the Russian front when the war broke out and at Verdun.

There's no isbn number, but a library of Congress catalog card number: 59-5358.

You might want to try archive.org and search texts for Richtofen. There may be several out of copyright books available for download. You might get lucky.

[GuynemersGhost]

Hi,

Thank you for the information. I should elaborate:

I've read 'Der rote Kampfflieger' in the original English incarnation. It doesn't address what happened between August 22nd, 1914 (Battle of Virton) and September 23, 1914 (award of Iron Cross, 2nd class). Specifically, it doesn't say why he got the award. It's interesting, but sketchy, I believe.

Also, I'm reading his mother's book right now, and she mentions several intriguing things, for example; MvR had one horse killed, and he lost all of his equipment. (Lothar had a horse shot from under him and ran for cover, with his saddle over his shoulder!)

It seems to me that in that period of time, what with the Battle of the Silver Helmets (further north, not 1st Uhlans, of course, but tragic for German cavalry), the famous Uhlan ambush by the French on the 21st of August, the Battle of Virton (which was no ride in the park for the Uhlans) and the ultimate stagnation of the advance of the Vth Army in front of Verdun, that MvR must have seen some very heavy and very grim combat. I've just not read something that fills in the gaps.

Perhaps Peter Kilduff's 80-page chronology captures some to this?

G's Ghost

[TeamStewart]

He seems to have been a communications officer at Verdun, after the Battle up north on August 22nd, where he got ambushed and lost 10 of his men.

He seems to have been in charge of setting up and maintaining telephone lines between the frontline trenches and a rear HQ.

Every time he got to the front he'd borrow a rifle and take pot-shots at the French, who would return fire of course.

He seems to have got his Iron Cross for repeated forays to the front lines in that role under heavy fire.