Freiherr Manfred Von Richthofen, Was A Famous ...

Freiherr Manfred von Richthofen, was a famous German First World War fighter pilot. He was better known as the Red Baron -because he flew a distinctive a red Fokker aircraft.

He shot down the more combat planes than any other person on either side in the War. His known kill tally was 80.

On 21st April 1918, he began chasing a Canadian plane that was trying to escape the battle near the Morlancourt Ridge, near the Somme River

As the Red Baron pursued his prey behind Allied lines, he didn’t watch out

He dived too low into the enemy lines and he also he missed a Canadian pilot Arthur “Roy” Brown coming up on his tail to help his comrade.

Whether it was a shot from the ground or a shot from Brown that killed Richthofen, we will never know.

But what we do know is that the end of the “Red Baron” came because he made the mistake of pursuing an Allied airplane “too long, too far, and too low into enemy territory” (as one report so succinctly put it)

And chasing temptation for too long, too far, and too low into enemy territory has caused the downfall of many good people.

Sin takes us

- further than we ever wanted to go,

- costs more than we were ever willing to pay, and

- hurts more than we ever dreamed it would.

(My thanks to Pat Cook for the story)