Manfred von Richthofen (May 2, 1892 – April 21, 1918)

I guess Charles Schulz knew a lot about this Great War pilot’s life when he pitted Snoopy in a Sopwith Camel against Baron von Richthofen. In a ‘dog fight’ between German and Canadian piloted RAF planes, the man, who had 80 ‘kills’ to his name, was finally brought back down to earth.

Just to be clear, I have set the clock for the Baron’s birth at 5:00 am, in order for Mars to be conjunct the Midheaven and in the 10th House. There are two inconjuncts for the day, with neither of them dependent on a correct time of birth.

Mercury Inconjunct Saturn

This aspect can have several different meanings. First of all, you may have hidden fears that are difficult to express, but they cause you to do things that others can’t understand. These may include fear of the dark or of certain places or people. Or this aspect can mean that you often feel depressed and sad for no apparent reason. You tend to see the serious side of life, and it weighs on you more than most people.

It is possible that your thinking will become unnaturally rigid for someone of your age. You may get into routines or habits that you are afraid to break, for you prefer familiar paths of life and known ways of doing things.

Venus Inconjunct Mars

You must learn to control your emotions to some extent, so that your feelings do not prevent you from getting along with others. It is difficult for you to react to someone without emotions, for you tend to either love or hate people quite intensely. Your feelings are often mixed, even toward your friends. One moment you love your friend, and the next moment you hate him or her. Any little problem can set off your anger against someone, but you usually cool off quickly also.

Did His Temper Kill Him in the End?

Richthofen received a fatal wound just after 11:00 am on 21 April 1918 while flying over Morlancourt Ridge near the Somme River. At the time, he had been pursuing, at very low altitude, a Sopwith Camel piloted by novice Canadian pilot Lieutenant Wilfrid “Wop” May of No. 209 Squadron, Royal Air Force. May had just fired on the Red Baron’s cousin Lt. Wolfram von Richthofen. On seeing his cousin being attacked, Manfred flew to his rescue and fired on May, causing him to pull away. Richthofen pursued May across the Somme. The Baron was spotted and briefly attacked by a Camel piloted by May’s school friend and flight commander, Canadian Captain Arthur “Roy” Brown. Brown had to dive steeply at very high speed to intervene, and then had to climb steeply to avoid hitting the ground. Richthofen turned to avoid this attack, and then resumed his pursuit of May.

It was almost certainly during this final stage in his pursuit of May that a single .303 bullet hit Richthofen through the chest, severely damaging his heart and lungs; it would have killed Richthofen in less than a minute. His aircraft stalled and went into a steep dive, hitting the ground at 49°55′56″N 2°32′16″E in a field on a hill near the Bray-Corbie road, just north of the village of Vaux-sur-Somme, in a sector defended by the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). The aircraft bounced heavily upon hitting the ground: the undercarriage collapsed and the fuel tank was smashed before the aircraft skidded to a stop. Several witnesses, including Gunner George Ridgway, reached the crashed plane and found Richthofen already dead, and his face slammed into the butts of his machine guns, breaking his nose, fracturing his jaw and creating contusions on his face.

Wikipedia

The Uranus inconjunct Ascendant of the Red Baron’s ‘fatal’ chart gives the biggest clue to what happened. I suspect he made a split second decision to chase after May, to protect his cousin, and in the end paid for that decision with his life.

The RAF credited Brown with shooting down the Red Baron, but it is now generally agreed by historians, doctors, and ballistics experts that Richthofen was actually killed by an anti-aircraft (AA) machine gunner firing from the ground. An autopsy showed the bullet that killed Richthofen penetrated from the right armpit and exited next to the left nipple. Brown’s attack was probably from behind and above Richthofen’s left. Even more conclusively, Richthofen could not have continued his pursuit of May for as long as he did (up to two minutes) had his wound come from Brown. Brown himself never spoke much about what happened that day, claiming, “There is no point in me commenting, as the evidence is already out there.”

And So Ended the Legend in his Own Time