Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen

Wolfram von Richthofen rode cavalry on two fronts before joining the German air service in 1917, following his cousins Lothar and Manfred into the cockpit. On his first mission with Jagdgeschwader 1, Manfred - the Red Baron - died in the chase. Wolfram claimed eight victories by the armistice, then stayed in uniform through the interwar years. In Spain with the Condor Legion he grasped what close air support could do and made the dive bomber central. When World War II opened he led Fliegerkorps VIII, the specialised ground-attack force that covered the thrust to the Channel in 1940 and later delivered operational weight in the Crimea. He commanded air units in the Balkans and Italy before illness pulled him from the field in late 1944. He died of a brain tumour in American captivity the following July, his record that of a capable and remorseless tactician who knew what was happening to Soviet prisoners and stayed at the edge of it.