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Oblt. Rudolf Berthold, Jasta 18, Harelbeke, Belgium, September 1917
D.2006/16, Lt. Lothar & Rtm. Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, Jasta 11, La Brayelle, France, March–May 1917
Shortly after taking command of Jasta 18, Rudolf
Berthold introduced a new livery for the unit’s
aircraft. It consisted of a red nose and blue
fuselage and possibly also of blue on the upper
surfaces of both wings. These were the uniform
colors of the infantry regiment with which
Berthold served before the war. The red and blue
livery was first applied to Berthold’s Albatros D.III,
built in Johannisthal, but during the autumn of 1917
Berthold flew one more Albatros, this one built in
Schneidemühl (O.A.W.). This aircraft carried the
same paint scheme, but it is likely that the upper
surfaces of the lower wing retained the original
camouflage paint. Berthold crashed this aircraft
under unclear circumstances, probably shortly
before suffering a devastating gunshot wound
to his right arm while flying a second Albatros
on October 10, 1917. This injury took him out of
combat for a long time and left his right arm
permanently paralyzed. After the war, Berthold
formed his own Freikorps infantry unit and fought
against the Bolsheviks. These battles proved
fatal for him, however, when he was attacked
and lynched by an angry mob in Hamburg as he
retreated from combat on March 15, 1919.
What is interesting about this Albatross D.III
manufactured by the Johannisthal factory is
that both von Richthofen brothers scored aerial
victories when flying it. However, it is not clear
exactly how many of them. Lothar himself
stated that after joining the unit commanded
by his brother (Jasta 11) in early March 1917, he,
as a rookie, was provided with an aircraft on
which Manfred scored ten victories. However,
this is contradicted by a number of facts and the
famous Red Baron probably only scored three or
four kills with this aircraft. Lothar himself flew
this Albatros until May 13, when he was seriously
injured. By that time, he had already scored
24 kills. It is not known how many of these he
achieved flying the D.2006/16, he himself stated
that it was ten of them. The aircraft was scrapped
on June 7, 1917, as badly worn and damaged many
times. Apart from a red band around the fuselage
behind the cockpit, it bore the standard color
scheme with wooden fuselage.
INFO Eduard56
January 2024