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Did MvR attend his victims' funerals?
In Peter Kilduff's fine translation of the Red Baron's autobiography, he writes the following after MvR's first official kill, the FE2b of Morris and Rees:
"Later I erected a gravestone to the memory of my honourably fallen enemies."
If he did do this,then it was a very magnanimous gesture. I have seen a photo of Rees's original gravemarker written in German, but is there any way of knowing whether MvR actually attended the funeral? Morris was buried at Cambrai following a vain trip to the military hospital to save him, whereas Rees was buried at Villers Plouich.
The detailed Franks, Giblin and McCrery book "Under the Guns of the Red Baron" has the statement:
"The members of Jasta 4 showed their respect for a gallant foe by burying him [Rees] with full military honours."
This seems to suggest that Jasta 2 members, von Richthofen included,the ones who in fact dispatched Rees and Morris, didn't actually attend. The cross itself, from the photo I saw, was a fine looking memorial and was festooned with flowers placed graciously presumably by the Germans in honour of their fallen foe. Was this the case?
Now I'm not as naive as to think that von Richthofen made this a habit of supplying memorials for all of his victims, but would anyone, far more expert in these matters than myself, know whether he did attend these funerals (or any other), or whether he actually did supply a memorial for Rees and Morris?
Any comments would be gratefully received.
Trebrys.
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