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WWI aces were gentlemen with a code of honor, not murderers

posted 16 years ago by mjkbncb
11 replies | jump to latest

This has probably been mentioned on this board already, but just in case it hasn't, here it goes:

I liked this movie, but there was one scene I found difficult to swallow, when the German Albatros is seen strafing the unarmed American on the ground.

The German flying aces of WWI were daring, bold, and cocky, true enough. But they were gentlemen fliers with a sense of honor and duty. The French and the English were the same way. My point is, it isn't very likely that a German fighter pilot would have strafed a downed Lafayette Escadrille pilot. It simply would have been regarded as bad form. Yes, the Germans were ruthless in the air and as bold as can be, but would one of them, after having shot down an Allied Nieuport, come around again and strafe the unarmed man on the ground? I sincerely doubt it. I think this was yet another example of Hollywood trying to create a ‘merciless villain.’

Let’s not forget, this was WWI, not WWII. These men were not Nazis. The Nazi party wasn’t even created yet and wouldn’t be for another few years.

The WWI German fighter pilot’s role model was none other than Baron Manfred von Richtofen himself (who is never even mentioned in the film, by the way!), and the Red Baron was the epitome of elegance and panache. He was arrogant, yes, and cocky, but he was a gentleman flier who once treated a downed British pilot to a gourmet meal before turning him over to the P.O.W. authorities.

And I truly believe that this would be the example set for all the pilots in the German Fleigertruppe.

And the fact that Germany's most famous ace was never even mentioned bothers me. And the same goes for Lafayette Escadrille aces like Raoul Luftbery (though it's pretty obvious that the character of Cassidy was based on him) and Charles Nungesser.

Another flaw in the movie (and other films have made the same mistake) was showing all the German albatroses painted red. In truth, the Germans painted only portions of their aircraft red. Only the Red Baron painted his entire plane red, but that was later in the war, when he traded in his Albatros III for a Fokker triplane (the aircraft for which he is famous).

[–] HenryCW 16 years ago

..... when the German Albatros is seen strafing the unarmed American on the ground.

The German flying aces of WWI were daring, bold, and cocky, true enough. But they were gentlemen fliers with a sense of honor and duty.....

Somewhat oonfusing here. The red German planes in the film were Fokker DR.1 triplanes and not Albatros scouts.

Writers differed in their opinions regarding chivalry in the air and some believed that it was largely (not totally) a myth. Perhaps not many pilots shot at downed airmen on the ground, but some did - including British ace Edward Mannock. Also, many pilots continued to shoot at the so-called "lame ducks" - planes that were heavily damaged, out of control, or even already on fire.

......Only the Red Baron painted his entire plane red, but that was later in the war, when he traded in his Albatros III for a Fokker triplane.....

Not true. While his triplane was the most famous - since he was on one when he was killed - he painted his planes red much earlier. He scored most of his 80 victories while flying Albatros scouts. For example, he was flying an all-red Albatros in 1917 when he was shot on the skull by the rear gunner of a two-seater and was seriously wounded.

[–] petekrug17 16 years ago

As Henry said, SOME pilots did things like shoot enemies who were already shot down. It's war, it has a tendency to turn ordinary people into monsters.

As for the film, please remember the Black Falcon is really the only evil German in the movie, the rest are simply men fighting on the opposite side of a war against the French (and English, of course). We don't see ALL the Germans doing evil things like killing unarmed people in the film, just the Black Falcon. Also keep in mind the other German pilot, the guy with the swords on his plane, who clearly has a sense of honor and humanity; he spares the one American's life when he sees his enemy's gun has jammed. Also right after the Falcon kills the American who was shot down the guy with the swords looks at him and shakes his head disapprovingly.

No, the film is NOT anti-German. It has one individual German character who's a bad guy, but it doesn't try to show all WWI Germans as evil.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Ace_Moonshot 15 years ago

You do know that the Red Baron was notorious for a while because he was shooting downed pilots, wounded pilots etc. He started out noble and all that but that changed. Drastically. By April of 17 he had reached the last stages of a killer. Sadist. It was only right before he was shot down he seemed to recapture the earlier ability to show sportsmanship and fair play.

Do not think I am faulting him or denigrating him. It was war. And he was pretty much the best. (Although I leaned towards favoring Luke and Bishop.)

Don't trust reality. After all, it's only a collective hunch.

[–] foster1234 15 years ago

I think shooting downed pilots was pretty common, and made sense, It takes awhile to train a pilot,

Observers in planes or balloons and wore parachutes were commonly shot down to prevent their info from getting back

It's nice to think they were chivalrous and maybe they were in the beginning when they were banging away at each other with pistols, but not by this time of the war

Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.

[–] RParmly-3 15 years ago

"Also right after the Falcon kills the American who was shot down the guy with the swords looks at him and shakes his head disapprovingly."

One of the key moments in the movies. It establishes that

1) within this movie at least, WW1 fighter pilots are indeed gentlemen with a code of honor, who're happy to fight for their cause but don't feel the need to sink to the level of murderers, and

2) the Black Falcon isn't like the rest of them - he is indeed a murderer, even his own people see him that way and shun him for it, but he just doesn't give a crap, he's in it for the pleasure of killing. Great way to set up a villain.

Keep flying, son. And watch that potty mouth!

[–] duckfandango 15 years ago

I doubt there really was a code of honour; we all like to think that times were different then. But the truth is that war is war no matter which era its being fought in, and you do whatever you have to in order to win

[–] lakelucid 14 years ago

The gun is in the pilot's hands; the story is in the movie-maker's hands. They could have made the antagonist, the German piloting the black triplane a honorable gentleman, but that by shooting the man on the ground made him a better, more sellable villain, whereas if he just flew by the downed pilot, I'm not sure where the story would go, besides an idiotic teenager prancing around, celebrating his dumb luck.

[–] wal1-1 14 years ago

How's this for a code of honor: Capt. Albert Ball, RFC, encountered a couple of Germans over northern France and engaged them (one of Ball's early traits is that he would often fly and fight alone). Rather than fight, the Germans, likely realizing who they were up against, ran away instead. They did manage to land at their home field. Ball could have shot them down as they made their landing approaches, or strafed them as they dismounted their planes. Instead, he dropped a note over their field, challenging the two pilots to return to the same spot the next day and finish the fight. The lone Englishman made the rendevous, as did the two Germans. As the three planes engaged, five more German Albatrosses appeared from behind Ball, forming a trap. Ball, completely defensive now, managed to land his plane in an open field, apparently injured. A couple of the Germans landed nearby and ran to examine their prize. As they neared Ball's idling plane, he throttled up and sped off, obviously having faked the injury. True story; great movie stuff. If they ever do make a movie about Capt. Ball's life & exploits, I hope they have Rachel McAdams play his fiancee. If there's a thirty-something actress who could pull off the part of a seventeen year old English girl, circa 1917, it would be her.

[–] Kawada_Kira 13 years ago

Every human being is different. Plus you have to take into account the fact that war often strips otherwise-decent people of their humanity and leads them to do awful things.

And yes, there WERE murderers flying planes in WW1.

Sig under construction

[–] anthny_platt 9 years ago

To the OP: You make a great point. What you say is true, and was particularly true during the early part of the war, before the Escadrille Lafayette was disbanded.

HenryCW: Correct, for the most part. Mannock was as you say, but the exception, not the rule. When news of Richthofen's death reached his squadron, all the pilots stood and toasted him but Mannock. But the man had reason--he was working in Turkey when that country joined the Germans, and was jailed and treated horribly before being repatriated.

An interesting guy, and one hell of a pilot.

Early in the war, while they had a technical advantage, the Germans could afford to be chivalrous. As that changed, they seemed to get less chivalrous and the Brits more so. Even so, most pilots tried to be civilized, if only in the hope that word would get around and their enemy would try to be chivalrous toward them. It was quite a contrast to the pure bloody hell in the trenches.

And Richthofen painted an Albatros D-2 red because he wanted his pilots to be able to identify him easily so he could give them hand signals and provide leadership. He decided to after figuring out camouflage could never hide such a fast machine. He had red versions of everything he flew subsequently except the Albatros D-5 and Pfalz, which weren't very good airplanes.

He got more attention from that than he expected. His pilots, including his brother Lothar, became worried that it would make too much of a target if him, so he allowed the other pilots to paint theirs red, too--with nose and tail surfaces of a different color. The psychological effect on the enemy surprised and pleased the baron, so he gave his pilots free reign with the paint. And that's how the Flying Circus was born.

Wal1-1: Good post. True story, too.