'Red Baron's' death certificate turns up in Poland

Warsaw (Poland), Dec.7 (ANI): The death certificate of Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the legendary First World War German flying ace better known as the 'Red Baron', has been discovered in Poland.

According to The Telegraph, ninety-one years after Von Richthofen died after being shot down near the River Somme in France, Maciej Kowalczyk, a genealogist, found the document in archives belonging to the western Polish town of Ostrow Wielkopolski.

Kowalczyk explained that the town, which in 1918 was part of Germany, issued the death notice as per German law.

In 1914 Von Richthofen, then a cavalry officer with the 1st Lancers, was stationed in Ostrow Wielkopolski and gave it as his last official address before going to serve on the eastern front.

After transferring to imperial Germany's air force, Von Richthofen went on to become the Great War's most successful fighter pilot with 80 kills to his name, and winning the respect of both friends and foe alike.

Shot down behind British lines in April 1918 by either aircraft of the Royal Air Force or ground fire from Australian troops he was given was given a military funeral with full honours.

The discovery of the death certificate in Poland will strengthen the unusual but growing ties between the country and the German war hero. (ANI)