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Rating: 
Summary: Tracking the Baron
Review: Telling three stories in one, "Who Killed the Red Baron?" is another excellent episode of Nova. The program traces Baron Manfred Von Richthofen's life from childhood, when he was taught to hunt by his father from an early age. When a young man Richthofen joins the cavalry but, after the advent of trench warfare renders horses obsolete, finds his destiny with the fledgling German Air Force. The program also follows the evolution of aerial combat, beginning with pilots shooting small arms from the cockpit to the vicious "dog fights" and "flying circuses" that were commonplace by the end of the Great War. Finally, the title question is tackled: who did kill the Red Baron? It has often been assumed that a British pilot named Roy Brown was responsible, but some forensic evidence has cast doubt on that conclusion. It now seems likely that Richthofen was felled, not by another pilot, but, by ground fire from an Australian unit as he passed overhead that fateful day. Exactly who fired the fatal shot, we'll probably never know; however, the show presents two of the most likely possibilities and lets the viewer draw his own conclusions. Excellent camera work and flight recreations round out this fine program. Four stars!
Rating:
Summary: Tracking the Baron
Review: Telling three stories in one, "Who Killed the Red Baron?" is another excellent episode of Nova. The program traces Baron Manfred Von Richthofen's life from childhood, when he was taught to hunt by his father from an early age. When a young man Richthofen joins the cavalry but, after the advent of trench warfare renders horses obsolete, finds his destiny with the fledgling German Air Force. The program also follows the evolution of aerial combat, beginning with pilots shooting small arms from the cockpit to the vicious "dog fights" and "flying circuses" that were commonplace by the end of the Great War. Finally, the title question is tackled: who did kill the Red Baron? It has often been assumed that a British pilot named Roy Brown was responsible, but some forensic evidence has cast doubt on that conclusion. It now seems likely that Richthofen was felled, not by another pilot, but, by ground fire from an Australian unit as he passed overhead that fateful day. Exactly who fired the fatal shot, we'll probably never know; however, the show presents two of the most likely possibilities and lets the viewer draw his own conclusions. Excellent camera work and flight recreations round out this fine program. Four stars!
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