"Last Word" by James Dietz
It's a cool, misty morning
in April 1918 at the Jagdstaffel 11 airfield in Cappy.
The Staffel's morning flight of colorful triplanes has
just been rolled out and positioned for takeoff. Among
them, the blood-red Fokker DRI belonging to the commander
of Jagdgeschwader I, Baron Manfred von Richthofen,
receives some last-minute attention from its ground crew.
As the overcast lifts, the famous - or infamous - Red
Baron himself engages in a little preflight repartee and
gives final orders to the pilots who will fly into combat
with him. A morning much like the one pictured here, von
Richthofen would lose his life in combat over the Somme,
on April 21.
L/E of 850 35 1/2" x 28 1/8"
Signed and numbered by the artist: $135
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