Jasta 11, 18th air victory

‘...After my return I found a letter in which Manfred informed me that he was leaving his ’dear Jagdstaffel Boelcke" to take over as leader of Jagdstaffel 11 in Douai. The number of his kills has risen to 18. When he downed the last opponent, he almost became a victim himself. At an altitude of 300 metres, one of his wings broke off; miraculously, he reached the ground. ‘Unfortunately, I am not allowed to go on holiday,’ he wrote at the end, ‘I would have loved to show you the Pour le mérite.’ He was still able to rejoice from the bottom of his heart, he was not yet jaded, still completely unspoilt. He was 24 years old!"