MVR in the headquarters

‘How was the visit to headquarters?’ I ask. Manfred gives a humorous account; I learn a lot of interesting things. Ludendorff made a particularly strong impression on him with his terse, matter-of-fact manner. ‘He's not a man for a little chat; he goes all out,’ Manfred says. Not so Hindenburg, at whose right side Manfred sat during the dinner. He asked in his good-natured, jovial manner: ‘Well, tell me, Richthofen, were you also a cadet?’ - Manfred told him that he had started his military career in the 2nd Company in Wahlstatt in parlour six. Hindenburg replied: ‘Well, you see, I also started in parlour six.’ On the whole, I think Manfred was glad when he had the Grand Headquarters behind him again. For him, the sworn front-line soldier, receptions like the one he was ordered to on 1 May were no duel of edification. He was no friend of polite airs and (as he remarked with a droll sigh) ‘totally unsuited to the job of a wing adjutant’. He longed for the roar of the propellers, the laughter of the machine guns, the taut but fresh life with his comrades out there in the barracks and tents. He wanted to conquer each day anew, at the cost of his life. That was in his nature.’