Wednesday, June 29, 2011

This has been bothering me for years

Remember that song "Snoopy vs the Red Baron?" Sure you do.

[Direct link]

But in the lyrics, it says that "80 men died trying to end the spree of the bloody Red Baron of Germany."

That's not true.

Yes, Baron Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen did shoot down 80 planes. But not everyone on every plane died. Some were single-seat aircraft, but most were 2-seaters. A total of 126 fighters were shot down by Richthofen. 23 were unhurt (or not reported as hurt), 20 were wounded, 1 was of unknown status, and 82 were killed.*

It bothers me to no end that the song says that "80 men died" when, in fact, the Red Baron had 82 confirmed kills.

That, and the whole part about a dog flying an airplane.


  1. When I was a wee little laddie I had that song on a vinyl 45. Played the bacheezits out of that record. Never gave much thought to historical inaccuracies, though.

  2. I like the song, so I'll just let it slide as a "rounding error".

