Lothar Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen (27 September 1894 – 4 July 1922) was a German First World War fighter ace credited with 40 victories.

He had remained in the public Gymnasium (high school), he was enrolled in compulsory military training at the Kriegsschule in Danzig (Gdańsk, Poland) when war began.

[3] In February 1915 Manfred "rescued" his brother Lothar from the boredom of training new troops in Luben and encouraged him to also transfer to the Fliegertruppe.

An impulsive and aggressive pilot, unlike his coolly calculating brother Manfred, Lothar's first victory claim followed on 28 March for an FE 2b of No.

[7] Taking part in the period of German dominance called Bloody April by the British, Lothar had won 15 more victories by the beginning of May.

[citation needed] In a running battle in deteriorating visibility in the middle of a thunderstorm over Bourlon Wood, both sides became scattered.

[9] Later research suggests that Ball became disoriented by vertigo, accidentally entering an inverted dive which choked his plane's carburetor and stopped the engine, causing him to crash.

Nursing his crippled Fokker Dr1 Triplane into a landing, Richthofen clipped a high-tension wire and crashed heavily, suffering serious head injuries.

[11] Lothar may also have been forced down by Canadian RAF pilot William Stephenson, later known as the World War II spymaster code-named "Intrepid".

[citation needed] Considering the amount of time Lothar von Richthofen spent on the front and in hospitals, he was one of the most combat efficient and prolific flying aces of the war, perhaps even more so than his brother Manfred.

[citation needed] With the return of peace, Lothar von Richthofen worked briefly on a farm before accepting an industrial position.

He married Countess Doris von Keyserlingk in Cammerau in June 1919, fathering a daughter, Carmen Viola (1920–1971), and a son, Wolf-Manfred (1922–2010), before the marriage was dissolved.

[citation needed] On 4 July, 1922 Richthofen died in a crash of his LVG C VI at Hamburg due to an engine failure.