Hans-Ulrich Rudel

Hans-Ulrich Rudel
2 July 1916(1916-07-02) – 18 December 1982(1982-12-18) (aged 66)
HansUlrichRudel.JPG.jpeg
Hans-Ulrich Rudel
Nickname Eagle of the Eastern Front
Place of birth Konradswaldau, Kingdom of Prussia
Place of death Rosenheim, Germany
Resting place Dornhausen, near Gunzenhausen
Allegiance Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Service/branch Balkenkreuz.svg Luftwaffe
Years of service 1936 – 1945
Rank Colonel (or Oberst)
Unit StG 3, StG 2
Commands held III./StG 2, SG 2
Battles/wars

World War II
Awards Ritterkreuz mit Goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten
Other work Businessman, member of the German Reich Party

Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2 July 1916 – 18 December 1982) was a Stuka dive-bomber pilot during World War II and a member of the Nazi party. The most highly decorated German serviceman of the war, Rudel was one of only 27 military men to be awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, and the only one to be awarded the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds.

Rudel flew 2,530 combat missions and successfully attacked many tanks, trains, ships, and other ground targets.[Notes 1] Rudel claimed a total of 2,000 targets destroyed - including 800 vehicles, 519 tanks, 150 artillery pieces, a destroyer, two cruisers, one Soviet battleship (the Marat), 70 landing craft, 4 armored trains, several bridges and nine aircraft which he shot down.[1][2]

Contents

Biography

Rudel, the son of Lutheran minister Johannes, was born in Konradswaldau, (Silesia), Germany (it became part of Poland after 1945). He was raised in a number of different Silesian parishes. As a boy he was a poor scholar but a very keen sportsman. In August 1936, after his Abitur (University-preparatory high school diploma), he joined the Luftwaffe as an officer cadet, and began basic training at the "School of Air Warfare" at Wildpark-Werder.

In June 1938 he joined I./Stuka-Geschwader 168 in Graz as an officer senior cadet. Rudel had difficulty learning the new techniques and was considered unsuitable for combat flying, so on 1 January 1939, he was transferred to the Reconnaissance Flying School at Hildesheim for special training in operational reconnaissance. He was promoted to Leutnant on that date.[3] After completing training he was posted to the Fernaufklärungsgruppe 121 (Long-Distance Reconnaissance Squadron) at Prenzlau.

Rudel was a teetotaler and non-smoker. His fellow pilots coined the phrase Hans-Ulrich Rudel, er trinkt nur Sprudel (Hans-Ulrich Rudel, he drinks only mineral water).

During the Polish Campaign at the start of World War II, he flew (as an observer) on long-range reconnaissance missions over Poland from Breslau. Rudel earned the Iron Cross Second Class on 11 October 1939. After a number of requests he was reassigned to dive bombing, joining an Aviation Training Regiment at Crailsheim and then he was assigned to his previous unit, I./StG 3,[Notes 2] at Caen in May 1940. He spent the Battle of Britain as an Oberleutnant in a non-combat role. Still regarded as a poor pilot, he was sent to a Reserve Flight at Graz for dive bombing training. Assigned to I./StG 2, based at Molaoi, his poor reputation, by then unjustified, preceded him and he also spent the invasion of Crete in a non-combat role.

Combat duty during World War II

Ju 87 G-2 "Kanonenvogel" with its twin Bordkanone BK 3.7, 37 mm guns.

Rudel flew his first four combat missions on 23 June 1941, during the German invasion of the Soviet Union. His demonstrated piloting skills earned him the Iron Cross 1st Class on 18 July 1941. On 23 September 1941, he and another Stuka pilot sank the Soviet battleship Marat, during an air attack on Kronstadt harbor in the Leningrad area, with hits to the bow using 1,000 kg bombs.[4] By the end of December, he had flown his 400th mission and in January 1942 received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. On 10 February 1943, he became the first pilot in history to fly 1,000 sorties. Around this time he also started flying anti-tank operations with the 'Kanonenvogel', or G, version of the Ju-87, through the Battle of Kursk, and into the autumn of 1943, claiming 100 tanks destroyed.

By March 1944, he was already Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of III./StG 2 (appointed on 19 July 1943) and had reached 1,800 operations. At that time he claimed 202 tanks destroyed.

On 13 March 1944 Rudel may have been involved in aerial combat with the Hero of the Soviet Union Lev Shestakov. Shestakov failed to return from this mission and was posted as missing in action. From Rudel's memoirs:

Was he shot down by Gadermann [Rudel's rear gunner], or did he go down because of the backwash from my engine during these tight turns? It doesn't matter. My headphones suddenly exploded in confused screams from the Russian radio; the Russians have observed what happened and something special seems to have happened... From the Russian radio-messages, we discover that this was a very famous Soviet fighter pilot, more than once appointed as Hero of the Soviet Union. I should give him credit: he was a good pilot.

In November 1944, he was wounded in the thigh and flew subsequent missions with his leg in a plaster cast.

On 8 February 1945, a 40 mm shell hit his aircraft. He was badly wounded in the right foot and crash landed inside German lines. His life was saved by his observer Dr.med. Ernst Gadermann who stemmed the bleeding, but Rudel's leg was amputated below the knee. He returned to operations on 25 March 1945, claiming 26 more tanks destroyed before the end of the war. Determined not to fall into Soviet hands, he led three Ju 87s and four FW 190s westward from Bohemia in a 2-hour flight and surrendered to U.S. forces on 8 May 1945, after landing at Kitzingen airfield, home to the 405th Fighter Group. He had his men lock the brakes and collapse the landing gear to make the aircraft useless to the Americans.

Eleven months in a hospital followed. Released by the Americans, he moved to Argentina in 1948.

Achievements

According to official Luftwaffe figures, Rudel flew some 2,530 combat missions (a world record),[Notes 3] during which he destroyed almost 2,000 ground targets (among them 519 tanks, 70 assault craft/landing boats, 150 self-propelled guns, 4 armored trains, and 800 other vehicles) as well as 9 planes (2 Il-2's and 7 fighters). He was also responsible for the sinking of the Soviet battleship Marat, two cruisers and a destroyer. He was never shot down by another pilot, only by anti-aircraft artillery. He was shot down or forced to land 32 times, several times behind enemy lines.

“ Only he is lost who gives himself up for lost ”

—Hans-Ulrich Rudel

On one occasion, after trying a landing to rescue two downed novice Stuka crewmen and then not being able to take off again due to the muddy conditions, he and his three companions, while being chased for 6 km by Soviet soldiers, made their way down a steep cliff by sliding down trees, then swam 600 meters across the icy Dniester river, during which his rear gunner, Knight's Cross holder Henschel, succumbed to the cold water and drowned. Several miles further towards the German lines, the three survivors were then captured by Soviets, but the irrepressible Rudel again made a run for it, and despite being barefoot and in soaking clothes, getting shot in his shoulder, and being hunted by several hundred pursuers with dog packs, jogged his way back to his own side over semi-frozen earth during the following days.[5] He became infamous among the Soviet Red Falcon pilots who could often be heard receiving orders to "get that Nazi swine in the Stuka with the two bars who keeps shooting up our tanks", the bars being a reference to the two Bordkanonen on the Ju87G. Eventually a 100,000 ruble bounty was placed on his head by Stalin himself.

In total, he was wounded five times and rescued six stranded aircrew from enemy territory, although the two mentioned above were recaptured. The vast majority of his missions were spent piloting the various models of the Junkers Ju 87, though by the end of the war, he often flew the ground-attack variant of the Fw 190.

He went on to become the most decorated serviceman of all the fighting arms of the German armed forces (the only person more highly decorated was Hermann Göring who was awarded the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross), earning by early 1945 the Wound Badge in Gold, the German Cross in Gold, the Pilots and Observer's Badge with Diamonds, and the Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe with 2,000 sorties in Diamonds. He was the only recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (the highest-scoring ace of World War II, Erich Hartmann, also held the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds — but his Oak Leaves were not gold). He was also promoted to Oberst at this time.[6] He was the only foreigner to be honored with Hungary's highest decoration, the Golden Medal for Bravery.

Rudel's achievements have been subjected to scrutiny since the war. He intimates in his memoirs that the battleship Marat was destroyed ("The photographs taken by our latest aircraft show that the Marat has split in two")[7], yet more recent sources indicate the vessel was partially refloated and used as offshore artillery during the Siege of Leningrad.[8]

Awards

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds

After the war

After the war, Rudel for a time moved to South America where he became a close friend and confidante of the Argentinian president Juan Perón, and Paraguay's dictator and Third Reich admirer Alfredo Stroessner. Although missing one leg, he remained an active sportsman, playing tennis, skiing, and even climbing the highest peak in the Americas, Aconcagua (6,962 meters or 22,841 feet). He also ascended the second highest volcano on Earth three times, the Llullay-Yacu in the Argentine Andes (6,739 meters or 22,109 feet). During his stay, he became an acquaintance of notorious Nazi concentration camp doctor and war criminal Josef Mengele.[13]

Rudel returned to West Germany in 1953 and became a leading member of the nationalist political party, the German Reich Party (Deutsche Reichspartei). During 1953, on Rudel's return to Germany, he published a war diary entitled Trotzdem ("Nevertheless" or "In Spite of Everything").[14] Discussion ensued in Germany on Rudel being allowed to publish the book because he was a known National Socialist. In the book, he supported National Socialist policy. This book was later re-edited and published in the United States as the Cold War intensified as a book of memoirs called Stuka Pilot[15] that supported the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

He became a successful businessman in post-war Germany.

In 1976, Rudel was involved in what came to be known as the Rudel Scandal. Two high-ranking Bundeswehr generals, Karl Heinz Franke and Walter Krupinski, were forced into early retirement.

Rudel's input was used during the development of the A-10 ground attack aircraft.[16]

Rudel died in Rosenheim in 1982, and was buried in Dornhausen on 22 December 1982. During Rudel’s burial ceremony, two Bundeswehr Phantoms made a low altitude flypast over his grave where former World War II comrades were standing giving the Nazi salute.[17]

Works

Notes

  1. ↑ As with all aerial victories, there is a degree of uncertainty with the veracity of the claims.
  2. ↑ For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation, see Organization of the Luftwaffe during World War II
  3. ↑ For a list of Luftwaffe ground attack aces see List of German World War II Ground Attack aces

References

Citations
  1. ↑ Just 1986, p. 43.
  2. ↑ Stuka Pilot by Hans-Ulrich Rudel(Author), Hannu Valtonen(Finnish translator) 1983, 1st ed, foreword.
  3. ↑ Just 1986, p. 12.
  4. ↑ Piekalkiewicz, Den Annen Verdenskrig 6, p. 95
  5. ↑ Hans Ulrich Rudel - Stuka Pilot, Ch 13
  6. ↑ Pilotenbunker.de - Rudel Biography
  7. ↑ Stuka Pilot, Bantam Books, p. 42.
  8. ↑ See Jürgen Rohwer, Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945 The Naval History of World War Two (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2005, Third Revised Edition, ISBN 1-59114-119-2)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Obermaier 1976, p. 31.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Scherzer 2007, p. 643.
  11. ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 35.
  12. ↑ Berger 2000, p. 297.
  13. ↑ Astor, p. 170.
  14. ↑ Trotzdem, Hans-Ulrich Rudel, Plesse Verl. Schütz; Auflage: 8. Aufl. (1950)
  15. ↑ Stuka Pilot, Hans Ulrich Rudel (Author), Lynton Hudson (Translator), Douglas Bader (Preface), Ballantine Books; New York, 1st American paperback edition (1958)
  16. ↑ Coram 2004, p. 235
  17. ↑ "Letzter Flug—last flight" (in German). Der Spiegel. http://wissen.spiegel.de/wissen/image/show.html?did=14018251&aref=image036/2006/06/13/cq-sp198300100650066.pdf&thumb=false. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
Bibliography
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  • Berger, Florian (2000). Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Selbstverlag Florian Berger. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.
  • Brütting, Georg (1995). Das waren die deutschen Stuka-Asse 1939 - 1945. Motorbuch, Stuttgart. ISBN 3-87943-433-6.
  • Coram, Robert (2004). Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War. Back Bay Books. ISBN 0316796883
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  • Fraschka, Günther (1994). Knights of the Reich. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Military/Aviation History. ISBN 0-88740-580-0.
  • Just, Günther (1986). Stuka Pilot Hans Ulrich Rudel. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Military History. ISBN 0-88740-252-6.
  • Obermaier, Ernst (1976). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe 1939-1945 Band II Stuka- und Schlachtflieger (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 3-87341-021-4.
  • Piekałkiewicz, Janusz (1988). Den Annen Verdenskrig 6, Norsk Peter Asschenfeldt AS. ISBN 82-401-0523-8.
  • Rees, Philip (1991). Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-13-089301-3.
  • Schaulen, Fritjof (2005). Eichenlaubträger 1940 - 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe III Radusch - Zwernemann (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 3-932381-22-X.
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Ritterkreuzträger 1939 - 1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  • Tauber, Kurt P (1967). Beyond Eagle and Swastika: German Nationalism Since 1945. Wesleyan University Press.
  • Williamson, Gordon (2006). Knight's Cross with Diamonds Recipients 1941-45. Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84176-644-5.
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External links

Military offices
Preceded by
Oberstleutnant Hans-Karl Stepp		 Commander of Schlachtgeschwader 2 Immelmann
1 August 1944 – 8 February 1945		 Succeeded by
Major Friedrich Lang
Preceded by
Oberstleutnant Kurt Kuhlmey		 Commander of Schlachtgeschwader 2 Immelmann
April, 1945 – 8 May 1945		 Succeeded by
none