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Hans-Ulrich Rudel

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Hans-Ulrich Rudel
File:Hans Ulrich Rudel.jpg
Hans-Ulrich Rudel
AllegianceNazi Germany Nazi Germany
Service/branchLuftwaffe
Years of service1936-1945
RankColonel (or Oberst)
UnitStG 3, StG 2
CommandsIII./StG 2, SG 2
Battles/warsEastern Front
AwardsRitterkreuz mit Goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillianten
Other workBusinessman, member of the German Reich Party

Hans-Ulrich Rudel (July 2, 1916 – December 18, 1982) was a Stuka dive-bomber pilot during World War II. Rudel is famous for being the most highly decorated German serviceman of the war. Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the only person 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, claiming a total of 2,000 targets destroyed - including 800 vehicles, 519 tanks, 150 artillery guns, a destroyer, two cruisers, a battleship and 9 aircraft which he shot down[1].

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, teaching the word of Jesus. A poor scholar but very keen sportsman, after the Abitur (certificate of education), he joined the Luftwaffe in August 1936 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 with the rest of the unit already fully trained, he was marked as unsuitable as a combat pilot and was transferred for special training in operational reconnaissance at the Reconnaissance Flying School at Hildesheim on 1 January 1939 and promoted to Leutnant on that date[2]. After completing training he was posted to Fernaufklärungsgruppe 121 (Distance Reconnaissance Squadron) at Prenzlau.

As World War II started and during the Polish Campaign he flew long-range reconnaissance missions over Poland from Breslau. Rudel earned the Iron Cross Second Class on October 11, 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,[3] 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 returned to a Reserve Flight at Graz for further training and was there confirmed for dive bombing training. Assigned to I./StG 2, based at Molai, his poor reputation preceded him and he also spent the invasion of Crete in a non-combat role.

Combat duty during World War II

Rudel flew his first four combat missions on June 23, 1941, during the German invasion of the Soviet Union. His piloting skills earned him the Iron Cross 1st Class on July 18, 1941. On September 23, 1941, he sank the Soviet battleship Marat, during an air attack on Kronstadt harbor in the Leningrad area, with a hit to the bow with a 1,000 kg bomb.[4] By the end of December, he had flown his 400th mission and in January 1942 received the Ritterkreuz. He became the first pilot in history to fly 1,000 sorties on February 10, 1943. 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 (commander) of III./StG 2 (appointed on July 19, 1943) and had reached 1,800 operations and claiming 202 tanks destroyed. In November 1944, he was wounded in the thigh and flew subsequent missions with his leg in a plaster cast.

On February 8, 1945, a 40 mm shell hit his aircraft. He was badly wounded in the right foot and crash landed behind 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 March 25, 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 May 8, 1945, after landing at Kitzingen airfield, home to the 405th FG.

Eleven months in 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)[5], 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 also sank a battleship, two cruisers and a destroyer. He was shot down or forced to land 32 times (several times behind enemy lines), but always managed to escape capture despite a 100,000 ruble bounty placed on his head by Stalin himself. He was also wounded five times and rescued six stranded aircrew from enemy territory. 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 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 to become 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, the Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe with 2,000 sorties in Diamonds, and the only holder of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (the highest ace of World War II Erich Hartmann also held the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds — but not in 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.

Awards

After the war

After the war, Rudel became a close friend and confidante of the Argentine president Juan Perón. Rudel wrote a book titled In Spite of Everything, and a book of memoirs called Stuka Pilot that supported the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Even without a 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). In addition, Rudel's input was used during the development of the A-10 ground attack aircraft.

Rudel returned to West Germany in 1953 and joined the German Reich Party. He became a successful businessman in post-war Germany. He died in Rosenheim in 1982, and was buried in Dornhausen.

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 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).

Quotation

Verloren ist nur, wer sich selbst aufgibt. ("Lost are only those who abandon themselves.")

Works

  • Trotzdem (1958), translated from the German as Stuka Pilot by Lynton Hudson (Maidstone : Mann, 1973)
  • Mein Kriegstagebuch (Wiesbaden : Limes, c1983).
  • Mein Leben in Krieg und Frieden (Rosenheim : Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, c1994).

Notes

  1. ^ Just,p 43
  2. ^ Just, p12
  3. ^ For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation, see Luftwaffe Organization
  4. ^ Piekalkiewicz, Den Annen Verdenskrig 6, p. 95
  5. ^ For a list of Luftwaffe ground attack aces see List of German World War II Ground Attack aces
  6. ^ Pilotenbunker.de - Rudel Biography

References

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

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