Hans-Ulrich Rudel
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| Hans-Ulrich Rudel | |
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| 2 July 1916 – 18 December 1982 | |
 Hans Ulrich Rudel |
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| Place of birth | Konradswaldau, Silesia |
| Place of death | Rosenheim |
| Allegiance | Germany |
| Years of service | 1936-1945 |
| Rank | Oberst |
| Unit | StG 3, StG 2 |
| Commands | III./StG 2 |
| Battles/wars | Operation Barbarossa |
| Awards | Ritterkreuz mit Goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillianten |
| Other work | Businessman, 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. He was awarded Germany's highest military decoration. Rudel flew 2530 combat missions and successfully attacked many tanks, trains, ships and other ground targets, claiming a total of 2000 targets destroyed - including 519 tanks, a battleship, two cruisers and a destroyer. He also shot down 9 aircraft.
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[edit] Biography
Rudel, the son of a Protestant minister, was born in Konradswaldau (Silesia), Germany (it became part of Poland after 1945). After a limited education, he joined the Luftwaffe in 1936 as an officer cadet. He was initially trained as a reconnaissance observer pilot, primarily because of his poor educational background. When war broke out in 1939 he was in the reconnaissance wing of the Luftwaffe, and spent the Polish Campaign as a Lieutenant flying long-range missions. He earned the Iron Cross Second Class on October 11, 1939. He was then admitted to dive-bomber training in May 1940, and after completing it, was assigned to I./StG 3,[1] a Stuka wing in France. Rudel spent the Battle of Britain as an Oberleutnant in a non-combat role. He took part in the invasion of Crete, but that was also in a non-combat role.
[edit] Combat duty during World War II
Now with I./StG 2, Rudel flew his first four combat missions on 23 June 1941, with the German invasion of the Soviet Union. His piloting skills earned him the Iron Cross First Class on 18th July, 1941. On 23 September 1941, Rudel bombed the old World War I-era Soviet battleship Marat during an air attack on Kronstadt harbour in the Leningrad area. Unlike Nazi propagandist claims for this attack, the ship did not sink but settled in shallow water. The wreck continued in action as a floating battery for the remainder of the siege. Rudel by the end of December had flown his 400th mission and in January 1942 received the Ritterkreuz. He became the first pilot to fly 1000 sorties on 10 February 1943. Around this time Rudel also started flying anti-tank operations with the 'tank buster', or G, version of the Ju-87, through the Battle of Kursk and into the autumn of 1943, destroying 100 tanks. By March 1944, Rudel was Gruppekommandeur(commander) of III./StG 2 and had reached 1,800 operations and destroyed 202 tanks. In November 1944 he was wounded in the thigh and flew subsequent missions with his leg in a plaster cast.
On 8 February 1945, his aircraft was hit by a 40mm shell and Rudel was badly wounded in the right foot, crash landing behind German lines. His life was saved by his observer who stemmed the bleeding but Rudel's leg was amputated below the knee. Amazingly, he returned to operations on 25 March 1945, destroying 26 more tanks before the end of the war. Determined not to fall into Soviet hands, Rudel flew from Bohemia in a Ju-87 and surrenderd to US forces in May, 1945. Eleven months in hospital followed. Released by the Americans, he moved to Argentina in 1948.
[edit] Achievements
According to official Luftwaffe figures in total, Rudel flew some 2,530 combat missions (a world record), during which he destroyed almost 2,000 ground targets (among them 519 tanks, 70 assault craft/landing boats, 150 self-propelled guns, 4 armoured 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 rouble 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 Goering who was awarded the Grand cross of the Iron cross), earning by early 1945 the German Cross in Gold, the Pilots and Observer's Badge with Diamonds, the Close Combat Clasp with 2000 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.[2]
[edit] After the war
After the war Rudel became a close friend and confidante of the Argentine president Juan Peron. Rudel wrote a book titled In Spite of Everything, and a book of memoirs called Stuka Pilot which supported most Nazi policies. Even without a leg, he remained an active sportsman, playing tennis, skiing and even climbing the highest peak in the Americas, Aconcagua (6,959 metres (22,831 feet)). He also ascended the second highest volcano on Earth three times, the Llullay-Yacu in the Argentine Andes (6,920 meters). 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.
[edit] Quotation
| Verloren ist nur, wer sich selbst aufgibt ("Lost are only those who give up themselves"). |
[edit] 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).
[edit] Notes
- ^ For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organization
- ^ Pilotenbunker.de - Rudel Biography
[edit] References
- Beyond Eagle and Swastika: German Nationalism Since 1945 by Kurt P. Tauber (Wesleyan University Press, 1967).
- Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 by Philip Rees (Simon & Schuster, 1991, ISBN 0-13-089301-3).
[edit] External links
- Rudel at 'Achtung Panzer!'
- A short overview of Rudel's career
- Hans Ulrich Rudel (many photos)
- Rudel's tombstone from "Graves of World War II personalities"
- Rudel's combat with Soviet fighter ace Lev Shestakov [more details about Shestakov: [1]
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Werner Mölders | Adolf Galland | Gordon Gollob | Hans-Joachim Marseille | Hermann Graf | Erwin Rommel | Wolfgang Lüth | Walter Nowotny | Adelbert Schulz | Hans-Ulrich Rudel | Hyazinth Graf von Strachwitz | Herbert Otto Gille | Hans-Valentin Hube | Albert Kesselring | Helmut Lent | Sepp Dietrich | Walter Model | Erich Hartmann | Hermann Balck | Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke | Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer | Albrecht Brandi |
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