Hans-Ulrich Rudel

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Hans Ulrich Rudel

Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2nd July, 1916–18th December, 1982) was a Stuka dive-bomber pilot during World War II. Rudel is famous for being the most highly decorated German of the war. He was awarded Germany's highest military decoration. Rudel successfully attacked many tanks, trains, ships and other ground targets.

Contents

1 Biography
2 Quotation
3 Works
4 References
5 External links

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 Gruppe, Stukageschwader 3, 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.

Now with I/StG2, Rudel flew his first four combat missions on 23rd 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 23rd September 1941, Rudel sank the Soviet battleship Marat during an air attack on Kronstadt harbour in the Leningrad area. By the end of December he had flown his 400th mission and in January 1942 received the Ritterkreuz. He became the first pilot to fly 1000 sorties on 10th February 1943. Around this time Rudel started flying the 'tank-buster' version of the JU 87G, through the Battle of Kursk and into the autumn of 1943, destroying 100 tanks. By March 1944, Rudel had reached 1,800 operations and destroyed 202 tanks. On 8th 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 the 25th of March 1945, destroying 26 more tanks before surrendering to US forces in May, 1945. Eleven months in hospital followed. Released by the Americans, he moved to Argentina in 1948.

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 force-landed 32 times (several times behind enemy lines), always somehow managing to escape capture despite Stalin himself putting a 100,000 rouble bounty on his head. 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 was flying the ground-attack variant of the FW 190.

He went on to become the most decorated soldier in Germany (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. 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.

Quotation

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

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 0130893013).

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: [link]]

Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds during World War II

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