Hans-Ulrich Rudel

From The Air Combat Wiki

Very few would expect a lowly Stuka pilot to the most decorated man in the German military during World War II but the accomplishments of Hans-Ulrich Rudel were nothing short of amazing. He was the only person awarded with the Knight’s Cross-with Golden Oak leaves, swords and brilliants. From the time he flew his first combat mission on June 23, 1941 until the end of the war, he managed to fly an incredible 2530 combat missions, claiming 519 tanks, a battleship, two cruisers and a destroyer. Flying a FW-190 attack aircraft at the end of the war, he also managed to shoot down 13 aircraft.

Oberst Rudel differed from many of the aristocratic fellow pilots of the Luftwaffe. He was the son of a Protestant minister and had received a limited education prior to joining the Luftwaffe in 1936. His first role was that of an observer pilot. He flew long-range missions during the Polish Campaign and afterward was admitted to dive-bomber training. He spent the Battle of Britain in a non-combat role as he did in the invasion of Crete.

Flying his first combat missions on June 23, 1941 during the invasion of the Soviet Union, his skills began to have an impact. He sank the Russian Battleship Marat on September 23, 1941 at Kronstadt harbor near Leningrad. He became the first pilot to fly 1000 combat missions on February 10, 1943. It was about that time, that he began flying the “G” version of the Ju-87, famed as a tank killer with massive 37mm cannons. Through the end of the battle of Krusk and late 1943, he had destroyed 100 tanks. By March of 1944, Rudel was Commander of StG 2 and had flown 1,800 missions and destroyed 202 tanks.

In November 1944, he was wounded in the thigh and flew missions with his leg in a plaster cast. In February 1945, he was wounded by a 40mm shell and crash-landed within German lines. Even though his leg was amputated below the knee, Rudel returned to operations on March 25, 1945 destroying 26 more tanks. Refusing to surrender to the Russians, he flew his Ju-87 to Bohemia and surrendered to the US forces in May of 1945.

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-2s and 7 fighters). He also sank a battleship, two crusiers 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 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 Herman Goering) earning the Wound Bader in Gold, 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. He was the only foreigner to be honored with Hungary`s highest decoration, the Golden Medal for Bravery.

After the war he moved to Argentina in 1948 but returned to West Germany in 1953. Not limited by his missing leg, he remained an avid sportsman, playing tennis, skiing and mountain climbing. He became a successful businessman in Germany and died in Rosenheim in 1982.