On this day in aviation history: In 1941 a future “Tank Buster” starts big. The JU-87 Stuka was a mainstay of the Luftwaffe and an integral part of the German’s Blitzkrieg tactics in the early 1940s. Unfortunately, the Stuka was quickly outclassed by faster and more maneuverable planes. One Luftwaffe pilot found his niche with the gull winged aircraft, Hans-Ulrich Rudel. Rudel was born in 1916 in Silesia, the son of a minster. Never a good student, Rudel showed a love of sports early, and in 1936 joined the Luftwaffe as a cadet officer as a way to continue and develop his sporting activities. After becoming a pilot, Rudel applied for further training as a dive bomber pilot but was turned down. Instead, he was trained as a reconnaissance pilot and flew long range reconnaissance missions during the Polish Campaign in September, 1939. Finally, in May, 1940, he was trained as a dive bomber pilot in the dreaded JU-87 Stuka. After completing his training he was posted to Stukageschwader 2 and took part in the airborne invasion of Crete in 1941, although he did not fly any combat missions. In preparation for the invasion of Russia in 1941, Rudels group was transferred to the Eastern Front. It was here that he would become a legend. Hans-Ulrich Rudel flew 2,500 combat missions – more than any other pilot, for any country, in any period of time. His victory tally is impressive: 11 airplanes, 519 tanks, 4 trains, over 1,000 enemy trucks and transport vehicles, 70 landing craft, 2 cruisers, a destroyer, and, perhaps his most impressive feat, a battleship! On September 23rd, 1941 Rudel was flying a bombing mission near the Leningrad Sea Canal. He and a fellow pilot dropped two 2,200lb bombs on the Soviet battleship Marat. The bombs caused the explosion of the forward magazine and the destruction of the ship. In total, Rudel was wounded five times, rescued six stranded aircrew from enemy territory, lost a leg in combat, and went on to become the second most decorated serviceman of the German armed forces. Hermann Göring received one higher honor. Rudel was the only recipient of the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. After the war he lived for a time in Argentina, but returned to Germany in the 1970s. Rudel passed away in Germany in 1982.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 18:25:47 +0000
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