In his very first operational mission in June, he disabled four tanks. That is where he finally mastered the Junkers Ju-87G two-man dive bomber. In early 1941, Rudel joined a Supplementary Dive Bomber Squadron - a specialised training unit for new strike pilots. But he still had trouble learning the attack technique. His pleas were finally accepted and in May 1940 he resumed dive bomber training. But when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Rudel repeatedly requested transfer back to a dive bombing squadron. In December 1938, he joined the Reconnaissance Flying School for training in operational aerial reconnaissance as an air observer. Hence he was declared unsuitable for combat flying. His initial flight training was satisfactory, but when it came to practising to make accurate aerial attacks, he was unable to learn the necessary dive bombing techniques. On December 4, 1936, Rudel volunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe, the German Air Force. As part of the Hitler Youth movement he became a champion decathlete with the potential to compete in the Olympics. Hans-Ulrich Rudel was born on July 2, 1916, in Konradswaldau in the German Empire. It was never awarded to anyone except Rudel. He exhausted all the medals and awards the Nazi government had till they finally instituted another medal - the highest in Germany - called Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. He was shot down 30 times and seriously wounded on five occasions, yet lived to tell the tale. His record of destroying over 500 enemy tanks in air-to-ground attacks is unlikely to be ever exceeded.Īpart from being an airborne killing machine, he was unbelievably lucky, managing to survive intense fighting from the day the War began till Nazi Germany surrendered.
Yet that is the story of Hans-Ulrich Rudel, a German pilot of World War II nicknamed “Eagle of the Eastern Front”. The son of a clergyman who never did well in school is hardly the right candidate to become a deadly Stuka pilot and the most decorated military aviator in the world.
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