Günther Rall

Günther Rall (10 March 1918 – 4 October 2009) was a highly decorated German military aviator, officer and General, whose military career spanned nearly forty years. Rall was the third most successful fighter pilot in aviation history, behind Gerhard Barkhorn, who is second, and Erich Hartmann, who is first.Template:Sfn

Rall was born in Gaggenau, the German Empire, in March 1918. Rall grew up in the Weimar Republic. In 1933 the Nazi Party seized power and Rall, deciding upon a military career, joined the Army in 1936 to train as an infantry soldier. Rall transferred to the Luftwaffe soon after and he qualified as a fighter pilot in 1938.

In September 1939 World War II began with the German invasion of Poland. Rall was assigned to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) and flew combat patrols during the Phoney War period on the Western Front. Rall flew combat missions in the Battle of France and Battle of Britain, claiming one enemy aircraft destroyed in May 1940. Rall's wing sustained heavy casualties and the then 22 year old was appointed to Staffelkapitän (squadron leader). He served in the Balkans Campaign in April and May 1941 without success.

In June 1941, JG 52 moved to the Eastern Front, where it remained from the start of Operation Barbarossa until the end of the war. Rall claimed his first successes in the air defense of Romania. In November 1941, he was shot down, wounded and invalidated from flying for a year. At this time Rall had claimed 36 aerial victories. His achievements earned him the German Cross in Gold in December 1941.

Rall returned in August 1942 and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 3 September 1942 for 65 enemy aircraft shot down. By 22 October Rall had claimed 100 and received the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. He reached 200 in late August 1943. On 12 September 1943 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, the second highest military award in Nazi Germany at the time of the presentation. By the end of 1943 Rall had achieved over 250, the second flier to do so after Walter Nowotny, who did so in October 1943.

In April 1944 Rall left JG 52 and the Eastern Front. He was given command of II. Gruppe (2nd group) of Jagdgeschwader 11 and served in the Defense of the Reich where he was wounded for a third time. In November 1944 Rall was appointed as an instructor and flew captured Allied fighter aircraft in order to prepare instruction notes on their performance to German fighter pilots. Rall ended the war with an unsuccessful stint commanding Jagdgeschwader 300 (JG 300—300th Fighter Wing) near Salzburg, Austria, where he surrendered in May 1945.

During World War II Rall was credited with the destruction of 275 enemy aircraft in 621 combat missions. He was shot down five times and wounded on three occasions.Template:Sfn Rall claimed all of his victories in a Messerschmitt Bf 109, though he also flew the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 operationally. All but three of his claims were against Soviet opposition.

Rall joined the West German Air Force in 1956, served as Inspector of the Air Force from 1971 to 1974, and as the German representative to the NATO Military Committee until 1975. After his retirement Rall became a consultant. Among his post-war achievements was the presentation of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was awarded to him for his post-1945 service.

Early life and career

Rall was born on 10 March 1918, in Gaggenau, at the time in the Grand Duchy of Baden of the German Empire during World War I.Template:Sfn He was the second child of merchant Rudolf Rall and his wife Minna, née Heinzelmann. His sister Lotte, was four years older than Rall.Template:Sfn Rall stated that his father was a member of Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten (The Steel helmet, League of front-line Soldiers) and had an affiliation with the German National People's Party.Template:Sfn

File:Lehrerseminar Backnang (1910) Hofansicht Zentralblatt Abbildung 2.png

Rall attended the Napola in Backnang.

In 1922, the Rall family moved to Stuttgart.Template:Sfn There, in 1928, Rall joined the Christian Boy Scouts.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In 1934, the Gleichschaltung converted the Christian Boy Scouts into the Deutsches Jungvolk as part of the Hitler Youth.Template:Sfn He attended the Volksschule in Stuttgart. For his secondary education, he first attended the humanities-oriented Karls-Gymnasium in Stuttgart and then in 1935 transferred to the National Political Institutes of Education (Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt—Napola) in Backnang, a secondary boarding school founded under the recently established Nazi state. The goal of the Napola schools was to raise a new generation for the political, military and administrative leadership of Nazi Germany. There he received his Abitur (university entry qualification).Template:Sfn Following graduation, Rall volunteered for military service in December 1936.Template:Sfn

On 4 December 1936, Rall joined the 13. (Württembergisches) Infanterie-Regiment of the Army in Ludwigsburg as a Fahnenjunker (junior officer candidate).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn From 1 January to 31 June 1938, he attended the Kriegsschule, a military school in Dresden.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In the summer of 1938, Rall requested to be transferred to the Luftwaffe. Now an Oberfähnrich, he was trained as a pilot at Unterbiberg airfield.Template:SfnTemplate:Refn On 1 September 1938, he was promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant).Template:Sfn Rall then attended the Jagdfliegerschule Werneuchen (fighter pilot school) from 15 July to 15 September 1939 and was then posted to 4. Staffel (4th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) on 16 September where he served as a Rottenführer (flight leader of a Rotte).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

World War II

World War II in Europe began on Friday, 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. JG 52 did not support the invasion. It was posted to western Germany, protecting the German border during the "Phoney War" and Rall did not see combat. On 7 March 1940, he was transferred to 8. Staffel when JG 52 was augmented by the newly created III. Gruppe (3rd group).Template:Sfn On 10 May 1940 Fall Gelb began, and JG 52 supported German forces in the invasion of Belgium and Battle of France. On the third day of the campaign, 12 May 1940, Rall achieved his first victory. Three French Curtiss H75-C1 fighters were attacking a German reconnaissance aircraft at a height of . Rall attacked them and shot down one, stating: "I was lucky in my first dogfight, but it did give me a hell of a lot of self-confidence ... and a scaring, because I was also hit by many bullets."Template:Sfn The victory was his only success on the Western Front.Template:Sfn

JG 52 was later moved to Peuplingues and Coquelles, on the French Channel coast where it fought in the Battle of Britain.Template:Sfn Due to heavy losses, he was given command as a Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 8. Staffel JG 52Template:Sfn on 25 July 1940 and was promoted to Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) a week later, on 1 August 1940.Template:Sfn Rall replaced Oberleutnant Lothar Ehrlich, who was killed in action with No. 610 Squadron RAF the previous day during the convoy battles. He was one of three pilots killed that day.Template:Sfn Rall said of the battle, "probably no one even had time to shout a warning. Suddenly a flock of Spitfires were on us like hawks on a bunch of chickens."Template:Sfn Rall placed the blame for losses on faulty tactics; such as tying the Bf 109s to close escort of the slow Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers.Template:Sfn On the day he was appointed, JG 52 lost another four pilots, including two Staffelkapitäns. Rall's Staffel lost one pilot missing in action with No. 65 Squadron RAF over Dover in the early afternoon.Template:Sfn Rall and his unit achieved little.Template:Sfn Several of the highest claiming pilots of JG 52, Gerhard Barkhorn, Alfred Grislawski, Adolf Dickfeld were not successful over England.Template:Sfn

The rise of General Ion Antonescu in Romania in 1940 led to a reorganization of his country's armed forces. In this, he was supported by a military mission from Germany, the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien (Luftwaffe Mission Romania) under the command of Generalleutnant (equivalent to major general) Template:Interlanguage link multi.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn III. Gruppe JG 52 was transferred to Bucharest in mid-October and temporarily renamed I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 28 (JG 28—28th Fighter Wing) until 4 January 1941.Template:Sfn Its primary task was to train Romanian Air Force personnel.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Rall arrived at Pipera Airfield on 15 October where 8. Staffel stayed until 18 November when they moved to Leipzig-Mockau Airfield. Three days later, 8. Staffel moved to Parndorf in Austria.Template:Sfn On 30 November, the Staffel began relocating back to Pipera Airfield where they arrived on 2 December, staying there until 27 May 1941.Template:Sfn

Rall's unit was then transferred to Greece and participated in the final phase of the Balkans Campaign. On 27 May, Rall flew to Plovdiv, Saloniki, Tatoi Airfield north of Athens and then to Molaoi where he stayed until 10 June.Template:Sfn Based at Molaoi, he flew combat missions in support of the airborne invasion and subsequent Battle of Crete.Template:Sfn JG 52 was transferred back to Romania to help defend their recently acquired allies' Ploiești oil fields.Template:Sfn

Eastern Front

A map of Eastern Europe depicting the movement of military units and formations.

Map indicating Operation Barbarossa's attack plan

On 21 June 1941, III. Gruppe was ordered to Mizil in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Its primary objective was to provide fighter protection for the oil fields and refineries at Ploiești.Template:Sfn The invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June. The next day, the Gruppe moved to Mamaia, the northern district of Constanța on the Black Sea coast.Template:Sfn On 22 June, the Axis forces launched the war on the Eastern Front. The majority of JG 52 were supporting Army Group South, and the invasion of the Ukrainian SSR.Template:Sfn

Rall's contingent remained in eastern Romania. The Red Air Force (VVS) immediately began a campaign to destroy the Romanian oil fields. Major General Pavel Zhigarev, commanding the VVS ChF (Air Command Crimea), committed the 63 BAP (63rd Bomber Aviation Regiment) and 40 SBAP (40th High Speed Bomber Aviation Regiment). The attacks met with some success, although heavy losses forced the switch to night bombing from mid-July.Template:Sfn Rall scored his second, third and fourth victories intercepting Soviet bombers.Template:Sfn During a five-day period, III. Gruppe JG 52 claimed between 45 and 50 Soviet aircraft.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Rall remarked the reason for the success was the Soviets did not provide fighter escort for their bombers.Template:Sfn

The Gruppe moved to Belaya Tserkov on 1 August during the Battle of Kiev and also used an airfield at Yampil from 6 to 8 August.Template:Sfn Rall claimed his fifth victory on 4 August thus becoming an "ace".Template:Sfn While providing escort for Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 (StG 77—77th Dive Bomber Wing) on 13 August 1941, with Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing), Rall claimed a Polikarpov I-16 as did JG 3's Günther Lützow. The Soviet pilots were from the 88 IAP Fighter Regiment and identified as Lieutenants Yakov Kozlov and Ivan Novikov.Template:Sfn III. Gruppe JG 52 supported the encirclement Battle at Kiev in August.Template:Sfn

Rall claimed 12 victories in October 1941 as III. Gruppe JG 52 fought for air superiority during the First Battle of Kharkov; an autumn offensive to seize the industrialized regions of Eastern Ukraine. On 14 October there was heavy air fighting. Rall claimed an Ilyushin Il-2 over his group's Poltava airfield after being scrambled in the midst of a Soviet air attack.Template:Sfn The Germans had failed in the race for the Ukrainian industrial heartland. After the capture of Kharkov and Stalino the Germans found 54 medium and 223 large factories; all empty. Some 1.5 million wagonloads had been evacuated.Template:Sfn

On 23 October III. Gruppe JG 52 moved to Chaplynka in the Crimea. With II. Gruppe JG 3 and JG 77, it was ordered to clear the skies. The Crimean Campaign lasted into the following year. The German fighter units claimed 140 aircraft from 18 to 24 October over Perekop.Template:Sfn Rall had reached 28 victories by this date.Template:Sfn At the time, his regular wingman was Obergefreiter Friedrich Wachowiak.Template:Sfn

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1990-021-09A, Günther Rall.jpg

Knight's Cross portrait, 1942

The Gruppe then moved to an airfield at Taganrog on 2 November where they stayed until 1 January 1942.Template:Sfn In November the Red Army regrouped and conducted a well-orchestrated recapture of Rostov.Template:Sfn The victory denied the Germans access to the Caucasus. Rall received the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe () on 17 November.Template:Sfn On 28 November 1941, Rall claimed his 36th victory near the contested city, but as he watched the burning I-16 fall in the fading light Rall relaxed his vigilance and was shot down.Template:Sfn He tried to fly back to German lines with a damaged engine, but crash landed and was knocked unconscious. A German tank crew rescued him from the wreck.Template:Sfn His Bf 109 F-4 (Werknummer 7308—factory number) came down in the vicinity of Rostov.Template:Sfn

X-rays revealed he had broken his back in three places. Doctors told him he was finished as a pilot and transferred him to a hospital in Vienna in December 1941. Despite the prognosis, Rall defied odds and returned to combat a year later. During his treatment, he met Hertha Schön, whom he married in 1943.Template:SfnTemplate:Refn While hospitalized, he was awarded the German Cross in Gold () on 15 December 1941.Template:Sfn In Rall's absence third group claimed 90 of the 135 aircraft claimed shot down by Luftflotte 4 in December. This was achieved without loss; making it the most successful of the German fighter groups. The VVS Southern Front admitted the loss of 44 aircraft from 1 to 22 December. The losses for the remaining nine days are not stated.Template:Sfn

Rall came back to 8. Staffel JG 52 in August 1942.Template:Sfn From 2 to 30 August, Rall claimed victory 37 through 62; a run of 26 aerial victories in a four-week period.Template:Sfn On 6 August Rall claimed four in one day. At this time Rall's unit was operating in support of the Battle of the Caucasus, deep in southern Russia. His 61st claim was for a victory achieved in the vicinity of Grozny.Template:Sfn German forces reached the Terek River in late August 1942 and erected pontoon bridges. The Soviets began air attacks on the crossings, and Rall's III. Gruppe claimed 32 aerial victories in their defense.Template:Sfn

On 3 September, Rall was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ().Template:Sfn The pilots of JG 52 opposed the Soviet 4th Air Army (4 VA) effectively; and with pilots such as Rall, Dickfeld and Grislawski, they dominated the air space whenever they appeared in strength. The 4 VA reported the loss of 149 aircraft in September 1942.Template:Sfn On 30 September 1942 Rall claimed his 90th aerial victim, bringing his total for the month to 28.Template:Sfn

On 22 October, Rall was credited with his 100th aerial victory. He was the 28th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark.Template:Sfn On 2 November 1942, Rall was required to meet Adolf Hitler and was personally awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves ().Template:Sfn Rall took the opportunity to ask Hitler when the war would be over. To Rall's surprise Hitler replied that he did not know.Template:Sfn After the ceremony Rall was granted leave.Template:Sfn Rall travelled by train to Vienna on 11 November and married Hertha.Template:Sfn Upon completion of his leave, Rall returned to the front as III. Gruppe JG 52 was ordered to cover the retreat after the Battle of Stalingrad in which several Axis field armies were destroyed.Template:Sfn

Kuban bridgehead

The Kuban bridgehead was the main area of operations for Rall in early 1943. Hitler wished to maintain a foothold in the Caucasus to defend the Crimea and retain the captured facilities at Maykop, which had just been repaired. Hitler harbored a forlorn hope he could use the region as a staging area for a renewed offensive against the Soviet oilfields.Template:Sfn The Luftwaffe was rushed to the Kuban to support the German 17th Army's defenses. StG 2, StG 77, StG 1, JG 3, and JG 52 were sent to the region as powerful close support just as the Soviet Front began its offensive. The fighter units were able to inflict heavy losses to Soviet aviation.Template:Sfn Rall, who was not impressed by the latest Bell P-39 Airacobra, now in use by Soviet pilots, observed that Soviet fighter aviation displayed a new aggressive posture in late 1942 and early 1943.Template:Sfn

Rall achieved his first successes over the combat area of the Kuban bridgehead on 21 March 1943 and by 30 April had claimed 126 aircraft destroyed.Template:Sfn The Gruppe was moved to an airfield at Taman on 1 April. Operating from Taman until 2 July, III. Gruppe also flew missions from Kerch on 12 May, from Sarabuz and Saky on 14 May, Zürichtal, present-day Solote Pole, a village near the urban settlement Kirovske on 23 May, and Yevpatoria on 25/26 June.Template:Sfn Rall claimed his 116th aerial victory on 20 April, this claim was the Geschwader's 5,000th victory.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In the first week of May, Rall claimed a Soviet-flown Spitfire.Template:Sfn After filling out and submitting the combat report Rall was told by his superiors to keep the encounter to himself lest it lower morale.Template:Sfn Three weeks later he was credited with a 145th victory.Template:Sfn Rall noted the improvement of Soviet pilot training and regarded the Kuban as the first serious test of the German fighter force on the Eastern Front.Template:Sfn

Group commander

The German defenses held in the Kuban in 1943, until the autumn. JG 52 moved north in preparation for Operation Citadel and the Battle of Kursk. Rall, who had already served as acting Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of III. Gruppe in February and March 1943, officially replaced Major Hubertus von Bonin in this position on 5 July 1943.Template:Sfn Command of 8. Staffel was passed to Leutnant Friedrich Obleser.Template:Sfn Rall had 42 aircraft under his command—two over the full complement of machines and pilots—35 were operational. I. Gruppe JG 52, by comparison, had 32 Bf 109s operational out of a total of 34. The Stab (headquarters unit) of JG 52 contributed a further four Bf 109s.Template:Sfn

Rall continued to claim enemy aircraft. On 8 July a two-man patrol with Erich Hartmann resulted in two claims, and a third for Rall. A Soviet after-battle analysis mentioned this specific engagement;

Eight Yak-1s in the Provorot region observed two Me 109s off their flight path. Paying no attention to the enemy aircraft our fighters continued. Seizing a convenient moment, the German fighters attacked our aircraft and shot down three Yak-1s.Template:Sfn

File:III-JG52-ins.svg

III./JG 52 emblem

On 9 July, following combat with Soviet fighters, Rall made a forced landing in his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 20019) near Petrovka, north of Belgorod. Four days later, a mid-air collision with a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter resulted in another forced landing at Ugrim airfield.Template:Sfn Rall claimed 21 air victories in July but the German offensive rapidly bogged down. The Red Army began a counteroffensive in the region to contain the German operation and destroy its forces (Operation Kutuzov and Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev). Rall stated that after Kursk his pilots no longer believed the endsieg, though the German army managed to stabilize the front somewhat over the following weeks.Template:Sfn On 3 August Rall's group had only 22 operational Bf 109s from a total of 29; from its designated strength of 40 aircraft.Template:Sfn

The claims of fighter pilots on each side has often been disputed. The 2nd Air Army, responsible for defending the airspace opposite Stab. I. and III. Gruppe JG 52 at the start of the battle,Template:Sfn lost 153 fighters from 5 to 10 July 1943, representing 40 percent of initial strength.Template:Sfn The Soviets admitted the loss of 1,000 aircraft in their "defensive" phase of the battle.Template:Sfn In the first three days, to 8 July, Soviet records admit the loss of 566 aircraft while the Germans claimed 923; not all of the German claims were confirmed by their own side.Template:Sfn The 17th Air Army, opposite II. Gruppe JG 52, Template:Sfn were reduced to 706 aircraft from 1,052.Template:Sfn At the beginning of the offensive the only fighter support for JG 52 came from II. and III. Gruppe of JG 3.Template:Sfn

In August 1943 Rall claimed 33 aircraft shot down as JG 52 fought over Central Ukraine through the late summer. Rall claimed two LaGG-3 fighters shot down on 29 August 1943 in the vicinity of Kuybyshev, present-day Samara, taking his total to 200 aerial victories.Template:Sfn Following Hermann Graf and Hans Philipp, Rall was the third fighter pilot to reach the double century mark. This achievement earned him a named reference in the Wehrmachtbericht that day and on 12 September was also honored with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (). He was the 34th member of the German armed forces to be so honored. The presentation was made by Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, Hitler's headquarters in Rastenburg on 22 September 1943. Three other Luftwaffe officers were presented with awards that day by Hitler, Major Hartmann Grasser and Hauptmann Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein were awarded the Oak Leaves, and Hauptmann Walter Nowotny also received the Swords to his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.Template:Sfn

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J16509, Günther Rall.jpg

28 November 1943, Rall after his 250th aerial victoryTemplate:Sfn

Following the award ceremony, Rall went on vacation until the end of September. On his return Rall immediately began where he left off, claiming Soviet aircraft consistently. Over the course of October 1943, he claimed exactly 40 aircraft; his first coming on 1 October. The majority were claimed in the Southern Ukraine. With few exceptions, the enemy aircraft claimed were fighters.Template:Sfn

On 1 November 1943, Rall was promoted to Major, a rank he retained until the end of the war.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In November he claimed 12 aircraft and on the twenty-eighth day became the second fighter pilot after Nowotny to reach 250 aerial victories. Template:Sfn Rall filed his last claim of the year on 30 November. It was credited as his 252nd aerial victory. On 11 January 1944, Rall received the certification for the Oak Leaves and Swords, along with the medals from Hitler.Template:Sfn Rall was on home leave from 1 December 1943 to 30 January 1944. During his absence, III. Gruppe was temporarily led by Oberleutnant Josef Haiböck.Template:Sfn

In 1944 Rall continued to claim but at a slower rate. The Soviet Crimean Offensive opened on 8 April and five weeks later ended the German occupation in the Crimea. Rall claimed his 273rd and last aerial victory on the Eastern Front on 16 April 1944 over a Lavochkin La-5 fighter aircraft in the vicinity of Sevastopol.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Defense of the Reich

On 19 April 1944, Rall was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 11 (JG 11—11th Fighter Wing), as Gruppenkommandeur of II. Gruppe JG 11, flying operations in Defense of the Reich (). Rall replaced Major Günther Specht who was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 11.Template:Sfn

Rall led his unit against the bomber fleets of United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force. The purpose of his Bf 109-equipped group was to engage the American escorting fighters, to allow the slower, heavier, and well-armed Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Sturmbock (Battering Ram) aircraft to intercept the bombers.Template:Sfn

Within two weeks, Rall was in combat. On 29 April, he claimed a Lockheed P-38 Lightning shot down north of Hanover. That day the USAAF targeted Berlin with 679 heavy-bombers escorted by 814 fighter aircraft.Template:Sfn The German day fighter force was beginning to falter under the pressure. General der Jagdflieger (General of Fighters) Adolf Galland reported that from January–April 1944, 1,000 German pilots had been killed or wounded; Rall would soon become one of them.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

On 12 May, the Eighth Air Force targeted the German fuel industry.Template:Sfn In total 886 four-engined bombers, escorted by 980 fighters, headed for the five main synthetic fuel factories in middle Germany in the area of Leuna, Merseburg, Böhlen and Zeitz, and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and Brüx.Template:Sfn That day, Rall was leading a Staffel of Bf 109s and bounced a flight of three Republic P-47 Thunderbolts led by Colonel Hubert Zemke. Zemke was experimenting with a new tactic, the "Zemke fan", in which independent flights scattered in front of the bombers in order to cover as much sky as possible, thereby maximizing the chance of intercepting German fighters.Template:Sfn Zemke's flight had strayed too far in front of the bomber stream, and the fighters of JG 11 spotted an opening. The Zemke tactic left flights of P-47s isolated if large numbers of Bf 109s were encountered.Template:Sfn

Rall was flying at without cabin heating or pressurization, and above the Fw 190s.Template:Sfn Rall attacked claiming a Thunderbolt. His Staffel was then ambushed by P-47s. Rall dived to escape, but his Bf 109 could not out-dive the Thunderbolts, which were attacking line-abreast, preventing him from turning left or right. Rall was near , but took hits in his engine and radiator by pilots of the 56th Fighter Group. Rall's left thumb was hit, and after he cleared the ice from his windshield with his remaining good hand, he decided there was no escape, and bailed out. He landed in a tree on a steep slope, which rolled down into a gully after releasing his parachute harness.Template:Sfn By luck, he avoided aggravating his earlier back injury and was tended to by farmers. Rall was hospitalized for many months in Nassau. Doctors found his thumb was attached only by skin and could not be saved.Template:Sfn Rall credited the wound with saving his life as the Eighth Air Force had established air superiority over Germany.Template:Sfn

Rall's unit succeeded in this battle, but at a high cost. Besides Rall's claim of one P-47, two North American P-51 Mustang fighters were also claimed by other pilots. The group lost 11 Bf 109s, with two pilots killed and five wounded—all of the Stabschwarm were shot down.Template:Sfn

In the autumn, 1944, Rall moved to Bad Wörishofen and became an instructor at the Verbandsführerschule of the General der Jagdflieger (Training School for Unit Leaders). Part of this training involved flying captured Allied aircraft and preparing notes for student pilots on their capabilities and deficiencies. Rall flew in mock-combat with Bf 109s; specifically, he flew the Spitfire, P-38, P-47, and the P-51 fighters.Template:Sfn

On 20 February 1945, he was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 300 (JG 300—300th Fighter Wing), operating from airfields in southern Germany during the last months of the war.Template:Sfn On his arrival Rall found 15 burning German fighters on the airfield, courtesy of a low-level P-51 attack. Rall reported the wing was in chaos, with no radar, while fuel and food had to be sought from day to day.Template:Sfn JG 300 withdrew to Salzburg in Austria as American and French forces advanced deep into southern Germany. Rall did not claim an enemy aircraft during his time with JG 300.Template:Sfn

On 2 March 1945 JG 300 sortied with all four groups for the last time supported by JG 301. The two units sent 198 fighters to contest an American air raid. Only small groups reached the bombers, but any successes had no effect.Template:Sfn JG 300 continued to fly and fight into 1945. On one mission, the pilots claimed an optimistic total of 50 to 60 aircraft at the cost of 24 killed to the ever present USAAF fighter escorts, while Rall was hospitalized again due to his wounds.Template:Sfn

Later life and service

Rall remained in a prisoner of war camp for a matter of weeks. Rall was approached by the Americans who were recruiting Luftwaffe pilots who had experience with the Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter.Template:Sfn He was transferred to Bovingdon near Hemel Hempstead, and then based at RAF Tangmere, where he met RAF fighter pilot Robert Stanford Tuck, with whom he became close friends.Template:Sfn

After his release, Rall settled back into civilian life working for Siemens & Halske as a salesman from July 1947 to May 1948.Template:Sfn In 1948 he visited England again. Rall accompanied Hertha Rall and stayed in Grosvenor Square with Dr Paul Kaspar and Jewish acquaintances, whom she had helped to escape from the Nazis.Template:Sfn Rall knew of Hertha's wartime Jewish connections and was concerned it would attract the attention of Nazi authorities. In 1943, Hertha was suspected of Jewish sympathies by the Gestapo, but no action was taken.Template:Sfn

Of Nazi crimes, Rall acknowledged the pilots at the front knew of Nazi concentration camps but didn't know exactly what they were used for. When he first heard of Auschwitz and The Holocaust, initially he believed it to be propaganda. Rall could not believe that Germans would do such things. The criminal nature of the Nazi Party did not occur to Rall when Hitler came to power; "The fact that we did not explore the essence of the Nazi regime when it came to power is, of course, one of our great failings."Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

By 1954 Hertha was a physician at the Schule Schloss Salem, near Lake Constance. There, Rall became a personal assistant to the dean of the school, Prince George William of Hanover.Template:Sfn Through this acquaintance, Rall and his wife were invited by Prince George William of Hanover and met the Queen of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh during their first state visit in West Germany (18–28 May 1965).Template:Sfn

With the German Air Force

Rall rejoined the newly established West German military in 1956 and became one of the first cadre of officers in the German Air Force, at the time referred to as the Bundesluftwaffe. Around 6,000 veterans survived the war but only 160 were fit to fly through years of idleness. The Bundesluftwaffe was ten years behind the times in modern aviation experience.Template:Sfn The German military cadre knew they would have to spend years as pupils before they could stand on their own.Template:Sfn

In August 1956, Rall received a refresher training flying the North American T-6 Texan at the Landsberg-Lech Air Base. He was then sent to Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base where he received further training on the Lockheed T-33.Template:Sfn Rall was sent to the United States to train on modern jets at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas. Rall was one of fifteen officers sent to the US. Among this group were former Luftwaffe pilots Erich Hartmann and Friedrich Obleser.Template:Sfn The German pilots were then sent to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona where they received further training.Template:Sfn The idea was to make the Bundesluftwaffe a carbon copy of the United States Air Force. The future chief of staff commented on modern USAF training methods compared to the old, highly individualistic training program of the Luftwaffe:Template:Sfn

The systematic and consistent American training methods were impressive. All in all, these methods were better, more efficient in view of the aircraft we were being trained to fly. Indeed, we were going to fly jets—for most of us this was a new era. The memories of flying the Me 262 were nostalgic for some of us but not a secure foundation you could build on.Template:Sfn

One of his tasks was to oversee modifications to the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter to comply with the requirement of the Bundeswehr, leading to the F-104G version. The accident rate of the new version was alarming when introduced in 1960. The machine was nicknamed the (widow maker) after 292 crashes and 116 deaths.Template:Sfn Rall may have allegedly been involved in the Lockheed bribery scandals. In 1975, the former Lockheed Corporation lobbyist Ernest Hauser made a public appearance in a German television show aired by the public broadcaster ARD. Hauser claimed that Lockheed had made a series of bribes which included the Christian Social Union in Bavaria and the head of the F-104 task-force Rall. The party and its leader, Franz Josef Strauß, denied the allegations, and Strauß filed a slander suit against Hauser. As the allegations were not corroborated, the issue was dropped.Template:Sfn

Officers like Erich Hartmann and Johannes Steinhoff believed the type too advanced for German pilots. Rall and Steinhoff thought it was a matter of training. They visited the United States to receive further training which reduced accidents when introduced to the German program.Template:Sfn In particular, the training sought to address the fundamental change in role from high-altitude interceptor in the United States to fighter-bomber in Germany; and the radically different climate and weather conditions experienced at low altitudes by German pilots over Germany.Template:Sfn

Rall received recommendations for senior commands by his then superior General Kurt Kuhlmey.Template:Sfn Following his promotion to Brigadegeneral (brigadier general), he was appointed commander of the 3. Luftwaffendivision (3rd Air Force Division) in Münster.Template:Sfn In the summer 1966, he visited Fort Bliss where the Bundesluftwaffe had a training facility under command of Rall's former World War II comrade Brigadegeneral Walter Krupinski.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

File:Begrafenis Adenauer, kist wordt kerk uitgedragen, Bestanddeelnr 920-2642.jpg

Rall (wearing a helmet, 3rd person on the right of the coffin behind the man with the white cap) at Adenauer's funeral.

When Konrad Adenauer, the former Chancellor of Germany, died on 19 April 1967, Rall was chosen for the military honor guard on 25 April. He was instructed to appear in full uniform, wearing all his medals and decorations. Since his awards had been stolen by a US soldier during his captivity, Rall had to purchase a new set of medals.Template:Sfn

Rall was then promoted to Generalmajor on 15 November 1967 and on 1 April 1968 was given command of the 1. Luftwaffendivision (1st Air Force Division) in Meßstetten.Template:Sfn The promotion as endorsed by General Helmut Mahlke, of the Office of the German Air Force.Template:Sfn

On 1 May 1969, Rall was appointed chief-of-staff of the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force (4 ATAF) based at the Ramstein Air Base. There, he lived near Chuck Yeager, at the time vice-commander of the Seventeenth Air Force.Template:Sfn Rall was then appointed commanding general of Luftflottenkommando (Air Force Forces Command) at Köln-Wahn,Template:Sfn a position he held from 1 October to 31 December 1970.Template:Sfn From 1 January 1971 to 31 March 1974, he held the position of Inspector of the Air Force.Template:Sfn In this capacity, he visited Washington DC and Fort BlissTemplate:Sfn

On 22 November 1973, Rall in his role as Inspector of the Air Force gave Jagdgeschwader 74 (JG 74—74th Fighter Wing) the honorary name "Mölders". Werner Mölders was a former Luftwaffe fighter pilot and leader during the Spanish Civil War and World War II who had died in a flying accident on 22 November 1941. In his commemorating speech, Rall emphasized Mölders military virtues and achievements.Template:Sfn In 1998, on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of the bombing of the Spanish town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, the German Parliament decided that members of the Condor Legion, such as Mölders, should "no longer be honored".Template:Sfn In 2005, the Federal Ministry of Defence decided to remove the name "Mölders" from JG 74. The decision was confirmed on 11 March 2005 by the Federal Minister of Defense Peter Struck.Template:Sfn

Rall then served as a military attaché with NATO from 1 April 1974 to 13 October 1975.Template:Sfn Rall's forced retirement in 1975 was as a result of a controversial visit to apartheid-governed South Africa. Rall received a request from a German journalist, and former Bundesluftwaffe pilot, to attend a veterans meeting there.Template:Sfn When news of the general's ill-advised visit to Cape Town broke, German weekly magazine Stern claimed Rall held high-level meetings with South African officials and emphasized the personal nature of the trip.Template:Sfn

Despite its policy of apartheid, South Africa was seen as strategically important to NATO and the South Africans exploited Rall's visit. The political embarrassment, following a concerted press campaign, encouraged Federal Minister of Defense Georg Leber to retire Rall in October 1975. Rall subsequently resigned as military attaché to NATO.Template:Sfn According to the German news magazine Der Spiegel, Leber had stated that he had not known of Rall's planned visit to South Africa. However, the South African ambassador in West Germany, Template:Interlanguage link multi, had informed Leber six months prior to the visit of Rall's travel plans. Sole had informed the South African government of the conversation between him and Leber in a letter dated 4 April 1974. When Der Spiegel published a copy of this letter in October 1974, the South African government was forced to recall Sole from West Germany.Template:Sfn

Civilian life

File:REI Grab Rall.jpg

Grave in Bad Reichenhall.

Following his retirement from military service, Rall worked in the aerospace and arms industries as a consultant. Companies he worked for included General Electric, MTU Aero Engines and for Gerd H. Buck. His consultancy work ended in 1989.Template:Sfn MTU licensed, built and maintained the General Electric J79 axial-flow turbojet engine installed in the F-104 Starfighter. In this capacity, Rall acted as a liaison to various NATO member countries as well as with the Bolivarian Military Aviation and civilian aviation in Venezuela.Template:Sfn Buck was the owner of a company based in Fronau, present-day part of Schneizlreuth, which had specialized on defensive systems against missiles, and laser and radar guided weapons of all types. The company is now a subsidiary of Rheinmetall.Template:Sfn

On 4 July 1985, Rall's wife Hertha died.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The couple had four children. Their first child named Monika, born six months into the pregnancy in 1942, only lived for 24 hours.Template:Sfn Their second child, Alex, born in 1945, died following a De Havilland Mosquito attack.Template:Sfn On 28 September 1950, their daughter Franziska was born in Stuttgart and Felizitas was born on 17 March 1955.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn His memoir Mein Flugbuch [My Flight Logbook] was released in 2004.Template:Sfn

On 4 October 2009, Rall died in Bad Reichenhall after suffering a heart attack earlier. He was buried with military honors at the Template:Interlanguage link multi following a memorial service held at the Template:Interlanguage link multi in Bad Reichenhall on 15 October. The funeral was attended by the Inspector of the Air Force, Template:Interlanguage link multi.Template:Sfn

Rall's damaged flying glove, which he wore when shot down in 1944 by American fighters, is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.Template:Sfn

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Rall was credited with 275 aerial victories.Template:Sfn Spick also lists Rall with 275 aerial victories claimed in 621 combat missions. Of these, three were claimed over the Western Allies and the remaining 272 on the Eastern Front.Template:Sfn Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces – Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 274 aerial victory claims, plus one further unconfirmed claim. This number includes one victory over a French P-36, one victory over a U.S. P-38 fighter, and 272 Soviet-piloted aircraft on the Eastern Front.Template:Sfn

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (23 May 1940)Template:Sfn
  • 1st Class (July 1940)Template:Sfn
• Wound Badge (1939) in GoldTemplate:Sfn
• Combined Pilots-Observation BadgeTemplate:Sfn
• "Crete" CuffbandTemplate:Sfn
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for fighter pilots in Gold with penant "600"Template:Sfn
• Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 17 November 1941 as Oberleutnant and pilotTemplate:Sfn
• German Cross in Gold on 15 December 1941 as Oberleutnant in the 8./Jagdgeschwader 52Template:Sfn
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Knight's Cross on 3 September 1942 as Staffelkapitän of the 8./Jagdgeschwader 52Template:SfnTemplate:Refn
  • 134th Oak Leaves on 26 October 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 8./Jagdgeschwader 52Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
  • 34th Swords on 12 September 1943 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur in the III/Jagdgeschwader 52Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
• Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1973)Template:Sfn

External links

• Template:DNB portal
• Interview with World War II Luftwaffe Ace Günther Rall – HistoryNet
• Famed German Ace Gunther Rall Passes Away – Warbirds
• Imperial War Museum Interview