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Erich Rudorffer
| Major Erich Rudorffer (deceased) Erich Rudorffer was born on November 1st 1917 in the town of Zwickau in Saxony. Erich Rudorffer joined the Luftwaffes I./JG2 Richthofen in November 1939, and was soon flying combat patrols in January 1940 and was assigned to I/JG 2 Richthofen with the rank of Oberfeldwebel. He took part in the Battle of France, scoring the first of his many victories over a French Hawk 75 on May 14th, 1940. He went on to score eight additional victories during the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. Rudorffer recalled an incident in August 1940 when he escorted a badly damaged Hurricane across the Channel - ditching in the English Channel was greatly feared by pilots on both sides. As fate often does, Rudorffer found the roles reversed two weeks later, when he was escorted by an RAF fighter after receiving battle damage. By May 1st 1941 Rudorffer had achieved 19 victories, which led to the award of the Knights Cross. In June 1941 Rodorffer became an Adjutant of II./JG2. In 1942 Rudorffer participated in Operation Cerberus (known as the Channel Dash) and flew over the Allied landings at Dieppe. Erich Rudorffer along with JG2 was transferred to North Africa in December 1942. It was in North Africa that Rudorffer showed his propensity for multiple-victory sorties. He shot down eight British aircraft in 32 minutes on February 9th 1943 and seven more in 20 minutes six days later. After scoring a total of 26 victories in Tunisia, Rudorffer returned to France in April 1943 and was posted to command II./JG54 in Russia, after Hauptmann Heinrich Jung, its Kommodore, failed to return from a mission on July 30th 1943. On August 24th 1943 he shot down 5 Russian aircraft on the first mission of the day and followed that up with three more victories on the second mission. He scored seven victories in seven minutes on October 11th but his finest achievement occurred on November 6th when in the course of 17 minutes, he shot down thirteen Russian aircraft. Rudorffer became known to Russian pilots as the fighter of Libau. On October 28th 1944 while about to land, Rudorffer spotted a large formation of Il-2 Sturmoviks. He quickly aborted the landing and moved to engage the Russian aircraft. In under ten minutes, nine of the of the II-2 Sturmoviks were shot down causing the rest to disperse. Rudorffer would later that day go on and shoot down a further two Russian aircraft. These victories took his total to 113 and he was awarded the Oak Leaves on April 11th 1944. Rudorffer would on the 26th January 1945 on his 210th victory receive the addition of the Swords. In February 1945 Rudorffer took command of I./JG7 flying the Me262. He was one of the first jet fighter aces of the war, scoring 12 victories in the Me262. He shot down ten 4-engine bombers during the 'Defense of the Reich missions'. He was the master of multiple scoring - achieving more multiple victories than any other pilot. Erich Rudorffer never took leave, was shot down 16 times having to bail out 9 times, and ended the war with 222 victories from over 1000 missions. He was awarded the Knights Cross, with Oak Leaves and Swords. Erich Rudorffer died on 8th April 2016. |
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| Text for the above items : |
The Longest July by Ivan Berryman. Posted to 64 Squadron on 1st July 1940, the tragically short relationship of Sub Lt F Dawson Paul with the Spitfire was crammed with victories. He immediately shared a Dornier Do17 off Beachy Head and, just four days later claimed a Messerschmitt Bf.109. Further kills were confirmed over the next two weeks, among them five Bf.110s and another Do.17. His final victory was a Bf.109 on 25th, but on this day he fell to the guns of the German ace Adolf Galland. Dawson Paul was rescued from the English Channel by a German E-boat, but died of his wounds five days later as a prisoner of war. |
Erich Hartmann by Ivan Berryman. With 352 victories to his credit, Erich Hartmann is recognised as the greatest fighter pilot of all time, depicted here as his Messerschmitt Bf.109G prepares for another sortie. |
Star of Africa by Ivan Berryman. Hans-Joachim Marseilles lines his Bf109 up on Hurricane of No.73 Sqn over North Africa on 17th June 1942. |
Green Hearts by Ivan Berryman. Situated 40 miles south west of Leningrad, the German occupied airfield at Siverskaya is now home to the famous Grunherz or Green Hearts of Jagdgeschwader 54. The harsh Russian winter of 1941 is starting to take hold as three Messerschmitt Bf109F-4 Friedrichs from III Gruppe take off into early morning sunshine to act as fighter escort to Stuka attacks on the Soviet fleet in Kronstadt Harbour. With its wheel covers removed to prevent snow jamming the undercarriage, lead aircraft Yellow 5 already shows signs of weathering to the partial whitewash hastily applied over summer camouflage. |
Tip of the Spear by David Pentland. Isle of Wight, England, 28th November 1940. Late in the afternoon, the Me109s of JG2 took off on a Frei Jagd or fighter sweep over southern England. At its head, and leading the Stabschwarm was the Geschwaderkommodore Helmut Wick, along with his wingmen Erich Leie, Rudolf Pflanz, and Erich Rudorffer. When RAF Spitfires were sighted Wick gave the order to engage and the staff flight pulled away to give battle - it was to be his final dogfight. In the ensuing battle, Wick, Pflanz, and Gunther Seeger each claimed a Spitfire, but Wick in turn was lost to the RAF. |
Hunting Sturmoviks by David Pentland. Riga, Latvia, 30th June 1944. Recently promoted Leutnant Otto Bruno Kittel. of 3 Staffel, JG54, chases his quarry at treetop level during a late evening sortie. The downing of this flying tank brought his tally on this day to 4, a Yak, a P39 and two Sturmoviks. Although not well known, Kittel was the fourth highest ranking ace, with 267 victories to his credit, including some 94 of the dreaded Sturmoviks. |
Cat Among the Pigeons (FW190) by Ivan Berryman. It was in 1941 that the remarkable Focke-Wulfe FW190 first appeared in the skies of Europe, quickly establishing itself as a most formidable adversary. It proved to be the supreme weapon against all allied bomber forces. Here FW190A-8 of 1 Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 1 is shown attacking a B17G of 381st Bomb Group during a critical defence of the Reich in 1944. |
Avro Anson by Ivan Berryman. An Avro Anson comes under attack from an Me109. |
Coastal Command - Avro Anson Mk.I by Ivan Berryman. An Avro Anson Mk.I from Coastal Command is attacked by an Me109. |
Ice Warriors by Nicolas Trudgian. The Green Heart Warriors carried their famous emblem throughout almost every European theatre during World War Two. Having fought with distinction in the Battle of Britain, JG54 transferred to the Eastern Front, where it was to acheive historic success. Becoming one of the most successful combat wings of the war, JG54 spawned a succession of top fighter Aces, no fewer than 20 achieving more than 100 air victories, its pilots collecting an impressive 58 Knights Cross awards. Flying both Fw190s and Me109s, JG54 took part in the heavy air fighting in the northern region of the Russian Front, where conditions were not for the faint hearted and demanded exceptional piloting skills. One young Austrian pilot, Walter Nowotny, won a reputation even among Allied pilots, and during the summer of 1943 became a virtual one-man air force in the skies above the Eastern Front. In June 1943 he shot down 41 aircraft, 10 in one day. In August he collected a further 43 air victories, and another 45 the following month. In a dgo-fight in October Nowotny shot down a P-40 fighter to record an astounding 250 air victories, becoming the first fighter pilot in history to acheive this score. It is February 1943, the countryside deep in snow, and the temperature well below freezing as Leutnant Walter Nowotny, Staffelkapitan of 1./JG54, taxis White One out from a crowded dispersal on to the snow covered runway at Krasnogvardeisk. With their temporary whitewash colour scheme glinting in the early morning sunlight, the FW190A-4s pose a menacing spectacle as they line up to follow the fighters of 2./JG54, already airborne, into the cold morning air. Published 2002 Signed by three famous Luftwaffe Aces who flew with JG54 Green Hearts. |
Head on Pass by David Pentland. St Nazaire, France, 1st January 1943. Leading the Focke Wulf 190s of III Gruppe, Jagdgeswader 2, Gruppenkommandeur Egon Mayer, cut a swathe through the attacking waves of US Eigth Airforce B17s. The recently developed tactic of the head on pass was proving successful against the daylight heavy bombers, with Mayer claiming 2 for himself in this engagement. |
Knight of the Sky by Gerald Coulson. No text for this item |
Stabsschwarm by David Pentland. Etaples, Northern France, 13th October 1941. Me109F-4s of Stabsschwarm JG2, flown by Geschwaderkommodore Major Walter Oesau, Oberleutnant Erich Leie, Oberleutnant Rudolf Rudi Pflanz, and Gefreiter Gunther Hupatz Seeger. Each was a notable ace in his own right but together they were a formidable combination. On this sortie alone they accounted for 5 RAF Spitfires. |
The New Unit, Kaltenkirchen, Germany 1945 by David Pentland. Oberleutnant Walter Schuck moved to JG7 in early March 1945, and assumed command of 3 Staffel on the 26th of that month. In all he was to claim 8 victories while flying the Me262. |
Messerschmitt Me262B-1a/U1 by Ivan Berryman. Messerschmitt Me262B-1a/U1 of 10 Staffel, Natchjagdgeschwader 11. |
Fairey Battle Mk.I by Ivan Berryman. Fairey Battle HA-J of No.218 Sqn is taken by surprise by the close pass of a Bf109E over France. The squadron were based at Auberive-sur-Suippes in 1939, and as part of the Advance Air Striking Force of the RAF during the Battle of France, suffered heavy losses. An aircraft carrying the codes HA-J was shot down by flak on the afternoon of 12th May 1940. The three crew of aircraft K9353, J B Horner, L C Flisher and L D Davies were all lost. |
Gunther Rall - on the Tail of a Yak by Ivan Berryman. Gunther Rall in action on the Eastern Front in 1944 with III/JG 52, attacking a Yak 4. |
Gunther Rall by Ivan Berryman. Gunther Rall sitting on the cockpit side of Bf 109G-2 Black 13 of III/JG 52, Eastern Front, 1943. |
Defending the Homeland by Ivan Berryman. Erich Rudorffer's Me 262 brings down a B-17 Flying Fortress during the defence of Germany. |
Return of the Hunters by Nicolas Trudgian. Messerschmitt Me262s of JG7 race back to their base at Brandenburg after intercepting a USAAF bomber raid on Munich, and Luftwaffe air bases in the area. Below them a B-26 has crash-landed in the fields still covered with a sprinkling of late winter snow. In the distance the afternoon sun glistens on the Bavarian Alpine mountains. < |
First Flap of the Day by Nicolas Trudgian. HM Stephen - one of the Battle of Britains top scoring fighter pilots, brings down two Me109s in quick succession over the White Cliffs of Dover, early on August 11, 1940. Flying a Spitfire with 74 Squadron, HM shot down five German aircraft on this day, and damaged a further three. The note in his log book starts First flap of the day at 0600 hrs ... Published 2000. Sadly, all of the pilots who signed this edition have since passed away. |
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