Luftwaffe Günther Rall (10 March 1918 - 4 October 2009)

[Steve P]

Gents,

Sadly, a few days ago a hero and gentleman of the Skies passed away...Günther Rall (General Leutnant), the third most successful fighter Ace in the history of aerial combat (275 victories), suffered a heart attack last Friday and passed away quietly in his home on Sunday last, at the age of 91. Many who knew him spoke of him in respectful terms as a "True Gentleman"and I am certain that many of us to whom he has been a legend and font of information on the German Luftwaffe, flieger tactics and WWII, wish his family and loved ones our heartfelt condolences.

Gehen Sie gut Herr General!

Warm Regards,

Steve

www.warbirds-eaa.org/news/200...es%20Away.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnther_Rall

[J Temple-West]

Sad news indeed.

[Douglas Jr.]

I never met him personally, but having work with a site devoted to the Luftwaffe for many years, made me a fan of him.

I never heard or read any negative comments about him both as a fighter pilot or as a man.

He will be truly missed.

Douglas.

[bob wirtz]

General Rall was the first Luftwaffe ace that I had ever met through Virginia Bader's Symposium in Washington many years ago. Since then I've met the General many times, including several Luftwaffe Fighter Pilot Association Reunions. I send my deepest sympathies to his family. The old guard is fast disappearing.

Bob

[joe campbell]

i had the pleasure of again judging the MAX show this year,

and strangely enough, the best-in-show went to a display

including many of Herr Rall's TR awards, including his

RK/Oaks/Swords and cassette.

amongst the display was a picture of herr rall and bob

thompson, the displayer, taken some 25 years ago....

What a warm, genuine, infectious smile he wore! It

appears to be a theme throughout his photographs. a man

with a sense of humor and a smile isn't a guarantee of goodness,

but is an important first step...

my condolences to the family. i regret not having been able to meet him.

joe

[shaneos3]

An extraordinary WWII fighter pilotOctober 17, 2009 GUNTHER RALL

GERMAN WAR ACE

10-3-1918 - 4-10-2009

Lieutenant-General Gunther Rall, the third-highest-scoring fighter ace of all time and one of the few outstanding Luftwaffe fighter leaders to survive World War II, has died at his home in Germany following a heart attack. He was 91.

Rall's statistics are astonishing by Allied standards. He flew 621 combat missions in Messerschmitt Bf-109s and shot down 275 Allied planes. All but three of his aerial ''kills'' were on the eastern front, and of these 241 were Soviet fighters. In turn, he was shot down eight times - seven times by Soviet pilots and once by an American - and was wounded three times.

Postwar he was one of the founding fathers of the modern German Air Force, and became its chief; he was also West Germany's delegate to NATO.

Rall's amazing scoring spree began in the spring of 1941 when he was with Jagdgeschwader (fighter wing) JG-52 based in Romania. In a five-day period Rall and his men destroyed about 50 Soviet bombers that attacked the crucial oil refineries in Romania. They also flew sorties in support of the German airborne assault on Crete, before being sent to the southern sector of the eastern front. There, his aerial ''kills'' mounted rapidly against the initially inferior Soviet fighters and bombers.

After shooting down his 36th victim, Rall's Bf-109 was badly damaged by a Soviet fighter and he was forced to crash-land just inside German lines. Knocked unconscious and severely wounded, he was rescued by a German tank crew. When he reached a hospital in Vienna it was found that his back was broken in three places. He was treated by Hertha, a doctor who later became his wife.

When Austria was annexed in 1938, Hertha had helped Jewish friends flee to London to escape the Nazis, anti-Semitic policies. Indeed, while Rall was a devoted soldier in the service of his country, when the facts of the Holocaust were presented to him he came to look on them as ''the greatest madness of this insane war''. ''We knew about Dachau, the concentration camps, but not exactly what happened there,'' he later said. ''During the war I was hardly in Germany. The airfields were on the front, we had no idea of what was happening … When I heard of Auschwitz, I did not believe it. We said clearly, 'That's propaganda'.''

The son of a merchant, Rall was born in Gaggenau in the Black Forest. When he was three, his family moved to Stuttgart, where he completed high school in 1936 and then joined the army. He later successfully applied to be a pilot.

During the 1930s, Rall had viewed the rise of Hitler with no particular enthusiasm but, like many soldiers, approved of the way in which Hitler and the National Socialists had ended decades of humiliation for German-speaking people.

In 1939, he trained as a fighter pilot before joining JG-52. He had his first inconclusive air combat in a Bf-109 on May 12, 1940 during the Battle of France. Six days later, he shot down a French Air Force Curtis Hawk fighter flown by a Czech sergeant. With the fall of France, Rall's unit moved to Calais.

He flew throughout the Battle of Britain, escorting Junkers Ju-87 Stukas, and gained rapid promotion to squadron leader as the group lost all its top commanders. The unit was withdrawn in September to regroup before being sent to Romania.

Having been paralysed for months and treated by Hertha, Rall returned to operational duty in August 1942. On September 3, after his 65th victory, he was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

During the following month his score increased beyond 100, and in November Hitler presented him with the Oak Leaves to go with his Knight's Cross. As they sat together by a fire, Rall asked Hitler: ''Fuehrer, how long will this war take?'' Hitler replied: ''My dear Rall, I don't know.'' That surprised the ace. ''I thought our leaders knew everything,'' Rall recalled, ''and suddenly I realised they didn't know anything.''

In April 1943, Rall was promoted to command III/JG-52. He was constantly in action for the next 11 months. On August 29, he recorded his 200th victory, and on September 12 Hitler awarded him the Swords to his Knight's Cross, only the 34th German to be so honoured. Rall returned to operations and in October accounted for dozens more planes.

As the war progressed, the obsolete Soviet fighters were steadily replaced by others with far superior performance. Nevertheless, the great majority of Rall's successes were in fighter-to-fighter combat. During his time on the eastern front, Rall came up against many excellent Soviet pilots and was shot down seven times. Finally, in April 1944, he returned to Germany.

He was made Gruppenkommadeur of II/JG-11, flying Bf-109s against the high-flying daylight bomber forces and their escorting fighters of the USAAF 8th Air Force. On May 12, 1944, he shot down two USAAF P-47 Thunderbolts, but was then himself shot down. Severely wounded in the hand, he managed to bail out over Frankfurt. His wound became badly infected and he was in hospital for six months. Deemed too precious for the morale of the people, and because he could not fire his guns after losing a thumb, Rall was kept from combat. He became an instructor, and flew several captured American planes, including the P-51 Mustang, to find their strengths and weaknesses and to develop better tactics to teach his students. He also flew the Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighter but never in combat.

By any standard, Rall's achievements during World War II were outstanding and attracted great admiration from his former adversaries. Only two others had more victories: Erich Alfred Hartmann, the Ace of Aces, shot down 352 planes in a staggering 1456 missions; Erich Gerhard Barkhorn shot down 301 planes in 1104 missions. Australia's top World War II ace, Clive ''Killer'' Caldwell was credited with 28.5 kills.

An American aviation historian of the Smithsonian Institute said of Rall: ''He occupies a special niche among the celebrated military pilots of the 20th century.'' Yet Rall never considered himself a hero. ''We fought for our country and to stay alive,'' he said. ''We did not think about the personal nature of killing in the air … the Third Reich trained 30,000 pilots; 10,000 survived the war. One-third … the highest loss rate along with the U-boat sailors.''

After the war he started a small wood-cutting business before joining Siemens as a representative, but left in 1953. After meeting a wartime friend and pilot he joined the new Luftwaffe der Bundeswehr after the remilitarisation of West Germany in 1955.

He converted to jet fighters before becoming project officer for the introduction of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, which became the German air force's main operational fighter until 1980.

Rall became the chief of staff of NATO's 4th Allied Tactical Air Force, and after serving as the inspector-general of the Luftwaffe, he was appointed chief of air staff, a post he held for three years. For two years he was the German military representative at NATO headquarters before retiring in 1975.

In retirement, Rall established firm friendships with his former British and American adversaries and made many visits to each country.

In 2004, he published his memoir, Mein Flugbuch (My Logbook).

Rall's wife, Hertha, died in 1985. He is survived by their two daughters.

TELEGRAPH, THE AGE

[J Temple-West]

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=STFdRrWBW2w