Notable People of WW2, Hero's, veterans, leaders, the famous and alike. Options

[FeezyWeezy]

Ok, time for another chapter of hostory facts. I'll start with some WW2 Aces.

Erich Hartmann





The highest scoring ace of all time was the great German Luftwaffe experte Erich Hartmann with 352 aerial kills. Flying Bf 109s (Me-109s) against the overmatched Soviet MiGs and Yaks for almost three years, he accumulated his unrivalled score. Hartmann claimed, that of all his accomplishments, he was proudest of the fact that he never lost a wingman. He is also reputed to have said. "Get close .. when he fills the entire windscreen ... then you can't possibly miss." Hartmann was born in 1922, in Weissach, Wurttemberg. At age 19 (1941), he joined the Luftwaffe and was posted to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) on the Eastern Front in October, 1942. He scored his first kill in November, and only achieved his second three months later. In the first half of 1943, he worked out some of the tactics which would prove so successful later on. If he was attacked from behind, he would send his wingman down low and out in front. Then he would get behind the enemy and fire a short, quick accurate burst, waiting "until the enemy aircraft filled the windscreen." He would normally content himself with one victory; he was willing to wait for another day. His natural talents began to tell: excellent eyesight, lightning reflexes, an aggressive spirit, and an ability to stay cool while in combat.


A Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6


Kursk


As JG 52 retreated along with German ground forces in 1943, Hartmann's score began to mount. The great Kursk offensive, Operation Zitadelle, began on July 5. The Luftwaffe planned to screen the Wehrmacht's panzers from the Soviet Il-2 Sturmoviks, armored tank-busting aircraft, armed with twin 37mm cannon. Hartmann's Staffel 7 of JG 52 moved up to Ugrim, only 14 kilometers behind the front. As the Panther and Tiger tanks moved up, Junkers Ju.52 transports flew in supplies. On the morning of the 5th, four of Staffel 7's pilots did not return, apparently their compasses misled them, due to extraordinary iron ore deposits in the area. Hartmann was promoted to Staffelkapitan on the spot. The offensive ground forward slowly on the 6th and 7th; obviously the Russians had dug in and prepared defensive lines in depth.
July 7, 1943


On the morning of July 7, 1943, sun rose over Ugrim in the northern Ukraine about 3AM. Staffel 7's Me.109 G10's lay scattered around, in the deep grass of the Ugrim airfield. Hartmann's personal plane, decorated with a large Roman numeral 'I' and the name Usch in a red heart. (Usch Paetch was his fiancee, whom he wrote to daily.) In the comfortable summer weather, the pilots slept in tents. On waking, Hartmann dressed in a gray shirt, blue-gray trousers, and gray shoes. He washed up and shaved in a small stream and ate breakfast, two eggs, cooked by a couple of Russian girls. He and the other three pilots in his Schwarm were assigned to cover an F.W.189 on a dawn reconnaissance mission.

Erich joked with his crew chief, 'Bimel' Merten, and strapped himself into the cockpit. At 3:04, the recon plane started and Hartmann set Messerschmitt's flaps and checked the fuel while Merten cranked the starter. The DB 605's twelve cylinders coughed, belched smoke, and then caught smoothly. His three comrades followed him to the take-off spot. He gunned the engine while stomping on the brakes. When he released them, his 109 shot forward and quickly reached 160 km/hour. He gently pulled back on the stick and was airborne; the other three followed him closely. They all banked left as they went through post-take-off routines: retract landing gear, close radiator flaps, ease back on the throttle, and check gauges, guns, and gunsight. They climbed to 1300 meters as they flew northeast and then swung southward, with the Fw 189 in view. The flight proceeded uneventfully and the recon plane headed for Ugrim. Hartmann's radio crackled with a report from Adler, the German forward spotting post; a group of ten to twenty Russian planes were headed west. Hartmann throttled up a bit, gained altitude, and turned his Schwarm toward the east without sighting anything for several minutes.


Drawing of Hartmann's Bf-109G Messerschmitt "Gustav" 6


Sturmoviks
Soon enough, many large Il-2's came into view. With its armor and rear gunner, the Sturmovik was a tough target. With the Sturmoviks closing head-on, Hartmann unhesitatingly ordered an attack. He dived down below them, picking up airspeed, then banked around and came up behind and beneath them, aiming for his target's vulnerable ventral oil radiator. The Il-2's flew straight on.



Hartmann's Bf 109 roared along, doing over 400 MPH; Hartmann streaked into a Sturmovik's blind spot. At 200 yards, its wingspan filled his gunsight ring; still he closed in to 150, then 100 yards before firing. He briefly triggered his 20mm cannon and his two 12mm machine guns, for about one and a half seconds, before his speed carried him in front of them. As other Bf 109s struck their targets, Hartmann glanced back and saw blue flames and black sooty smoke streaming from the Sturmovik's radiator. His twenty-second victory of the war.

Under the deadly attack of the Messerschmitts, the formation of Russian airplanes began to break up. Having regained altitude, Hartmann again zoomed down below the tail of an Il-2. He checked his own rear and stabilized his aircraft. This Russian pilot, alerted to the danger, spotted him and turned sharply to evade. The young blond ace matched the turn and instantly estimated the lead needed for a deflection shot. At 150 meters, he opened fire, and his bullets tore into the side of the Russian tank-buster. More blue flame and black smoke poured from his twenty-third victim's oil radiator.

As the remaining scattered Russian planes fled eastward, Hartmann radioed his Staffel to return to Ugrim. About 4AM, as they approached the field, Hartmann waggled his wings twice, indicating his two victories. On landing, Mertem and other ground crew gathered around him, offering congratulations. Hartmann walked to the operations tent to file his Gefechtsbericht, his after-action report. Early reports from the Adler posts already showed more Russian air activity than on the 5th or 6th. Four pilots sat in their planes, ready to take-off in less than a minute. Hartmann soon fell asleep by his own machine. But only briefly.
Two More Sorties


By 5:50, he was back in the air, leading a flight of 109s on a frei chase, and he soon found more Il-2s, escorted by fighters. The Messerchmitts attacked successfully, with Hartmann downing another Il-2 and an LaGG-3 fighter. Within an hour, he was back on the ground, with four victories for the day. Late that afternoon, he led the Staffel up again, to the northeast. They found a group of Soviet LaGG-3 fighters, which they engaged in a sprawling dogfight. It was over quickly and Hartmann had shot down three enemy fighters, making it seven for the day, his largest score so far.




Experte


He reached 50 by August of 1943. Within the month, he had reached 80, and was promoted to lead 9./JG52. Earlier in the war, 25 or 50 victories would have earned a German fighter pilot the Knight's Cross. By late 1943, Hartmann had to down 148 before he earned his Knight's Cross. By March 2, 1944, he had reached a total of 202, earning him the Oak Leaves. He was the fourth Luftwaffe fighter pilot to reach 250, the first to reach 300, and the only one to reach 350.

The Diamonds




He was awarded the Third Reich's highest regularly awarded military decoration: The Knight's Cross to the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds.

To be accurate, the highest military decoration was "The Grand Cross to the Iron Cross." It was only awarded once to Hermann Göring. The second highest military decoration was "The Knight's Cross to the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds" and was also awarded only once to the Stuka ace Hans-Ulrich Rudel. Thus, Hartmann's medal, "The Knight's Cross to the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds," was, to be precise, the third highest German military decoration through WW2, was awarded to 27 soldiers, 12 of whom were Luftwaffe pilots.

Near the end of WWII, in early May 1945, the Luftwaffe command ordered Hartmann, then Gruppenkommandeur of famous Jagdgeschwader 52, and his Commodore, Hermann Graf (another pilot, who had earned the "diamonds" to the Knight's Cross) to fly to the British sector. Both officers disregarded this order, because they felt responsible for Jagdgeschwader 52's pilots, ground crew, family members, and other civilians, who had joined the squadron, seeking protection against fierce aggression by the Czechs. The officers ordered the destruction of the unit's aircraft, and then the unit moved west in direction of territory already occupied by US troops. On May 8th, 1945, the soldiers and civilans surrendered to US troops in the region between Bavaria (German provence) and Czech border. But on May 17th, the US Army delivered all of these German troops and civilians to the Red Army. Like all others, Hartmann was then deported to Siberia, where he was sentenced to 50 years of hard labor. (Hartmann has since been rehabitated by Russian justice, which declared those sentences illegal in 1995.) The Soviets pressured him to support a build-up of an East German air force and tried to turn him into an undercover agent against the West. Hartmann refused, even though the Soviets threatened to kidnap and kill his wife and daughter, living in West Germany. Hartmann did not return to Germany until 1955, when the last German POWs were released along with the establishing of diplomatic relations between West Germany and the Soviet Union. In 1956, Hartmann joined the newly established West German Luftwaffe and contributed to the build-up of new fighter units. In 1959, he became the first commodore of Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen." Erich Hartmann died in 1993.



http://wernerhartenstein.tripod.com/hartma...9;s%20grave.jpg
Hartmann's grave, Weil im Schönbuch near Stuttgart

[FeezyWeezy]

I will do Gen. Paulas, Tukegee Airmen and some german snipers.
But first I want to add this guy as he was a true division of his own. (shame that there was not much about his Biography..)

Hans-Ulrich Rudel



http://www.geocities.com/la_censura3/Perso...lrich_Rudel.JPG


Rudel was born to a Protestant minister in Konradswaldau (Silesia), Germany (it became part of Poland after 1945). After a limited education, he joined the German Luftwaffe in 1936 as an officer cadet. He was initially trained as a reconnaissance observer pilot, primarily because of his poor educational background. When war broke out in 1939 he was in the reconnaissance wing of the Luftwaffe, and spent the Polish Campaign as a Lieutenant flying long-range missions. He earned the Iron Cross Second Class on October 11, 1939. He was then admitted to dive-bombing Stuka training in May 1940, and after completing it, was assigned to a Stuka wing near Stuttgart. Rudel spent the French campaign as an Oberleutnant, however, in a non-combat role. Although he took part in the invasion of Crete, it was also in a non-combat role.


Junkers Ju87 "Stuka"

Rudel flew his first combat mission on June 23, 1941, with the German invasion of the Soviet Union. His piloting skills earned the Iron Cross First Class on July 18, 1941. On September 23 1941, Rudel sank the Soviet battleship Marat during an air attack on Kronstadt harbour in the Leningrad area.

In total, Rudel flew about 2,530 combat missions (a world record), during which time he destroyed almost 2,000 ground targets (among them claiming 519 tanks, 70 landing boats and more than 150 anti-air and anti-tank defenses), as well as a battleship, two cruisers, a destroyer and 13 planes. He was shot down or force-landed 32 times (several times behind enemy lines), always somehow managing to escape capture despite Stalin himself having a 100,000 ruble bounty placed on his head. The vast majority of his missions were piloting the various models of the Junkers Ju87 bomber though by the end of the war he was flying the ground-attack variant of the FW190.


Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes mit dem Goldenem Eichenlaub mit Schwertern und Brillanten.
Knight's Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds.

He went on to become the most highly decorated combatant in Germany, earning by early 1945 the German Cross in Gold, the Pilots and Observer's Badge with Diamonds, the Close Combat Clasp with 2000 sorties in Diamonds, and the only holder of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. In February, 1945, he was wounded in the right thigh by anti-aircraft fire; the leg was later amputated, although he returned to combat duties with an artificial limb. Eventually, he surrendered to American forces in May, 1945. He moved to Argentina in 1948.

After the war Rudel became a close friend and confidante of the Argentine president Juan Peron. Rudel wrote a book titled In Spite of Everything, and memoirs book titled Stuka Pilot which supported most of the Nazi policy. Even without a leg, he remained an active sportsman, playing tennis, skiing and even climbing the highest peak in the Americas, Aconcagua (6,959 metres (22,831 feet)), as well as three times up the highest volcano on Earth, Llullay-Yacu in the Argentine Andes (6,920 meters). Rudel's input was also used during development of A-10 attack craft.


Hans-Ulrich Rudel with Ernst Gadermann,
Hans-Ulrich Rudel's rear gunner in his Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber after the death of Henschel in 1944.

Rudel returned to West Germany in 1953 and joined the German Reich Party. He was a successful businessman in post-war Germany. He died in Rosenheim in 1982, and was buried in Dornhausen.

After the War.


Rudel with President Strössner, Paraguay.

Rudel was extremely fortunate to avoid capture by the Soviets, who had put a 100,000 ruble bounty on his head, payable dead or alive. Many other pilots who had the misfortune of being captured by the Soviets, or who were handed over to them by the Americans later, during the Summer of 45, suffered up to 11 years of forced labor in the Siberian gulags after the war. Hundreds of thousands of German soldiers, from generals to privates, died in post-war captivity behind the Iron Curtain. There has never been a complete accounting, and many are still listed by the modern German government as MIAs.

Joined former members of Focke-Wulf aircraft corporation in Argentina; close personal friend of Juan Peron.

Despite being disabled, Rudel made a name for himself as a mountaineer in the Andes, even climbing the highest peak in the Americas, Aconcagua (7,020 meters), as well as three times up the highest volcano on Earth, Llullay-Yacu in the Argentine Andes (6,920 meters), the final time to bury a climbing companion who didn't survive the second climb.

Discrimination against former war heroes forced Rudel to become a ski instructor after returning to Kufstein, Tirol, Austria in the early 1960s.

Hans Ulrich Rudel finally followed Hentschel across the river in the early 1980s.

His Grave
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ejnoomen/rudel.html

Some interesting Notes:

He got Shot down 32 times.
Innumerable aircraft brought back to base that were later written off, due to heavy combat damage.
Wounded on many occasions, including the partial amputation of his right leg in the Spring of 45, after which he continued to fly with a prosthetic limb.

March 44: Disaster struck when Rudel landed behind Soviet lines to retrieve a downed German aircrew. Snow and mud bogged down the airplane, making it impossible to take off. Approaching Soviet troops forced everyone to flee on foot, but barring their escape was the 900 foot wide river Dnjestr. The Germans stripped to their longjohns, and swam across the ice-clogged river. Rudel's close friend and crewman, Erwin Henstchel, drowned a few feet from the far shore. They had flown 1490 missions together at the time of Hentschel's death. His body was never recovered.

Rudel was pursued by hundreds of Soviet troops who were intent on collecting the 100,000 ruble bounty which Stalin had placed on his head, and he was shot in the shoulder while they chased him with dogs and on horseback. Through incredible ingenuity, audacity, and raw determination, Rudel escaped and made his way, alone and unarmed, back home, despite being more than 30 miles behind Soviet lines when he began his 24 hour trek. He was barefoot and almost naked in the sub-freezing winter weather, without food, compass, or medical attention. His escape stands as the single most legendary example of personal bravery and luck during the Second World War, but he never fully recovered emotionally from Hentschel's death, for which he blamed himself throughout the remainder of his life.


Han-Ulrich Rudel getting decorated by Hitler.



During his career, Rudel flew over 2530 (around 400 of his sorties were flown in a Focke-Wulf 190 fighter plane during which he was credit with 11 air victories) missions and destroyed around 150 various artillery pieces, 519 tanks, around 1000 various vehicles, 70 landing crafts, 2 Lavochkin La-3 fighters, Il-2 Stormovik and sunk Battleship "Marat", 2 Cruisers and a Destroyer. Rudel was responsible for such huge damages to the Red Army that Joseph Stalin himself put a price of 100,000 rubles on his head.He flew more than 600,000km and used more than 5,000,000 liters of fuel. Hans Rudel dropped over 1,000,000kg of bombs, fired over 1,000,000 of machine gun rounds, over 150,000 20mm rounds and over 5000 37mm rounds. Rudel thought that the Lend-Lease American tanks were easier to kill than the Soviet T-34s, but he hated their machine guns, because once he was shotdown by one. Rudel was an outstanding pilot with experience,who loved to fly and destroy. He hated to take homeleave or sickleave and even when he got his leg amputated he was not depressed since he could still do what he loved - fly and destroy.During his career, Hans Rudel showed remarkable power, toughness, fearlessness, unparalleled determination and arrogance but none of his photos show any impact of the hardship of war on his face. His personal bravery was beyond belief and his place in the annals of military history thoroughly deserved, although it is important to remember the words of an American Protocol-Officer, who absolutely correctly named Rudel "the typical Nazi Officer".

The "Marat", A Russian battleship sunk by Rudel:



The Marat Class Battleship had three Battleships planned. the Marat , Oktyabrskaya and the Frunze. The Frunze was never Commissioned as the ship was badly damaged by Fire in 1923 and finally broken up in Leningrad in 1939. The Marat was sunk by German Stukas off Kronshtadt on the 23rd September 1939. But the ship was in shallow water and was raised and was used as a floating Battery. (The Stukas had caused considerable damage destroying the forward turret, bridge and fore funnel). The ship was renamed the Petropavlovsk. The Petropavlovsk was converted into a training hulk after the second world war and again renamed Volchov in 1950. The Oktyabrskaya Revolutsia was damaged by German Bombing at Kronshtadt on the 21st September 1941. So badly damaged that she just managed to stay afloat. On the 27th the battleship was again hit by bombing and half her main armament was destroyed. At Leningrad she was repaired which took until November 1942. The repairs did not include all her main armament and it was not until 1944 that she had a full main armament operational. After the war she became a training ship in 1954 and was eventually scrapped in February 1956.

Quotes from and about Rudel:


"Verloren ist nur, wer sich selbst aufgibt" - Rudel ("Lost are only those, who give up themselves").

"They refuse to believe me when I tell them that I have never even seen a concentration camp. I add that if excesses have been committed they are regrettable and reprehensible, and the real culprits should be punished. I point out that such cruelties have been perpetrated not only by our people, but by all peoples in every age. I remind them of the Boer War. Therefore these excesses must be judged by the same criterion. I cannot imagine that the mounds of corpses depicted in the photographs were taken in concentration camps. I tell them that we have seen such sights, not on film, but in fact, after the air attacks on Dresden and Hamburg and other cities when Allied four-engined bombers deluged them indiscriminately with phosphorus and high explosive bombs and countless women and children were massacred." - Rudel about the concentration camps.

"Rudel alone replaces a whole division." - Field Marshal Schörner.

"How it harms, that he did not carry our uniform!" - Pierre Clostermann.