RIP Generalleutnant Gunther Rall

[stevedrew]

Gunther Rall

1918-2009

Generalleutnant Gunther Rall, the third highest-scoring fighter pilot of all time with 275 victories, died at the age of 91 on October 4, two days after suffering a heart attack at his home in Germany.

Rall joined the German Army in 1936, but after transfer to the Luftwaffe he qualified as a pilot in 1938. Posted to JG52 as a Leutnant flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109E, he gained his first victory on May 12, 1940, when he shot down a French Air Force Curtiss Hawk 75A.

During the Battle of Britain with JG52 he scored no more victories, and in the spring of 1941 he flew in the Balkans Campaign. During Operation Barbarossa Rall began to amass victories. In 1942 he was awarded the Knight's Cross, and in November he reached the 100-victory milestone. His most destructive month was October 1943, when he accounted for 40 aircraft. He flew a total of 621 combat missions, and survived being shot down no fewer than eight times.

In 1956 Rall rejoined the Luftwaffe, and was closely involved with the introduction of the Lockheed F-104 into service. He retired in October 1975 after spending 18 months as a NATO military attache.


RIP Gunther.

Blue Skies.

[Jim]

I had the pleasure of meeting Generalleutnant Rall about 15 years ago. I found him to be a fascinating speaker, generous (he graciously autographed a book for me), and a gentleman in every respect. That anyone would have been able to amass a record like his, especially during the second world war, amazes me. One of the reasons, he told me, was that unlike many allied pilots, German air force pilots were not able to fly a set number of missions and then retire or rotate out of active combat flying, especially once the war began going against the Germans. Luftwaffe pilots were required to keep going back up until they were killed, captured, or so badly wounded they were unable to fly. He attributed his surviving the war to luck as much as savvy in avoiding winding up in the crosshairs of his opponents too often.