Erich Rudel was now recalled to Germany to form the first
experimental anti-tank Stuka unit equipped with the 37mm cannon-armed Ju 87s,
dubbed “Cannon Birds’’ by their crews. Rudel took the unit to the Crimea to
help counter a Soviet amphibious landing on the Kuban peninsula. The Cannon
Birds proved to be an outstanding success against Soviet landing craft bringing
troops and supplies ashore, with Rudel alone claiming 70 destroyed. Personally
awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight’s Cross by a grateful Führer for his work
in the Kuban, Rudel was now posted back to the Immelmann wing in charge of its
Ju 87 G-1 anti-tank squadron, in time to lead it during the July 1943 Kursk
Offensive.
As expected, his squadron was in the thick of the action
supporting II Waffen-SS Panzer Corps as it attacked on the southern axis of
Operation Citadel. His Cannon Birds ranged ahead of the panzers, intercepting
and destroying Soviet reserve tank columns moving to the front. Scores of tanks
were claimed destroyed by Rudel and his wingmen, with the squadron commander
alone claiming to have destroyed 12 T-34s on a single day. Experience taught
the Stuka pilots to aim for vulnerable parts of the Soviet tanks, such as
engine bays and turret roofs. The exhaust smoke of the Soviet tanks proved a
useful aiming point for the Stuka gunners, and a hit against the engine often
resulted in a catastrophic explosion. The Soviet practice of loading extra fuel
drums on the rear of their tanks made them very vulnerable to Stuka cannon
fire. To get a good shot at the T-34s, Rudel recommended dropping down to 15m
(50ft) to give the Stuka pilot a good look at the target. Here the slow speed
of the Stuka came into its own, because it gave the pilot plenty of time to lay
his guns on target.
These attacks proved devastating to the morale of Soviet
tank columns and the infantry who rode into the battle on the rear decks of the
T-34s. To counter the Stuka threat the Soviets started to move anti-aircraft
guns close to their tank columns. In turn, Rudel began to have a pair of bomb-
and machine-gun-armed Stukas circling overhead as his Cannon Birds lined up for
their attacks. The supporting Stukas would strafe and bomb Soviet anti-aircraft
batteries that attempted to open fire. They also provided early warning of the
appearance of Soviet fighters that were starting to challenge German air
superiority on the Eastern Front. In spite of this covering fire, Rudel’s
aircraft routinely returned to base full of bullet holes.
After Hitler’s Kursk Offensive stalled, the Soviets
immediately opened a huge offensive against the northern wing of the German
forces around Orel, opening a huge breach in the front. Rudel’s tank-killing
Stukas were rushed northwards to help stabilize the situation and give ground
reinforcements time to mobilize. In the midst of this chaos, Rudel’s aircraft
was badly shot up, but he managed to make a forced landing behind German lines and
return to the fray. Soviet offensives continued to require the close attention
of the Immelmann wing, and Rudel was appointed to command its 3rd Group after
his predecessor was killed in action. He had now flown some 1500 sorties and
personally destroyed 60 Soviet tanks, earning him the Oak Leaves and Swords to
his Knight’s Cross.
Time after time, his Stukas saved the day during the Soviet
winter offensive in the Ukraine, culminating in a decisive intervention during
the Battle of Kirovograd in November 1943, when Rudel and his pilots blunted an
attack by hundreds of T-34s. By now Rudel and his Stuka pilots had been turned
into national heroes, featuring almost daily in Nazi propaganda broadcasts
announcing more tank kills, desperate situations saved and medals won. To the
ordinary German soldiers, Rudel’s tank-killing Stukas were known as the “front
fire brigade” because they were always called on to dampen down the most
combustible sections of the front. While other Stuka units had switched to
flying the two-engine Henschel Hs 129 armed with a 75mm cannon, or
ground-attack versions of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, Rudel stuck with his trusty Ju
87. Rudel’s squadron operated from rudimentary forward air strips, and his leadership
was instrumental in keeping his ground crews working in freezing weather to put
damaged aircraft back in the air time and time again, with minimal spares,
tools and facilities. Once in the air, Rudel’s pilots followed him into attack
after attack. He appeared fearless. Even when shot down over enemy territory,
he somehow managed to escape and return to the cockpit of a Stuka. This
incident followed a successful attack to destroy a bridge over the River
Dnieper in March 1944. Twenty Soviet fighters swooped on his squadron, forcing
one of Rudel’s pilots to land in territory held by the Red Army. Rudel landed
to try to pick up his man, only to have his aircraft get stuck in mud. Russian
soldiers captured Rudel and his two comrades. He swam a river and walked 50km
(31 miles) in an escape bid. Two days later, he reached German lines and was
soon back in the air.
Tank killing with the G-1 model Stuka became a Rudel
speciality, and by August 1944 he claimed his 320th tank kill. The collapse of
the German Army Group Centre in July 1944 brought the Immelmann wing northwards
to the Courland peninsula, where it was thrown into one desperate battle after
another. In October Rudel was promoted lieutenant-colonel and given command of
his beloved Immelmann wing. There was little time to bask in the glory, and he
had to lead his fliers to Hungary to help Waffen-SS panzer divisions blast a
corridor through to 100,000 German troops besieged in Budapest. Soviet fighters
were now swarming over the Eastern Front, making it highly dangerous for the
lumbering Cannon Birds to go into action. In the space of a few days Rudel was
shot down twice, but returned to the cockpit of a Stuka with his leg in a
plaster cast. With more than 2400 missions in his log book and 463 tank kills
claimed, Hitler made him the only recipient of the Knight’s Cross with Golden
Oak Leaves with Swords and Diamonds in January 1945. Hitler tried to ground
Germany’s most highly decorated soldier, but Rudel insisted on returning to
combat duty leading his wing.
Russian tanks were now advancing into Silesia, and Rudel’s
wing was transferred to try to contain the situation. Flying from German soil,
Rudel’s Stukas were able to rescue several German units cut off trying to
retreat westwards to safety. When the Soviets pushed a bridgehead over the
River Oder in February 1945, Rudel threw his Stukas into action. He alone
destroyed four Soviet tanks, before having an aircraft shot out from under him.
After struggling back to base, Rudel took off again to continue knocking out
more than a dozen Josef Stalin tanks. In the midst of another attack run his
aircraft was blown apart by Soviet flak. Rudel woke up in a field hospital to
find out his left leg had been amputated. Despite being told his flying days
were finished, Germany’s top Stuka pilot had other ideas. Only six weeks later
he was back flying from bases in Czechoslovakia. When Germany surrendered in
May, he led the remnants of his Immelmann wing on a last flight to
American-controlled airfields in southern Germany.
Tank Killers
Rudel was instrumental in developing the tactics of using
cannon-armed aircraft in the anti-tank role. The exploits of his Stukas during
the Battle of Kursk was the inspiration used by the United States Air Force in
designing the A-10 Warthog tank-busting aircraft at the height of the Cold War,
when there was a requirement to counter massed divisions of Soviet tanks in
central Europe. This aircraft was built around a multi-barrelled cannon
specifically to counter enemy tanks.
As a leader of warriors, Rudel was unsurpassed. He led from
the front and set a pace that few could equal. In the course of 2530 missions,
Rudel personally destroyed 517 Soviet tanks – the equivalent of five Soviet
tank brigades. This was on top of a battleship, cruiser, 70 landing craft, 800
trucks, 150 artillery pieces, as well as numerous bunkers, bridges and supply
dumps. He also managed to achieve nine confirmed air-to-air kills. Perhaps more
striking was the fact that Rudel was shot down 30 times by ground fire, and
wounded five times. On top of this, he successfully rescued six of his pilots
who had been shot down behind enemy lines. This was the mark of the man, who
ranked leading his men into battle as the highest duty of any soldier.
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