V For Victory in 2011 - Classic Fighters Omaka

It wears the colours of the highest scoring surviving ace-that of Knights Cross holder Major Eric Rudorffer who is credited with 222 aerial victories.
It is hoped the owner will allow the 'crooked cross' to be applied, but that not yet confirmed either way.

Dave

My god...222?!

Were any New Zealanders amog his victims I wonder?

He isn't even the top scorer, that title belongs to Erich Hartmann with 352, who survived the war and continued to fly with the post-war Luftwaffe. There is a story (it might even be true:) ) that he had to remove his distinctive personal markings from his 109 due to enemy aircraft seeing them and avoiding combat such was his reputation.

Point to remember with the German aces is that they were in for the duration compared to the Allies. Allied pilots did tours before rotating out of units, but essentially the germans flew until they were killed or seriously injured enough to stop flying, so had more opportunity to run up the huge scores they did. Also on the russian front where most of the accumulation was happening, in the early part of the war the opposition were somewhat outclassed by the Luftwaffe.

Yes I noted all those areas that he flew too, and thought then maybe he met some kiwis in the skies. Getting shot down 16 times and living is a feat in itself. I hope someone has recorded an extensive interview with this chap. Will he be at the airshow??

To follow on from what Sam says about Erich Hartmann, despite what I think about the Luftwaffe, in the several interviews I have seen over the years with Erich he came across as a genuinely nice guy, an interesting chap and quite the hero. In fact for some reason I have a lot of respect for him. The chap who was third on the Luftwaffe ace list whose name escapes me did a lot of interviews too and he too looked like a nice, jovial person. It's interesting when you strip away the stigma of the evil, dastardly enemy pilots that we think of the Luftwaffe aces as and see the real person come through. They were just kids doing a job. Mind you it's the same for Bomber Command guys, some like to stigmatise them with all sorts of names and accusations but you meet any of them and they are wonderful people who just did a job, just like my mate Ron Noice who told me yesterday he was 'first man in' on the Dresden raid, dropping the first marker for the raid! I don't consider him evil, or murderous, not one bit. But some people would.

and the answer to those people would be ' there was a war on!'
to sit back & pontificate on how things 'should have been done' with the wisdom of hindsight is pointless.

the average fighter or bomber pilot of the day was a product of the times.

In most interviews I've seen with combatants on either side what comes across is that they believed they were fighting to end the war not to perpetuate it.

I wonder what people in 60 years time will think of current political decisions?

My Uncle Bruce Irving Hunter (Mum's older brother) wrote an interesting curriculum vitae to be read out at his funeral (he died late last year). He didn't mention much about his war service as a pilot in Bomber Command, but his comments covering that part of his life make for interesting reading....


“In 1938, I applied for a Short Service Commission as a pilot in the Royal N.Z. Air Force. Fortunately, perhaps, I failed on a technicality to pass the medical examination but my name was placed on the reserve list.

In 1939 I married my schoolgirl sweetheart, Lois Anderson, by then a school teacher. Within a few days I was called up by the Air Force and began my training as a Wireless Operator at Wigram I served time at Ohakea as both a ground and air Wireless Operator until posted to England via Canada about the end of 1940. In Great Britain, I was posted to a Navigational Training Squadron as a Wireless Operator and flew with pilots of extremely varied capabilities. It was at this unit that I applied for, and was accepted, as a trainee pilot. Ground training began at St. Andrews with some classes held at the University. Our accommodation was at the Grand Hotel which overlooked the golf course. Green fees for airmen on the golf course was one shilling and sixpence per round. Flying training commenced at Perth in Scotland and continued at Neepaws and Carberry in Manitoba, Canada. Along with three others I received a commission as a pilot officer at the end of the course. I had a holiday in Boston and New York hosted by a Mr. John Magnus, a relative of one of my friends and returned to the U.K. on the Queen Elizabeth where I continued training on various aircraft - mainly in the north of Scotland. Eventually, along with my crew, I was posted to No.51 Squadron - 4 Group - stationed at Snaith, Yorkshire.

In all, we completed 38 trips over Europe. In hindsight I regret having taken part in some raids. The differentiation between strategic targets and terror attacks was ill-defined but this realisation did not occur to me until many years later. I had an extremely loyal crew and most were decorated at the completion of the tour. The navigator, wireless operator and myself were awarded D.F.C's. The remainder were grated commissions. My citation, should my family be interested, is in one of my flying log books.”


Following the war, Uncle Bruce trained as a doctor at Otago University (with the help of a rehabilitation bursary) and became a GP in Danniverke (after serving his internship at Masterton Hospital). He wrote the following, which was also read out at his funeral....


“The Other Side

Several years after the war, a woman with a foreign accent came to see me at my surgery. It transpired that she was a German immigrant who was working for a country family out from Danniverke.

She volunteered that she came from a town in the Ruhr Valley in Germany. Her husband, a doctor, had been killed during an air raid by the R.A.F. She herself had worked in an orphanage and had experienced many air raids. She recounted the horrors of air raids and especially the fires that resulted from incendiary bombs.

She said that on more than one occasion children were so horribly burned that they were thrown into the canal to put them out of their misery. I was greatly relieved that she didn't ask me what I did during the war.

May I be forgiven.

I understand that this lady later became a matron at a boys school.”

Thanks Dave, that's the chap. Yes, definately one guy that I would have liked to share a few pints with. Both Rall and Hartmann appeared in the excellent 1990's series Hunters in the Sky, which can now be seen on Youtube.

I had the pleasure of meeting Adolf Galland at Harlingen in 1980. I signed him up as a member of the NZ Confederate Air Force and he signed a postcard of his 109 for me.
Stanford Tuck was also there and did likewise.
Also met Paul Tibbets of Enola Gay fame and George Gay of the Devastator debacle at Midway.