You are amazed as he casually describes being repeatedly brought down in flames, only to return to his squadron and be back in the air within the hour.

Rudel was shot down over 30 times and survived - an unbelievable feat in itself. First and foremost is the almost mythical tenacity, devotion, and stamina possessed by Rudel, who often flew back-to-back combat sorties from dusk til dawn, often in terrible weather, and almost always under intense anti-aircraft fire.

Several aspects of this book are striking. Learning about the 'Stuka' this book is not.Ī richly insightful account of a born aviator's exploits on the Eastern front.

Make no mistake: this guy was a devil in disguise, and he needed to be, in order to survive in the brutal Eastern Front in World War II. I have never read a book by a WWII German pilot, so I jumped on this one but the narrative is dry and emotionless, the story at times so-so. If you did not know your history you would think the Nazis were fighting a fight to save the world. There is no remorse for the Russians in this book. Things like losses and feelings of himself and his comrades are generally glossed over or mentioned in passing, rather being the focus of attention. Instead of a actual biography, this book is more of description of the strategic situation within the sectors in which Rudel happened to be posted to the invasion of Russian in 1941. He claimed 11 aerial victories and the destruction of more than 800 vehicles, usually flying the Junkers Ju 87 'Stuka' dive bomber. This book is about Hans-Ulrich Rudel who was a German ground-attack pilot during World War II, in which he was the most decorated German serviceman Rudel was credited with the destruction of 519 tanks, one battleship, one cruiser, 70 landing craft and 150 artillery emplacements. If you are looking for that in this book you might try reading a different book. That was the inspiration of why I wanted to read this book hoping to learn more about the specifics of the Stuka plane. Search it on You Tube, it will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. The sirens were known as 'Jericho Trumpet' and gave the Stuka a terrifying reputation. They were equipped with a propeller driven siren fitted on each undercarriage leg for the purpose of damaging enemy morale and causing physiological damage. If you ever watched the 2017 movie Dunkirk, do you remember the sequence in which the British soldiers were on the beach waiting to be evacuated ( Dunkirk 2017 Sinking the Medical Ship Scene Movie clip) and out of know where comes a screaming Ju 87 Stuka Dive Bomber?.

Stuka pilot book