Customer Reviews

STUKA PILOT

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Considered on purely military grounds, the heroes of Nazi Germany's armed forces were as remarkable as the best fighting men anywhere. Fighter aces such as Adolf Galland, panzer commanders such as Michael Wittmann, generals such as Erwin Rommell, all enjoyed the unfeigned respect of friend and foe alike. The soldierly virtues of boldness, duty, martial skill, and dash transcended national and ideological boundaries.

The most highly decorated man on the German side during World War II was Hans-Ulrich Rudel, stuka pilot, and this picture biography is a 277 page long valentine to him. He comes across as quite an alpha male in these pages. His lust for life brought him success in his military career, and his postwar mountaineering and sporting competitions.

Now, if you're here, you probably already know the background of Rudel's weapon of choice, the Junkers Ju-87 Stuka divebomber. By the time the war started it was already obsolescent, beginning to be outclassed by fighters entering service with the Western allies. But in the early going it was the very outward and visible sign of Nazi hyper-aggression. The black crooked-wing craft even looked somewhat like a flying swastika. The whine of its propeller and the screech of its dive siren triggered terror in its victims. Though the Stuka was soon driven from the skies of the Western front, it served in the East as a most capable ground attack airplane right up to the very end of the war. Rudel's Stuka was equipped with 3.7 cm flak cannons, to make it a feared _panzerknacker_, or tank buster.

This book relates in minute detail Rudel's many accomplishments. He and his squadron single-handedly beat back a Soviet armored assault. He rescued the crew of a downed Stuka from under the noses of the advancing Red Army. He was himself downed behind enemy lines and got back to his base in a masterpiece of evasion and escape. He even lost part of a leg and kept flying, was officially grounded and kept flying clandestinely. He finished the war with upwards of 2,500 combat missions, 500 tank kills, and one sunk battleship to his credit--an amazing feat given that he flew a slow, out-of-date aircraft in a theater where the enemy enjoyed air superiority from about 1944 onwards. Thank God his side lost, but the man deserved all the praise he got.

The latter third of the book deals with his postwar career as an adventurer masquerading as an industrial salesman. While "alive and well and living in Argentina" he schmoozed with the Perons, climbed the world's highest volcano three times, and got in some high-diving--all this with one leg, remember. Curiously, the book makes no mention and includes no pictures of Rudel's funeral, though the German edition of this translation was published four years after his death. It also does not discuss his continued Nazi sympathies, and his recurring embarrassment of the West German government with his right-wing activities after the war. But be charitable: he was the greatest combat pilot ever, and should be respected as such

When I was 11 years old, back in 1984 or so, my Dad bought me this book in of one of those overpriced airport bookstores, probably to shut me up. Now it is 2004, and that same book, beat to all hell, sits on a bookshelf in my apartment. In the intervening 20 years I have probably read it once every year, faithfully, and it never disappoints. It was written in a different age, an extinct age, when it was possible for men to be great, and believe absolutely in their causes, and if it seems dated, that is probably a harsher judgement against us than it is against the author. It is not a political book, it has no "world view" and its only philosophy is the maxim of its author: you surrender when you die.

Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the only son of a Silesian minister. An awkward boy, frightened of thunderstorms, addicted to athletics, a bit of a misfit, he was hardly the Aryan ideal. Pictures of him show a guy who looks more like Mandy Patinkin than Robert Shaw. As a young man he eschewed girls and beer in favor of sport, was considered a "queer fish" and found himself to be such a slow learner at flying that he spent the first two years of World War II gathering dust, deemed unfit for combat. On top of all of that, he found himself stuck flying the antiquated, ugly-duckling dive bomber known to history as the "Stuka" rather than the sleek fighter plane he had envisoned himself in as a kid, jumping out of his parent's second-floor window holding an umbrella. Not an auspicious beginning.

Rudel was a classic example of a man making up for lost time. When he finally flew his first combat missions, in the fall of 1941, he took out all the frustration of being viewed as "unfit" on the Soviet army, who over the next four years learned to fear and hate the very sight of him, the very mention of his name. He was as much a boogeyman to the USSR as von Richtoften (the Red Baron) had been to the French and English twenty years previously. He was the man they could not kill, the man who came screaming out of the sky again and again from Leningrad to Stalingrad, hurling bombs and cannon shells and machine-gun fire down on them from an outdated old machine, killing without mercy and without pause, immune to fear, immune to pain, immune to wounds, fatigue, despair and the odds.

How much of a bad-arse was Rudel? Well, let's put this in perspective. At the height of the air-war over Germany in 1943, it was considered a statistical improbability that a bomber pilot could survive 25 missions. Chuck Yeager, one hell of a fine combat pilot and tough, gutsy, ornery human being, shot down 12 German planes and flew about fifty-odd missions as a fighter jock. Tommy McGuire and Dick Bong, America's top aces of WWII, shot down 78 (confirmed) Japanese planes between them. Rudel, on the other hand, flew over 2,000 combat missions, blew up 519 Soviet tanks, sank the Soviet battleship "Marat" and a cruiser of 10,000 tons displacement, bagged numerous enemy fighters, and won so many medals that several had to be struck specifically for him, including his 2,000 sortie medal and the Golden oakleaves to his Knights Cross, of which he was the only recipient. During that time he was shot down six times behind enemy lines, took a bullet in the shoulder, a bullet in the leg and had another leg blown clean off....and kept flying. He kept flying despite orders not to fly, kept flying even when he had to work his control pedals with a cane, and when Germany finally surrendered, he refused to give up to the Soviets and had his entire squadron land on an American air base, "pancaking" their aircraft so the Yanks couldn't get their hands on them. In interrogations he was so arrognat (he insisted on behaving as if he were still in command, including giving and recieiving the Nazi salute) that he was written off as a "typical Nazi officer" but responded with the classic comeback, "Can't you see, I never fought for a political party, only for Germany?"

Rudel's fight never really ends. Defeat, to him, comes at the moment of death, and the war did not kill him. Therefore, the war goes on. And on. And on.

"Stuka Pilot" is written in a sort of battlefield-telegraph style, terse and spartan. Rudel is not a writer, but he has the occasional ability to comminicate more than the sum of his flight log entries. The most teasing parts of the book are his glimpses into the famous figures of history he met and worked with: Hitler, Himmler, Goring, Ribbentrop, Skorzeny, Riefenstahl, Speer, etc. If it has a drawback, it is that he doesn't spend near enough time fleshing his personal relationships out.

Of course, it can be argued that without men like Rudel fighting and killing for him, Adolf Hitler would have been rendered harmless, a lunatic ranting on a streetcorner; and a case could be made that Rudel and his ilk "empowered" the homidical Fuhrer to do what he did. But according to Shakespeare, the other half of the argument goes like this: "If the cause be not good, our allegience to the king wipes the crime of it clean." Rudel fought for his country with every fiber of his being, and if he never once stopped to consider the rightness of what his country was doing, it does not make his story less inspiring. This was a man who should have passed the war peeling potatoes, and ended up as the greatest pilot of all time. As Rudel says: "All one needs is a break."

Every so often you come across a book that literally makes you sad when you must put it down for the last time. Consider this one a nominee to head the list.

Hans Ulrich Rudel was a remarkable individual. Though considered little more than a nuisance to his commanders upon completion of his training, Rudel went on to become Germany's most highly decorated aviator--"the foremost combat pilot in the world." A survivor of gunshot wounds, plane crashes, and a leg amputation (he returned to flight status within days after even *that*), to call him incredible would be a drastic understatement.

Physically fit, mentally astute, possessed with an incredible force of will, and amazingly confident, Rudel was a truly dynamic figure. His maxim, "Only he is lost who gives himself up for lost," though deceivingly simple, is perhaps the finest ever translated into the English language. "Ridiculous," you say. Pick up Rudel's tome, flip through a few pages, and soon you will agree that these words--this man's tremendous accomplishments aside--are an inspiration unto themselves. Readers will quote that line often, with conviction, as the events portrayed in this work flash before their eyes.

Although the translation is somewhat rough at times (in a couple of spots I found sentences that simply made no sense) and the punctuation takes some getting used to, it is easy to become lost in the story. Rudel's narrative strikes a brilliant balance between the daily life of an attack pilot and an overall view of the war in Europe, and many of his revelations about the war on the Eastern Front are startling. Rudel also manages to paint Adolf Hitler less as a demagogue and more as a human, something I thought completely impossible. (Rudel didn't quite convince me, but he certainly showed a side of Hitler, evil as he was in so many ways, I'd never seen before.)

Thought the Stuka was slow, old, and incapable? Thought a rear gunner was anachronistic and ineffective? Thought the Soviets steamrollered the German Army with impunity after Operation Barbarosa ground to a standstill? Thought stubbing your toe on the floor was the definition of "bad day?" To give details would spoil this fine work. Pick up a copy. There's many a surprise here! (Note to those unfamiliar with Europe and Asia: find a good map and have it close at hand as you read "Stuka Pilot" as there are no maps in most versions of this book.)

Some will insist Rudel's commentary is self-aggrandizing, that his recollections are tainted and innaccurate. Though this may very well be true, one must consider that history is not written by those defeated in battle. In this light, one must also concede that winning does not exempt the victors from being biased themselves, and we would serve ourselves well to read tales written by those on the short end of the proverbial stick from time to time. I cannot think of a work better suited to this purpose.

This story provides its readers with a perspective on the war rarely--if at all--seen. More importantly, it stands as a testimony to what one person can accomplish in the face of insurmountable odds. An absolutely wonderful, wonderful, wonderful autobiography. Worth every dime.

"All one needs is a little luck," Rudel wrote.

...That, and the courage to try...

This book details Hans Ulric Rudels personal views and experiences as a stuka pilot during World War II. It is based on his recollections as he had his Pilot Log stolen from him by Americans after he surrendered.

An exceptional man, who never gave up under the direst of circumstances. During the war he sunk a Battleship, destroyed around 500 tanks, shot down around 20 fighter planes and evaded capture behind enemy lines.

He shows us how one man can always make a difference.

Despite his post-war political activities, Rudel still stands out as the most noteworthy soldier of the war, arguably the greatest combat pilot (Marseille was probably the best fighter pilot) in history and possibly the greatest pilot. He was apparently known to some as arrogant and unpleasant. He was the only soldier in the German armed forces to receive the Knight's Cross with golden oakleaves swords and diamonds, and was by far the most successful dive bomber. He destroyed, among other things, 519 tanks, over 1000 other vehicle, 70 landing craft etc. He flew 2530 sorties, was shot down 32 times but never by an enemy aircraft and survived the war less a leg. Many of his incredible exploits are in this book. His story is good reading on the war and is a compelling story. One can only imagine how much his signature would cost had he been killed in action. Book is well-written & translated, and the pictures are good. Well worth it.

I can only reiterate what the other reviewers have stated about this outstanding work. It is well worth the effort to track down a copy if you are interested in the eastern front, Luftwaffe pilots, or just fine combat stories, read this one!

Mr. Rudel missed The Battle of Britain, was not even considered a great pilot during training. Regardless, he entered combat when Germany invaded Russia in'41 and survived 4 brutal years of warfare. By '43 he was flying a Stuka that mounted 2 37mm cannons under it's wings and began gaining his great reputation as supreme "Tankbuster". The Stuka, already dangerously slow was even more so with these guns attached. I think he got credit for around 500 tanks destroyed, about the equivelent of one entire Red Tank Army's inventory.

Rudel was one of Hitler's personal favorites, and when he decorated Rudel with a high award he ussually forbade him any further combat. Of course Rudel always found a way around that. In fact, his final award, the Knight's Cross with gold oakleaves, crossed swords and diamonds was pretty much invented for Rudel, as Hitler had run out of awards to give him.

Apart from straight up combat flying the book has numerous survival stories. Rudel several times landed behind lines to pick up fellow pilots (a habit Hitler eventually strictly forbade of him). On one of those occasions his plane got mired in the muck and a incredible evasion and escape adventure begins. In the final weeks Rudel is flying FW-190s, one legged. Rudel was, perhaps understandably a sore loser and shows this at the end, when he flew to an allied field to surrender. At his command, he and his fellow pilots locked the brakes and collapsed their landing gear to render their planes useless to the allies. A futile gesture that still demonstrated his defiance to what was a bitter end for his Luftwaffe career. I can't recomend this great book enough.

STUKA PILOT is the autobiography and Second World War adventures of Hans Ulrich Rudel. Rudel, one of the most highly decorated officers in the German Third Reich, was Hitler's favorite soldier. His unbridled passion was to be a pilot and keep flying. Wounded severely several times, he continued flying combat missions until the end of the war. Often incorrectly stereotyped as an "Unrepentant Nazi," STUKA PILOT's emphasis is on Rudel's experiences as a Luftwaffe pilot and commander. Born to humble circumstances, Rudel struggled to gain acceptance into a Luftwaffe officer candidate program. Though an exceptional athlete -- and often a dare-devil -- Rudel chose a dive bombers as his piloting career field.

The book follows Rudel through his early frustrations in missing out on early campaigns and being grounded by unforgiving squadron staff officers. The invasion of the Soviet Union offered Rudel the opportunity to hone dive bombing operations to a fine art. Rapid promotion followed. At the end of the war we find Rudel commanding anti-tank dive bombing units as just about the only force remaining to stem the Red Army.

STUKA PILOT provides excellent military history reading along with lessons in leadership. Though highly recommended, the book does harbor shortcomings. Rudel's printed story is too closely translated from German and the verbiage is sometimes confusing. Rudel's narrative also sometimes strays from a chronological recounting of events. As noted in other reviews, most versions of this book lack maps of any sort and so it is difficult to appreciate the extensive geography involved in this story. Rudel's story also abruptly ends with the end of the war. It is too bad that he did not append later version with his post war activities.

Do not expect to find much about Rudel's personal life in this volume. This book is devoted to Rudel's wartime exploits. Consider STUKA PILOT a military classic. If you enjoy military aviation books about World War Two, this book should find its way into your collection.

Printed by Schiffer Publishing, an assurance that it is top quality. There are other books that deal more in Rudel's life, both the good and the questionable post-war, but this one pretty much has everything that all but the most ardent reader would. Enough text to please, and many, many splendid photographs. Most people don't realize that the greatest Lufwaffe pilot didn't fly fighters, but the Ju-87, and man, did he ever fly it! He had no equal. Whatever his post-war activities, I'm not here to judge, but this is a splendid book of perhaps the most accomplished pilot of WWII.

I first read Stuka Pilot when I was ten years old, back in 1965. I re-read it recently, and was still inspired. Even during my darkest hours I remembered Rudel's axiom: "Only he is lost who gives himself up for lost." In spite of the fact that he was on the other side of the war, his message is a message of encouragement to anyone who is faced with life's difficulties.

I am an attack pilot for the US Marine Corps. I found Rudel's story so motivating that I had to pass the book on to others in my squadon. All my peers give it rave reviews as well. So many have read it now that it is starting to fall apart and I will probably have to order more copies soon.

Although times and tactics have changed, the warrior spirit and leadership that Rudel showed is still an inspiration for attack pilots today