On 8 February 1945, a 40 mm shell hit his aircraft. He was badly wounded in the right foot and crash landed inside German lines. His life was saved by his observer Ernst Gadermann who stemmed the bleeding, but Rudel's leg was amputated below the knee. He returned to operations on 25 March 1945, claiming 26 more tanks destroyed before the end of the war. Determined not to fall into Soviet hands, he led three Ju 87s and four FW 190s westward from Bohemia in a 2-hour flight and surrendered to U.S. forces on 8 May 1945, after landing at Kitzingen airfield, held by the US 405th Fighter Group. He had his men lock the brakes and collapse the landing gear to make the aircraft useless to the Americans and to render the airfield unusable by blocking the airstrip. Eleven months in prisoner of war camps followed. Released by the Americans, he moved to Argentina in 1948. Rudel flew some 2,530 combat missions (a world record). He was never shot down by another pilot, only by anti-aircraft artillery. He was shot down or forced to land 32 times, several times behind enemy lines.
Last Wartime Rank: Colonel
Unit(s): StG. 168, StG. 2
Theatre(s): Eastern Front
Combat Debut: 1939
Victories:
– 519 Tanks
– 70 Assault Craft/Landing Boats
– 150 self-propelled guns
– 4 armored trains.
– 800 other vehicles
– 9 aircraft (7 IL-2 Sturmovik, 7 fighters)
– 1 Battleship, 2 cruisers
