Luftwaffe Ace, Erich Rudorffer signed photos

Erich Rudorffer scored a total of 224 victories, placing him 7th on the all time list. This score did not come without a cost: Rudorffer flew over 1,000 missions, entering combat on 302 occasions, was shot down 16 times, and baled out 9 times! Of note are the 58 IL-2 Sturmoviks included in his 138 Eastern Front victories and the 10 heavy bombers shot down flying the Me262 jet in Reichsverteidigung missions.

Rudorffer recorded his first victory, a French Curtiss Hawk 75 fighter, on 14 May 1940. He went on to score eight additional victories during the Battle of France. By 1 May 1941, Leutnant Rudorffer had achieved 19 victories, which led to the award of the Ritterkreuz. During the British “Non-Stop Offensive” of 1941, Rudorffer recorded 21 victories, including his 40th on 8 December. On 11 November, Rudorffer was appointed Staffelkapitän of 6./JG 2. He led the unit when II./JG 2 was transferred to Tunisia. He shot down eight British aircraft in 32 minutes on 9 February 1943 to record his 54th through 61st victories, and seven more in 20 minutes six days later. After scoring a total of 27 victories in Tunisia, Rudorffer returned to the Channel Front in April 1943.

Rudorffer was transferred to the Eastern Front in July 1943 to assume command of II./JG 54. In Russia Rudorffer's really successful days began. On 24 August 1943, he shot down five Russian aircraft on the first mission of the day and followed that up with three more victories on a second mission. On 14 September he claimed five victories. He scored seven victories in seven minutes on 11 October, including his 100th, but his finest achievement occurred on 6 November when in the course of 17 minutes, 13 Russian aircraft fell to his guns!

On 15 January 1945, Major Rudorffer was placed in command of the Me262 jet fighter equipped I./JG 7. He became one of the first jet fighter aces in the world by scoring 12 victories, including 10 four-engined bombers, in the jet.

 

Erich Rudorffer's FW-190A-8