Gustav Rodel German Luftwaffe fighter pilot Date of Birth: 24.10.1915 Country: Germany

Biography of Gustav Rödel

Gustav Rödel was a German fighter pilot from the Luftwaffe who achieved victory in all of his 98 aerial battles with Western Allies, except for one, out of over 980 combat missions. Born on October 24, 1915, in Merseburg, Saxony, Rödel joined the Luftwaffe, the German Air Force, as a Fahnenjunker in 1936 and underwent training as a fighter pilot.

Rödel participated in the Spanish Civil War with the Condor Legion, a volunteer unit, and developed bombing methods that were widely used during World War II. At that time, Rödel piloted JG 88 and was awarded the Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords for his achievements in Spain. On July 15, 1939, Gustav was transferred to JG 21. Lieutenant Rödel achieved his first victory on the very first day of World War II, September 1, 1939, during the invasion of Poland, where he shot down a Polish P.24 fighter near Warsaw.

On September 7, Rödel was shot down himself during a strafing mission but managed to restart his aircraft near the border and evade detection. He returned to his unit the next day. After switching from JG 27 to Geschwaderstab on November 24, 1939, Rödel took part in the Battle of France and celebrated three more victories. On May 12, 1940, he flew as wingman to Adolf Galland, who achieved his first victory that day against a British Hawker Hurricane.

On June 8, Gustav conducted several solo interception missions and damaged a Bristol Blenheim over the English Channel. On September 7, 1940, he was appointed squadron commander. In September, Rödel achieved 14 victories, most of them in the largest aerial battle known as the Battle of Britain. The German pilot also emerged victorious in six aerial combats in Greece, including shooting down three Greek fighters on April 15, 1941, and three Royal Air Force Hurricanes on April 20.

After the Balkan Campaign, Rödel took part in the invasion of Russia. He claimed his 21st victory on June 25, 1941, against a twin-engine SB-3 bomber. Soon after, Gustav found himself in North Africa, where he claimed his 30th victory on December 4, 1941, by shooting down a South African P-40 near Bir-el-Gobi.

On May 20, 1942, Rödel was appointed commander of II./JG 27. He claims to have marked his 40th victory on May 23 by damaging a P-40 near Ras el Tin. Then, on July 21, he allegedly shot down four Hurricanes, increasing his record from 48 to 51 enemy aircraft. Later, the ace pilot engaged three P-39s around El Alamein on October 9, but misidentified the aircraft, likely confusing them with RAF P-40s.

Rödel declared that on October 24, 1942, he shot down 15 enemy aircraft, including three P-40s, and on October 27, he shot down three additional fighters. On November 1, Gustav celebrated his 73rd and final victory in North Africa. In May 1943, the pilot continued fighting in Sicily and Greece, and on May 22, he shot down three enemy planes, bringing his victories to 78. For this, Rödel was awarded the Knight's Cross on June 20, 1943.

After reaching a record of 83 victories on October 10, 1943, Rödel added 10 more to his tally, including four-engined US bombers, while fighting on German territory as part of the Reich Defense. Finally, on July 5, he shot down his last enemy aircraft, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning. In December 1944, Rödel participated in the planning of Operation Bodenplatte, which aimed to destroy Anglo-American airfields. From early January 1945, he served in the staff of the 2nd Fighter Division and became its commander on February 1. He held this position until the end of the war. In that same rank, Gustav attended the meeting with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring known as the "Fighter Pilots Uprising".

In 1957, Rödel joined the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of Germany. He retired on September 30, 1971, as a brigadier general. Gustav passed away on February 6, 1995, in Bonn-Bad Godesberg.