Bio of Luftwaffe Ace Erich Rudorffer

Full name: Erich Rudorffer
Nickname: unknown
Date of Birth: 1 November 1917 at Zwochau, Sachsen (German Empire)
Date of Death: 8 April 2016 at Bad Schwartau, Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)
NSDAP Number: unknown
SS Number: unknown
Academic Title: unknown
Family Member: unknown
Physical Feature: unknown

Beförderungen (Promotion):
00.01.1940 Oberfeldwebel
28.10.1940 Leutnant
20.11.1941 Oberleutnant
01.01.1943 Hauptmann
01.01.1944 Major

Karriere (Career):
16.04.1936 Joined the Luftwaffe with Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung 61.
02.09.1936 - 15.10.1936 Served with Kampfgeschwader 253.
16.10.1936 - 24.02.1937 Trained as an aircraft engine mechanic at the Technische Schule Adlershof in Berlin.
14.03.1937 Posted as a mechanic to Kampfgeschwader 153 where he served as a mechanic until end October 1938. He was then transferred to Flieger-Ersatz-Abteilung 51 based at Liegnitz in Silesia for flight training. There he was first trained as a bomber pilot and then as a Zerstörer, a heavy fighter or destroyer, pilot.
01.10.1939 Transferred to the Jagdwaffe and was posted to the Jagdfliegerschule 2 at Schleißheim.
06.12.1939 Following the conversion training, Rudorffer was transferred to the Jagdergänzungsstaffel Döberitz, the supplementary fighter squadron based at Döberitz.
28.12.1939 - 07.01.1940 Transferred to the Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Merseburg, another supplementary training unit stationed at Merseburg, where newly trained fighter pilots received instruction from pilots with combat experience.
08.01.1940 Posted to 2. Staffel / Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) "Richthofen".
00.00.19__ Flugzeugführer in 6.Staffel / Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) "Richthofen".
11.11.1941 Staffelkapitän 6.Staffel / Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) "Richthofen".
17.04.1943 Führer II.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) "Richthofen".
30.06.1943 Gruppenkommandeur IV.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 54
00.07-08.1943 Gruppenkommandeur II.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 54
15.01.1945 Gruppenkommandeur I.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 7
00.00.19__ Kraftfahrbundesamt (BRD)
 
Orden und Ehrenzeichen (Medals and Decorations):
00.00.19__ Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938
00.00.19__ Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Schwarz
00.00.19__ Gemeinsames Flugzeugfuhrer-Beobachter Abzeichen (ohne brillianten)
22.05.1940 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
28.06.1940 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
20.10.1940 Luftwaffe Ehrenpokale für besondere Leistungen im Luftkrieg
00.00.194_ Vapaudenristin 2.luokka (Finland)
01.05.1941 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Leutnant and Flugzeugführer in 6.Staffel / II.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) "Richthofen". Awarded after 19 aerial victories
09.12.1941 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold
00.00.194_ Frontflugspange für Jäger in Gold
00.00.194_ Frontflugspange für Zerstörer in Gold mit Anhänger und Einzatszahl
00.00.1943 Ärmelband "AFRIKA"
11.04.1944 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #447, as Major and Gruppenkommandeur II.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54) "Grünherz". Awarded after 130 aerial victories
30.10.1944 Mentioned in Wehrmachtbericht: "Among those aerial victories in Kurland that had been reported yesterday are eleven aircraft shot down by the recipient of the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes Major Rudorffer, bringing his total to 206 aerial victories."
26.01.1945 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #126, as Major and Gruppenkommandeur II.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54) "Grünherz". Awarded after 210 aerial victories

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Erich Rudorffer was born on 1 November 1917 at Zwochau, near Leipzig, in Saxony. Rudorffer was posted to JG 2 on 1 November 1939. Feldwebel Rudorffer was assigned to 2./JG 2. He 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. Rudorffer was particularly successful over the Allied landings at Dieppe on 19 August 1942 when he shot down two Spitfire fighters, his 44th and 45th victory. 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 (63-69). Following the hospitalisation of Hauptmann Adolf Dickfeld (136 victories, RK-EL) with injuries received in a landing accident, Oberleutnant Rudorffer assumed temporary command of II./JG 2. After scoring a total of 27 victories in Tunisia, Rudorffer returned to the Channel Front in April 1943. In May 1943, Hauptmann Rudorffer was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 2. He recorded two further victories, his 73rd and 74th, before parting company with JG 2.

Rudorffer was given the task of forming IV./JG 54 near Königsberg in June 1943. However, Rudorffer was transferred to the Eastern Front to assume command of II./JG 54 after its Kommandeur, Hauptmann Heinrich Jung (68 victories, RK) failed to return from a mission on 30 July 1943. Once on the Eastern Front, Rudorffer's really successful days again. 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 (91–95).  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! Only another Grünherzflieger, Emil “Bully” Lang (173 victories, RK-EL, killed in action 3 September 1944) and Hans-Joachim Marseille (158 victories, RK-Br, killed in action 30 September 1942) were to rival Rudorffer's feat. On 7 April 1944, Rudorffer shot down six enemy aircraft 129–134). Major Rudorffer was awarded the Eichenlaub (Nr 447) on 11 April 1944 for 134 victories. Following a spell of leave, Rudorffer returned to combat duty to claim five victories on 3 July, six on 26 July, including his 150th victory, five on 25 August (168-172), six on 25 September (182-187), seven on 10 October (188-194) and 11 on 28 October. For his exploits, he received the Schwertern (Nr 126) for his 212th victory on 26 January 1945. 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 survived the war and continued his aviation career as a member of the Bundesluftwaffe.

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 (all while flying the Fw 190) and the 10 four-engined bombers shot down in Reichsverteidigung missions.

Source :
https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/erich-rudorffer_EFB4D768A9
https://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/dba/de/search/?yearfrom=&yearto=&query=rudorffer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Rudorffer
https://www.luftwaffe.cz/rudorffer.html
https://ritterkreuztraeger.blogspot.com/2022/02/bio-of-major-erich-rudorffer-1917-2016.html
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/26122/Rudorffer-Erich.htm