Horst Rudat

Horst Rudat (3 May 1920 − 31 August 1982) was a general in the German Air Force. During World War II, he served in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany as a bomber pilot.

Horst Rudat
Born	3 May 1920 Wirtkallen, district Insterburg, East Prussia
Died	31 August 1982 (aged 62) Laaber, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany  West Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe German Air Force
Years of service	1945 1956–1980
Rank	Generalmajor
Unit	KG 55, KG 200
Commands held	LTG 63
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

In the weeks following Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of France, Rudat was tasked with the leadership of a task force in 2./Kampfgeschwader 101. The task force was experimenting with the Mistel, a Luftwaffe aircraft bombing system, based broadly on the parasite aircraft concept. Rudat led a formation of 4 Mistel aircraft against the invasion fleet of off Normandy in the night of 24/25 June 1944. HMS Nith, a British River-class frigate, was damaged killing nine of her crew.[1]

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (9 August 1941) & 1st Class (7 September 1941)[2]
• Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (27 May 1942)[2]
• German Cross in Gold on 27 July 1942 as Oberleutnant in the 3./KG 55[3]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 24 March 1943 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 2./KG 55[4]

References

Citations

1. Ford 2000, pp. 50–51.
2. Kaiser 2011, p. 90.
3. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 389.
4. Scherzer 2007, p. 643.

Bibliography

• Ford, Roger (2000). Germany's Secret Weapons in World War II. Zenith Imprint. ISBN 0-7603-0847-0.
• Forsyth, Robert (2001). Mistel - German Composite Aircraft and Operations 1942-1945. Classic Publications Limited. ISBN 1-903223-09-1.
• Kaiser, Jochen (2011). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kampfflieger—Band 2 (in German and English). Bad Zwischenahn, Germany: Luftfahrtverlag-Start. ISBN 978-3-941437-09-8.
• Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.