Background and Early Life Gunther Rall was a son of a business man. He was educated in Gymnasuim which is located in Stuttgart. He spent his elementary and high school years there. He studied 9 years in Latin and 5 years in Classical Greek. His education was focused more on Literature; Math and Science were just minor subjects. He graduated at the age of 18 and joined the infantry regiment. Personal Life and Family Gunther Rall was born on March 10, 1918 in Gaggenau, Baden, German Empire. His father was a merchant and was on service during World War 1 when he was born. He had one sister who lived in Stuttgard. He married Dr. Hertha Schon in 1941, whom he met while he was under hospital treatment. She died 8 years after their marriage. They had 2 daughters. His eldest daughter was married to a French man and lived in Paris, France with 1 son, Clement and daughter, Anna Louise. Felicita, his second daughter, lived in Munich with 2 daughters. Work and Career France: The Battle of France was his first fight and he achieved his first victory on May 12, 1940. Britain: He participated in the Battle of Britain and was given command of Staffelkapitän of 8./JG 52. Because the squadron had many loses, they were withdrawn from combat so their loses would be replaced. Yoguslavia and Greece: On the spring of 1941, Gunther Rall joined the Balkans Campaign. He took part in the air invasion and was successful. He was later on assigned to Romania to help defend the oil fields from Soviet bombers. Eastern front: On June 1941, he had his third and 4th victories after he joined Operation Barbarossa. By the end of WW11, Gunther Rall had achieved 250 victories with a total of 151 aircraft destroyed. He was quoted during the campaign of 1943- 1945: “In my experience, the Royal Air Force pilot was the most aggressive and capable fighter pilot during the Second World War. This is nothing against the Americans, because they came in late and in such large numbers that we don't have an accurate comparison. We were totally outnumbered when the Americans engaged, whereas at the time of the Battle of Britain the fight was more even and you could compare. The British were extremely good.” "The British were sporting. They would accept a fight under almost all conditions." Details of Death On October 4, 2009, Gunther Hall died at the age of 91. He had had a heart attack two days prior to his death. |