Rudolf Müller

Rudolf "Rudi" Müller (21 November 1920 – 21 October 1943) was a Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. Müller was credited with 94 victories, though one source lists 101 victories.

Career Müller was born on 21 November 1920 in Frankfurt am Main, at the time in the Province of Hesse-Nassau within the Weimar Republic. He joined the military service of the Luftwaffe in 1938, initially serving with the Nachrichtentruppe (signal corps). He then transferred and attended flight training. Following completion of flight and fighter pilot training, Müller joined the Ergänzungsgruppe of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) in June 1941. In August, he was transferred to 1. Staffel (1st squadron) of JG 77. At the time, this squadron was commanded by Oberleutnant Horst Carganico. His first claimed victory came on 12 September 1941 when he shot down a Soviet Air Forces Polikarpov I-16 fighter.

War on the Arctic Front

In January 1942, Jagdgeschwader 5 (JG 5—5th Fighter Wing) was newly created and placed under the command of Oberst Carl-Alfred Schumacher. On 3 January, I. Gruppe of JG 77 was renamed and became the I. Gruppe of JG 5. In consequence, Carganico's 1. Staffel became the newly created 1. Staffel of JG 5. On 21 March, 1. Staffel was subordinated to II. Gruppe of JG 5, commanded by Strümpell, and became the 6. Staffel of JG 5. On 23 April 1942, he became an "ace-in-a-day". That day, 6. Staffel escorted Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers from I. Gruppe of Sturzkampfgeschwader 5 and Junkers Ju 88 bombers from Kampfgeschwader 30 on a bombing mission to the Soviet airfield at Vayenga, present-day Severomorsk. The flight was intercepted by Hawker Hurricane fighters from 3 AE/2 GvSAP (Aviation Squadron of Guards Composite Aviation Regiment—). In this encounter, Müller shot down Serzhant Anatoliy Semyonov and Serzhant N. F. Yepanov. Returning to the airbase Petsamo-Luostari Airfield, 6. Staffel intercepted Soviet aircraft on a mission to bomb Petsamo-Luostari Airfield. In this aerial battle, Müller shot down two Hurricanes piloted by Starshiy Leytnant I. Ya and Serzhant A. I. Chibsov from 20 GvIAP (Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment—), and a Tupolev SB bomber piloted by Mladshiy Leytenant Golovanov from 137 SBAP (High-Speed Bomber Aviation Regiment—Skorostnoy Bombardirovochnyy Aviatsionny Polk)

On 26 April, seven Petlyakov Pe-2 bombers, escorted by fighters from the 95 IAP (Fighter Aviation Regiment—Istrebitelny Aviatsionny Polk), attacked the Kirkenes Airfield. The attack force failed to inflict any damage to the airfield as five of the attackers were shot down, including two by Müller and two by Carganico.

The Allied Convoy PQ 16, consisting of 35 merchant vessels, headed from Hvalfjörður in Iceland to Murmansk from 21 to 30 May. At the same time, Convoy QP 12 with 15 freighters left Murmansk heading for Iceland. The convoys were sighted by German reconnaissance aircraft on 25 May 1942. Over the following five days, the convoys came under multiple attacks. On 30 May, JG 5 claimed 43 fighter aircraft and 7 bombers shot down. Matching these claims against Soviet records, the figures appear to be inflated. That morning at 09:20, Müller, Leutnant Heinrich Ehrler, Unteroffizier Hans Döbrich and another pilot each claimed a Hurricane fighter shot down. At the time and in the same area of this encounter, Podpolkovnik (lieutenant colonel) Boris Safonov, commander 2 GvSAP of the Soviet Naval Aviation, was shot down in his Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and killed in action.

On 13 June, Müller claimed three aerial victories over Hurricane fighters from 78 IAP, one of which was the 500th claim filed by II. Gruppe. Müller received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 June 1942 for 41 aerial victories. The presentation was made by Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen Stumpff at Petsamo, present-day Pechenga in Murmansk Oblast. On 1 July, he was awarded the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe . During aerial combat near Murmashi on 21 August, his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4 trop (Werknummer 10073—factory number) was hit, resulting in an emergency landing at the Petsamo airfield.

By the end of September 1942, Müller was credited with 81 aircraft shot down. Müller injured his leg in a skiing accident in December that year, and after recovery was granted leave in Germany, returning to his unit in February 1943. On 8 March, Müller was carrying out a familiarization flight on the new Bf 109 G-2, which his Staffel was in the process of converting to, when the aircraft suffered an engine failure and crashed, with Müller suffering a concussion.

Capture and Death

On 19 April 1943, Müller was shot down in his Bf 109 G-2 (Werknummer 14810) by a Hurricane from 609 IAP, and was captured by Soviet forces. He was the highest-scoring German fighter pilot in the Arctic theater at the time of his capture. Müller talked freely about himself and tactics during interrogation by his captors, and as a result was taken to nearby Soviet airfields to discuss fighter tactics with Soviet pilots before being sent to a Prisoner of War camp at Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast. On 21 October 1943 Müller was shot during an escape attempt at Temnikov, while being moved to a camp in Mordovia. Müller was posthumously promoted to Oberfeldwebel (staff sergeant).

Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Müller was credited with 94 aerial victories. Spick also lists Müller with 94 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number of combat missions, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front. The authors Raymond F. Toliver and Trevor James Constable list him with 101 aerial victories. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and states that Müller was credited with 94 aerial victories, plus one further unconfirmed claim. This figure includes 92 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and another two over the Western Allies.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 3078". The Luftwaffe grid map covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area in size.

Chronicle of aerial victories Claim Date Time Type Location Claim Date Time Type Location – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 77 –Eastern and northern Norway — 22 June – 5 December 1941 1 12 September 1941 I-16 5 28 September 1941 Pe-2? 2 15 September 1941 DB-3 6 2 November 1941 SB-2 3 17 September 1941 DB-3? Litsa 7 2 November 1941 SB-2 4 27 September 1941 Hurricane 8 4 November 1941 I-16 – 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 5 –Southern and western Norway — 1 January – 16 March 1942 9 1 February 1942 Hudson 10 16 February 1942 Hudson – 6. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 5 –Eastern Front and northern Norway, and Finland — 6 December 1941 – 31 December 1942 11? 24 March 1942 18:15 Hurricane PQ 3078Ura-Guba 48 17 June 1942 17:30 Hurricane? southeast of Murmansk 12♠ 23 April 1942 Hurricane vicinity of Vayenga 49 23 June 1942 I-16 north of Murmansk 13♠ 23 April 1942 Hurricane vicinity of Vayenga 50 5 August 1942? I-61 (MiG-3)? 14♠ 23 April 1942 SB-2 vicinity of Luostari 51 5 August 1942? Hurricane 15♠ 23 April 1942 Hurricane vicinity of Luostari 52 5 August 1942? Hurricane 16♠ 23 April 1942 Hurricane vicinity of Luostari 53 13 August 1942 I-153 17 24 April 1942 Hurricane 54 13 August 1942 I-180 (Yak-7)? 18 26 April 1942 16:13 Pe-2 south of Petsamo airfield west of Petsamo 55 13 August 1942 MiG-3 19 26 April 1942 Hurricane west of Murmansk 56 21 August 1942 I-180 (Yak-7) 20 28 April 1942 Hurricane Litsa Bight 57 21 August 1942 Yak-1 21 28 April 1942 Hurricane east of the Litsa Bight ? 21 August 1942 Yak-1 22 28 April 1942 Hurricane east of the Litsa Bight 58 22 August 1942? unknown 23 28 April 1942 Hurricane east of the Litsa Bight 59 22 August 1942? unknown 24 29 April 1942 Hurricane west of Litsa Bight 60 22 August 1942? unknown 25 29 April 1942 Hurricane west of Litsa Bight 61 25 August 1942? unknown 26 29 April 1942 I-153 west of Litsa Bight 62 25 August 1942? unknown 27 18 May 1942 Hurricane west of Murmansk 63 29 August 1942? unknown 28 18 May 1942 Hurricane west of Murmansk 64 29 August 1942? unknown 29 18 May 1942 Hurricane west of Murmansk 65 2 September 1942? unknown 30 18 May 1942 Hurricane 66 4 September 1942? unknown 31 19 May 1942 Hurricane Murmashi 67 8 September 1942 Hurricane 32 19 May 1942 Hurricane southwest of Murmashi 68 9 September 1942 unknown vicinity of Kola 33 19 May 1942 Hurricane Murmashi 69 9 September 1942 unknown vicinity of Kola 34 25 May 1942 Hurricane Murmashi 70 9 September 1942 unknown vicinity of Kola 35 26 May 1942 Hurricane west of Taybola 71 9 September 1942 unknown vicinity of Kola 36 26 May 1942 Hurricane northwest of Taybola ? 12 September 1942 fighter 37 26 May 1942 Hurricane west of Taybola 72 15 September 1942 unknown 38 28 May 1942 Hurricane west of Kola 73 15 September 1942 unknown 39 28 May 1942 P-40 west of Kola 74 15 September 1942 unknown 40 30 May 1942 Hurricane eastern exit of the Kola Bay 75 15 September 1942 unknown 41 2 June 1942 Hurricane west of Murmansk 76♠ 27 September 1942 P-40 42 2 June 1942 Hurricane west of Murmansk 77♠ 27 September 1942 P-40 43 13 June 1942 Hurricane west of Murmansk 78♠ 27 September 1942 P-40 44 13 June 1942 Hurricane west of Murmansk 79♠ 27 September 1942 P-40 45 13 June 1942 Hurricane west of Murmansk 80♠ 27 September 1942 P-40 46 17 June 1942 10:20 Hurricane west of Murmansk 81♠ 27 September 1942 P-39 47 17 June 1942 10:22 Hurricane Murmansk 82? 27 September 1942? unknown – 6. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 5 –Eastern Front and northern Norway, and Finland — 1 January – 21 October 1943 83 8 February 1943? unknown 85? 19 February 1943 Hurricane 83 8 February 1943? unknown 86? 19 February 1943 Hurricane 84 17 February 1943 Hurricane 87? 21 February 1943 LaGG-3 According to Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock, Müller claimed five undocumented aerial victories in February to March 1943. Some of these claims are also not listed by Mombeek or by Mathews and Foreman. 93 13 March 1943 P-39 94 13 March 1943 P-39

Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 June 1942 as Feldwebel and pilot in the 6./Jagdgeschwader 5 Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 1 July 1942 as Unteroffizier and pilot German Cross in Gold on 27 May 1943 as Feldwebel in the 6./Jagdgeschwader 5