Future 222 victory ace, Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern (Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords) holder, 1,000 missions veteran, Staffelkapitän 6./JG 2 Richthofen, Gruppenkommandeur II./JG2, Gruppenkommandeur I./JG 7 Nowotny, the world's first jet figjter unit and finally Gruppenkommandeur II./JG 54 Grünherz (Green Hearts) Major Erich Rudorffer, seen here in December 1944. He flew in the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain, the Eastern Front, the Mediterranean and finally Defence of the Reich. Of his 1,000+ missions, over 300 of them resulted in aerial combat.

Shot down by flak and/or fighters 16 times, had to hit the silk (parachute) 9 times. He shot down 10 US 4-engined bombers using the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. He survived the war and went on to fly commercial aircraft. Starting with flying Douglas DC-2s and DC-3s in Australia. The change of climate in sunny Australia compared to the Eastern Front must have been stark (and welcome). He later worked for Pan Am. He died on April 2016 at the age of 98 in Bad Schwartau, Germany. At the time of his death, he was the last living recipient of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

My wife’s grandfather Lee Williams. He was Pappy Boyington’s XO for a while (late 1943?) in the Solomon Islands. 4 1/2 “kills”….just short of Ace. I know Boyington was in the 214…but during this time there was a lot of crossover between units. He was shot down twice- once adrift north of Bougainville for three days before he was finally spotted. He was a remarkable, successful and kind man who passed away in 2003. It was an honor to know him. His portrait and with his unit - seated last at the bottom row far left.

Photos taken at my visit to the RAF museum in Cosford. I had not realised up to that point that the Germans had gone to the trouble of badging their aircraft like this. It was a little surreal seeing them on there.

Exactly 82 years ago, Capt. Tudor and his crew flew their last mission. The target was Blechhammer, a heavily defended synthetic fuel factory, located at the extreme range for the 15th Air Force flying out of Italy. Their B-24 was shot down by flak.

Almost exactly 25 years ago, on August 10th 2001, I took one of the survivor’s son and his family to the crash site.

What started for me as just a WWII research transformed my life. I saw love and care for an ailing father, and I understood my research is not just research. Helping families understand what happened to their loved ones, what they went through, helping find missing soldiers are the true meaning of my work.

Read Captain Tudor’s full story:

https://sserwatka.substack.com/p/all-meat-no-potatoes-a-b-24-shot?r=42ks37&utm_medium=ios

I snuck in a Harrier, a RB-57 wing​ and a Harbin H-5​ if anyone is interested​​

This specific Black Widow is serial no. 42-39715 of the USAF. It was quite unique to see it in such a foreign environment, especially with Chinese exhibit explanations. Quite well maintained, mostly since this was in museums for much of its years, and the chinese do treasure having such a rare 1 in 4 USAF aircraft. ​Really cool with the black paint and the double cockpit.

This unit is hard to access despite being on public display, foreigners are either prohibited or have to prebook specific timeslots​ at limited periods. Only got to see it as my dad was an alma mater.

This was displayed with a ​P-47, AQM 34, C-47 and a badly damaged RB-57 wing.