Rudolf Müller (pilot)

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 was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. 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—Aviatsionnya Eskadrilya; Gvardeskiy Smeshannyy Aviatsionnyy Polk).

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—Gvardeskiy Istrebitelny Aviatsionny Polk), 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 (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) 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 (Ehrenpokal der 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).

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. 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 (Jägermeldenetz) 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 360 sqmi. These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 x in size.

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