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Hans Rudel Signed Naval Art

Ace with 11.00 Victories

Hans Rudel

Hans Rudel, born in July 1916, was the most decorated Nazi pilot. In 2,530 combat missions flying dive-bombers, mainly on the Russian front, Rudel was credited with destroying 519 tanks, 150 gun emplacements and 800 combat vehicles of various types. According to Luftwaffe records, he also sunk a Russian battleship, a cruiser, a destroyer, 70 smaller craft and numerous trains. For this he was awarded the Golden Oakleaves with Sword and Diamonds to the Knights Cross. He was the only recipient of this award. He was also the first German pilot to reach 1,000 sorties. Of his over 2530 sorties, some 400 were in the Focke-Wulf 190 fighter, in which he was credited with 11 air victories. He was so effective that Joseph Stalin himself put a price of 100,00 rubles on his head. He flew more than 600,000 km; fired over 1,000,000 machine gun rounds; dropped over 1,000,000kg of bombs; fired over 150,000 rounds of 20mm ammunition and over 5,000 rounds of 37mm ammunition. He hated to take home leave or sick leave and even after he had his leg amputated, he was back in the air within weeks. He did not limit his attacks to Russian tanks, trains, ships or aircraft. On more than one occasion when food was in short supply, he would bomb rivers and both the German airmen and Russian civilians would feast on the stunned fish that floated to the surface. Rudel was shot down several times, but escaped serious injury until April 1945, when he lost a leg in combat. Rudel flew the Ju87 B-2 Stuka dive bomber and, in all of its ugliness, the bomber was made famous by him. His accomplishments with an aircraft that was outdated and vulnerable were incredible. He was captured by Allied forces at the end of the war, and released from a POW camp in April 1946. He died 18th December 1982.

The signatures : Hans Rudel had arranged to be interviewed by a professor of military history, who was also an author, in 1982. Many similar interviews had been conducted with other military heroes, during which the interviewee had signed various photographs, blank sheets and bookplates for use in the author's publications, although many were never published as intended. Rudel was also due to sign such items. However, the interview had been arranged to be conducted at a Luftwaffe reunion, which Rudel could not attend due to ill health. However, a friend of Rudel's, a RCAF mechanic, took the items to him to be signed, which they duly were, although Rudel died before any interview could take place. Cranston Fine Arts purchased the signatures from the original collection. All signatures on prints are therefore 'mounted' signatures, placed in a mount with the print, rather than the print itself being signed.

Knights Cross	Swords	Diamonds	Golden Oak Leaves	Oak Leaves

Dawn Raiders by Ivan Berryman. 10 of 11 editions available. 2 of 3 editions featuring up to 2 additional signatures are available. £2.50 - £4000.00

Clipped Signature - Hans Rudel. 2 editions. £120.00 - £125.00

Target ahead, Kursk, Central Russia, July 1943 by David Pentland. 3 of 4 editions available. All 4 editions feature up to 3 additional signatures. £80.00 - £520.00

Stuka Ju87 - Preparing for the Day by Ivan Berryman. 4 editions. All 4 editions feature up to 4 additional signature(s). £60.00 - £670.00

Stuka - Tribute to Hans Rudel by Ivan Berryman. 3 of 4 editions available. All 4 editions feature up to 4 additional signatures. £60.00 - £250.00

Bombing Up - Stuka of Hans Rudel by Ivan Berryman. 2 of 4 editions available. All 2 editions featuring up to 3 additional signatures are sold out. £60.00 - £85.00

Open Assault by Robert Taylor. 4 of 5 editions available. All 5 editions feature up to 14 additional signatures. £210.00 - £375.00

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