Hentschel, Erwin
- Date of birth:
- October 29th, 1917 (Nieder Thalheim/Silesia, Germany)
- Date of death:
- March 20th, 1944 (Drowned in the Dniester River, USSR)
- Nationality:
- German
Biography
Erwin Hentschel was the most important radio operator of the Stuka pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel. Most of his 1490 sorties as a Ju 87 radio operator were flown with Rudel.
Hentschel not only the reached the highest number of missions flown by any Luftwaffe radio operator or rear gunner, but also flew the second-highest number of sorties by any military aviator in history, second only to Rudel himself.
In total he shot down 7 Soviet fighters as a rear gunner.
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Sources
- - FELLGIEBEL, W.P., Elite of theThird Reich, Helion & Company Limited, Solihull, 2003.
- OBERMAIER, ERNST, Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe, Verlag Dieter Hoffmann, Mainz, 1976.
- PATZWALL, K. & SCHERZER, V., Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2001.
- PATZWALL, K. D., Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2008.
- Luftwaffe Officer Career