Is this Gunther Rall?

[GRUNHERZ]

[Kratzer]

Uh... it could be, sort of looks like him... but then again it could be your aunt tilly for all that you can see in that picture.

[Tuck]

speaking of gunther rall...

the other day, while looking at houses in the kingsport, tn area, me and my girlfriend stopped by a shop to ask for directions.  inside the shop, was an old man and a lot of nifty nic-nacs...everything from edison phonographs to civil war muskets.  after getting directions, we started goofing off and looked around the shop, and i noticed an area with a lot of wwII aircraft photos, manuals, and other related stuff.

i saw a few photos/paintings of me109s, spitfires, b17s and so on, some of which had been nicely framed.  the old guy came over to me and, after a short conversation about the artifacts, i was informed that this guy had been a pilot in wwII.  (he said that he started out flying p40s, but was reassigned as a b17 pilot shortly after the outbreak of the war.)

anyhoo...to make a long story short (i just noticed i'm babbling here), this gentleman stated that he wound up being a guest of stalagluft 1 after his b17 had been shot down by none other than gunther rall!  

he proceeded to explain how he found out who had shot his 17 down, and further explained how he and herr rall had become friends after the war.  as if the stories weren't enough for me, he whipped out several letters to him from not only rall, but from adolf galland as well, which he explained he had met at reunions of german and allied pilots after the war (this guy has photos of himself and rall, galland, and others at these reunion thingies).

needless to say, i was excited as hell, and could have sat and listened to this guy forever.  alas, my girlfriend lost interest, and started getting huffy.  hehe.  i plan on going back to talk to him sometime in the near future, and i'm taking along my video camera as well (already asked him, and he said "sure").  

kinda off the subject of the thread, but i just thought it was very cool to actually meet an old wwII pilot who was shot down by someone famous like herr rall, and actually knew him after the war as well, and wanted to share it with you'se guys.      

when i go back to talk to him, i'll make sure to take a photo or two, and will post 'em for you other wwII nuts like myself.

The Tuckster

"The first time I ever saw a jet, I shot it down."
Col. Chuck Yeager, USAAF
 
 

[ 01-04-2002: Message edited by: Tuck ]

[Octavius]

That is really neat Tuck!  Will be looking forward to more stories =].  Strange how one can stumble across ordinary people with amazing experiences.

My uncle served in the wehrmacht as a tank commander under Rommel in North Africa.  He was injured and sent back to a hospital in Bremen, then sent to the eastern front.  After his time there, he was transferred to the western front.. I think in late 1943.  His company was ordered to the west.  But since supplies and gasoline were short, they ran out of gas and were forced to ditch their vehicles.  They ended up heading to a nearby town and 'borrowing' bicycles to ride to the front.   hehe

Even the small stories fascinate me.  He really is a great guy.      

oct out

[ 01-04-2002: Message edited by: Octavius ]

[Wilbus]

Looks like him for what ya can see of his left eye, then again, many pilots might have looked like this when aiming  

[skernsk]

It's not Rall.  It's hblair in his 109....

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by skernsk:
It's not Rall.  It's hblair in his 109....

I believe you are right, after scrapping some old dust off that photo, here's what lies beneath...

 

[skernsk]

LOL!  Scary.....