Gunther Rall was born in 1918, his war service begun during the first few months of World War II  in France, then onto the Eastern front and finished back in Germany in defence of his homeland. Gunther scored his first victories during the Battle Of Britain, by July 1940 he was leading 8./JG52 after transferring to the Eastern front his air  victories mounted very quickly. A crash hospitalised him for many months and he didn't think he would ever fly again but after nine months he was back in the cockpit, when commanding 111./JG52 gained the wings 500th victory. Gunther was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. Rall flew 621 missions and was shot down five times. He is the 3rd highest scoring Ace in history.  

On the 12th of May 1944 Rall would engage with one of the most famous fighter groups of all time known as Zemkes Wolf Pack. In a sky filled with enemy fighters Rall was quick to take advantage hitting many targets, but when Ralls wingman bailed out with engine problems Rall found himself face to face with 4 P-47s. He was hit in the engine and was chased down to treetop level, here Ralls 109 was hit three times, engine, coolers and the final burst cut through the left side of  the cockpit. A bullet sliced through Ralls flying glove and severed his thumb. Still the p-47 was on his tail Rall pushed the stick between his legs with his hand now useless. Rall had no choice but to bail out.  After the War, Rall was involved in developing combat systems for the Lockheed F-104 Jet fighters for NATO, and in 1971 he was appointed Inspecteur der Luftwaffe in the West German Air Force.

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