  
Early in the morning on May 12, 1944, Major Gunther Rall was awakened by the Division Commander. A large formation of American bombers and fighters was headed towards Germany to bomb six oil refineries in the area. Rall had taken command of II/JG11 barely a month earlier, when he left III/JG52 on the Eastern front. Based at Hustedt airfield, located near the town of Cele, just north east of Hannover, II/JG11's primary task was to engage the American fighter escorts so that the more heavily armed Fw-190's could attack the bombers.
When the signal to scramble came, Rall led 25 Bf-109's from Husted and headed south west towards a formation of eight hundred B-17 and B-24 bombers, plus twelve hundred escorting fighters. Descending from 35,000 feet to 26,000 feet, Rall's group ran straight into a formation of P47 Thunderbolts from the 56th Fighter Group. Major Rall quickly shot down two of the P47's but lost his wingman in the melee, the latter having an engine failure. After executing a split-S maneuver, Rall foung himself boxed in by four P-47s from"Zemke's Wolfpack". He tried desperately to out-maneuver his opponents at treetop level, but hie left thumb was off and his Messerschmitt was heavily damaged. With his aircraft on the verge of structural failure, Rall "bailed out" at low altitude and was rescued by farmers. When the bombing attack was over, the farmers arranged for an ambulance to take Major Rall to the hospital.
Gunther Rall eventually recuperated and ended the war as Wing Commander of JG 300. His final victory tally was 275 confirmed aerial victories- the third highest in history.
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