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  3. December
  4. 18
  5. Hans-Ulrich Rudel

Deaths on December 18

Hans-Ulrich Rudel
1982Dec, 18

Hans-Ulrich Rudel

Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German colonel and pilot (b. 1916)
Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2 July 1916 – 18 December 1982) was a German ground-attack pilot during World War II and a post-war neo-Nazi activist.

The most decorated German pilot of the war and the only recipient of the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, Rudel was credited with the destruction of 519 tanks, one battleship, one cruiser, 70 landing craft and 150 artillery emplacements. He claimed 51 aerial victories and the destruction of more than 800 vehicles. He flew 2,530 ground-attack missions exclusively on the Eastern Front, usually flying the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bomber.

Rudel surrendered to US forces in 1945 and emigrated to Argentina. An unrepentant Nazi, he helped fugitives escape to Latin America and the Middle East, and sheltered Josef Mengele, the former SS doctor at Auschwitz. He worked as an arms dealer to several right-wing regimes in South America, for which he was placed under observation by the US Central Intelligence Agency.

In the West German federal election of 1953, Rudel was the top candidate for the far-right German Reich Party but was not elected. Following the fall of Perón, Rudel moved to Paraguay, where he acted as a foreign representative for several German companies.

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Events on 1982

  • 4May

    Falklands War

    Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War.
  • 25May

    Falklands War

    HMS Coventry is sunk during the Falklands War.
  • 6Jun

    Operation Peace for the Galilee

    The Lebanon War begins. Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon during Operation Peace for the Galilee, eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.
  • 11Sep

    1982 Invasion of Lebanon

    The international forces that were guaranteeing the safety of Palestinian refugees following Israel's 1982 Invasion of Lebanon leave Beirut. Five days later, several thousand refugees are massacred in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps by Phalange forces.
  • 14Oct

    War on Drugs

    U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaims a War on Drugs.

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