Rudolf Frank (19 August 192027 April 1944) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a night fighter ace credited with 45 enemy aircraft shot down in 183 combat missions. All of his victories were claimed over the Western Front in nocturnal Defense of the Reich missions against the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command.
Born in Karlsruhe-Grünwinkel, Frank volunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany in 1939 after finishing school. Following flight training, he was posted to Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (NJG 3—3rd Night Fighter Wing) in 1941. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 6 April 1944 following his 42nd aerial victory. Three weeks later, on 27 April 1944, he and his crew attacked an Avro Lancaster, which exploded and fatally damaged their own aircraft. Frank ordered his crew to bail out but was unable to save himself. He received posthumous promotion to Leutnant (second lieutenant) and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
Early life and career
Frank was born on 19 August 1920 in Karlsruhe-Grünwinkel in what was the Republic of Baden of the Weimar Republic; Grünwinkel is now a borough located in the southwest suburbs of Karlsruhe. Frank was the older of two sons of a shoemaker. He attended the Volksschule (elementary school) in Grünwinkel from 1926 to 1930, when he was enrolled in the Realgymnasium—a secondary school built on the mid-level Realschule—where he attained his Mittlere Reife (school leaving certificate) in 1939.
Even as a boy, Frank had wanted to become a pilot. World War II had begun on 1 September 1939 and he volunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe. Following his basic military training, he took flying instruction at the pilot school in Zeltweg. Here he qualified to fly the Bücker Bü 131, Bü 133 and Bü 181, the Klemm Kl 35, the Arado Ar 66, Ar 68 and Ar 96, the Focke-Wulf Fw 58, and the Junkers W 34 and Junkers Ju 52. In October 1940 he transferred to Nachtjagdschule 1 (1st Night Fighter School) at Schleißheim near Munich, formerly the Zerstörerschule 1 (ZS 1—1st Destroyer School). There he specialized as a night fighter pilot in the 2nd Squadron under the command of Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant) Günther Specht.
World War II
World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. Following the 1939 aerial Battle of the Heligoland Bight, Royal Air Force (RAF) attacks shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign. By mid-1940, Generalmajor (Brigadier General) Josef Kammhuber had established a night air defense system dubbed the Kammhuber Line. It consisted of a series of control sectors equipped with radars and searchlights and an associated night fighter. Each sector named a Himmelbett (canopy bed) would direct the night fighter into visual range with target bombers. In 1941, the Luftwaffe started equipping night fighters with airborne radar such as the Lichtenstein radar. This airborne radar did not come into general use until early 1942.
Frank was posted to the 1. Ergänzungsstaffel (1st Supplemental Training Squadron) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (NJG 3—3rd Night Fighter Wing) on 5 February 1941. The unit was stationed at Stuttgart-Echterdingen (now Stuttgart Airport). Initially he flew with radio operator (Bordfunker) Gefreiter (Private) Willimowski before Hans-Georg Schierholz was assigned as his permanent radio operator. Frank and Schierholz had already formed a crew at the Nachtjagdschule 1 at Schleißheim. The two were then assigned to 1. Staffel (1st Squadron) of NJG 3 stationed at Vechta. 1. Staffel was under the command of Staffelkapitän Oberleutnant Walter Milius. This unit was equipped with the C-variant of the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter. Both Frank and Schierholz were promoted to the rank of Gefreiter on 1 March 1941.
Night fighter pilot
Frank and Schierholz flew Bf 110 C-4 "L1+GH" on their first operational combat mission on 9 May 1941, without success. They flew their second mission on 12 May and another nine missions before claiming their first aerial victory during the night of 3/4 July. The mission started at 22:45 from Oldenburg and intercepted a Royal Air Force (RAF) Vickers Wellington at 00:54, which crashed north of Grafeld/Oldenburg. For this achievement, Frank and Schierholz were awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class (). On 15 July, they claimed their second victory, a Handley Page Halifax that they shot down at 01:05 northwest of Meppen. The victory was, however, credited to the anti-aircraft artillery.