Amputee fighter aces.

[JDupre5762]

OK I know a lot about Douglas Bader.

I want to know more about a Soviet pilot named Alexei Maraslev or some version
of that. Christophers old book Air Aces has a an intriguing story about this
Guards Regiment Major who was shot down and spent 19 days crawling through
woods on injured legs. Rescued he lost both logs below the knee but returned
to his unit. He is credited with between 11 and 19 German aircraft. Somewhere
I read about other Soviet amputee pilots as well but damned if I can find the
book now. Anyone got more information? Was Maraslev's story a figment of some
propogandist? Web searches turn up a lot about old Dougie.

John Dupre'

[rb]

JDupre5762 wrote:
> OK I know a lot about Douglas Bader.
>
> I want to know more about a Soviet pilot named Alexei Maraslev or some version
> of that. Christophers old book Air Aces has a an intriguing story about this
> Guards Regiment Major who was shot down and spent 19 days crawling through
> woods on injured legs. Rescued he lost both logs below the knee but returned
> to his unit. He is credited with between 11 and 19 German aircraft. Somewhere
> I read about other Soviet amputee pilots as well but damned if I can find the
> book now. Anyone got more information? Was Maraslev's story a figment of some
> propogandist? Web searches turn up a lot about old Dougie.
>
> John Dupre'
How about Hans-Ulrich Rudel? A stuka tankbuster 'ace' - he may have shot
down a few planes as well!

cheers
rb

[Cub Driver]

Yohei Hinoki was a lieutenant in the 64th Sentai, flying retractable
gear Hayabusa fighters (Oscars), fought against the AVG Flying Tigers
in Burma. Later, defending Burma against Allied air attack, he was
shot down and lost a leg in consequence. He was sent back to Japan
(making him the lucky one!) and learned to fly again as a flight
instructor. Toward the end of the war, the JAAF was in such need of
fighter pilots that Hinoki climbed into a fighter and flew combat
missions again. He was credited with shooting down a P-51 on July 16,
1945, supposedly his 12th victory. (I found JAAF credits hugely
inflated, though not nearly so inflated as those of the JNAF.)

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
Expedition sailboat charters www.expeditionsail.com

[Krztalizer]

>
>How about Hans-Ulrich Rudel? A stuka tankbuster 'ace' - he may have shot
>down a few planes as well!

He did, as did his hard-ass top cover FW 190 pal, the mercurial Hauptmann Lau
(also a one-legger). Several others, but he really stands out...
figuratively...

v/r
Gordon
<====(A+C====>
USN SAR

Its always better to lose -an- engine, not -the- engine.

[tffy]

(JDupre5762) wrote in message >...
> OK I know a lot about Douglas Bader.
>
> I want to know more about a Soviet pilot named Alexei Maraslev or some version
> of that. Christophers old book Air Aces has a an intriguing story about this
> Guards Regiment Major who was shot down and spent 19 days crawling through
> woods on injured legs. Rescued he lost both logs below the knee but returned
> to his unit. He is credited with between 11 and 19 German aircraft. Somewhere
> I read about other Soviet amputee pilots as well but damned if I can find the
> book now. Anyone got more information? Was Maraslev's story a figment of some
> propogandist? Web searches turn up a lot about old Dougie.
>
> John Dupre'

http://www.vor.ru/English/Footprints/excl_next825_eng.html

[Tom Cervo]

James MacLachlan lost an arm over Malta, and returned to flying with an
artificial arm. His personal insignia was a uniformed arm being drilled by a
bullet as it was giving the Vee.

[Gernot Hassenpflug]

>>>>> "Krztalizer" == Krztalizer > writes:

>> How about Hans-Ulrich Rudel? A stuka tankbuster 'ace' - he may
>> have shot down a few planes as well!

Krztalizer> He did, as did his hard-ass top cover FW 190 pal, the
Krztalizer> mercurial Hauptmann Lau (also a one-legger). Several
Krztalizer> others, but he really stands out... figuratively...

Krztalizer> v/r Gordon <====(A+C====> USN SAR

Krztalizer> Its always better to lose -an- engine, not -the-
Krztalizer> engine.

A nice site with lots of pilots' writeups. This is the main page:

http://www.pilotenbunker.de/index2.html

--
G Hassenpflug * IJN & JMSDF equipment/history fan

[VV]

(JDupre5762) wrote in message >...
> OK I know a lot about Douglas Bader.
>
> I want to know more about a Soviet pilot named Alexei Maraslev

His name was Maresiev (or Maresieff).

> or some version
> of that. Christophers old book Air Aces has a an intriguing story about this
> Guards Regiment Major who was shot down and spent 19 days crawling through
> woods on injured legs.

Not just injured but frostbitten, too. That was in winter. I read a
story long ago titled "Will to live" about that.

> Rescued he lost both logs below the knee but returned
> to his unit.

He didn't agree to be operated on until he was told he'd die of
gangrene without an operation.

He of course didn't want to lose his legs and he wanted to fly, too.
Someone in the hospital told him of an WWI allied pilot (French,
British?) who had lost his leg(s) due to a German dum-dum bullet but
was still able to fly. And he agreed to the operation.

VV

[Matt Wiser]

rb > wrote:
>JDupre5762 wrote:
>> OK I know a lot about Douglas Bader.
>>
>> I want to know more about a Soviet pilot named
>Alexei Maraslev or some version
>> of that. Christophers old book Air Aces has
>a an intriguing story about this
>> Guards Regiment Major who was shot down and
>spent 19 days crawling through
>> woods on injured legs. Rescued he lost both
>logs below the knee but returned
>> to his unit. He is credited with between
>11 and 19 German aircraft. Somewhere
>> I read about other Soviet amputee pilots as
>well but damned if I can find the
>> book now. Anyone got more information? Was
>Maraslev's story a figment of some
>> propogandist? Web searches turn up a lot
>about old Dougie.
>>
>> John Dupre'
>How about Hans-Ulrich Rudel? A stuka tankbuster
>'ace' - he may have shot
>down a few planes as well!
>
>cheers
>rb
>
Rudel has (depending on which story you read about him) either 9 or 11
Soviet aircraft kills.

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[JasiekS]

U¿ytkownik "JDupre5762" > napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci
...
> Was Maraslev's story a figment of some propogandist?

There is the book by Boris Polevoy "Povest' o nastoyashtshem tsheloveke"
(Story about a real man) about this personality. Pilot's name in the
book is Mereseyev (if memory serves...) and the book is a little bit of
propaganda, but the model for this character was real.

brgds
JasiekS
Warsaw, Poland