Rudolf Trenkel
Rudolf Trenkel (17 January 1918 – 26 April 2001) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II. As a flying ace, he was credited with 138 victories and was a recipient of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Career. Trenkel served in "Jagdgeschwader" 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) during the Battle of Britain. From February to June 1942, he was assigned to "Jagdgeschwader" 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) only to be transferred back to JG 52 where he was assigned to 2. "Staffel" (2nd squadron). On 1 November 1943, Trenkel made a forced  landing in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 ("Werknummer" 140167—factory number) north of Dzhankoi following combat with Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack and Yakovlev Yak-9 fighter aircraft. In 1944, he was forced to bail out five times within ten days. On 14 July 1944, Trenkel was credited with his 100th aerial victory. He was the 83rd Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. Squadron leader. On 15 August 1944, Trenkel was appointed "Staffelkapitän" (squadron leader) of the recreated 2. "Staffel" of JG 52. The original 2. "Staffel" under the command of "Oberleutnant" Paul-Heinrich Dähne had been withdrawn from the Eastern  Front and transferred west to fight in Defense of the Reich in early June 1944. There the "Staffel" was subordinated to III. "Gruppe" of "Jagdgeschwader" 11 (JG 11—11th Fighter Wing) and later became the 12. "Staffel" of JG 11. Trenkel formed the new 2. "Staffel" of JG 52 at Kraków from 15 to 26 August. On 16 October 1944, JG 52 lost six aircraft in combat with the French "Armée de l'Air" Normandie-Niemen fighter regiment serving on the Eastern Front. One of the pilots shot down was Trenkel who survived by bailing out. Trenkel and other soldiers of JG  52 surrendered to the 90th US Infantry Division near Písek on 8 May 1945 and became a prisoner of war (POW). The soldiers were initially interned at a POW camp at Strakonice where on 14 May, Trenkel married his fiancé Ida Sehnal who was among the civilian refuges. The wedding ceremony was held by "Oberst" Hermann Graf. The witnesses to the wedding were "Major" Adolf Borchers and "Hauptmann" Erich Hartmann. On 15 May, Trenkel and most of the JG 52 personnel were handed over by the American forces to the Soviet Union. Summary of career. Aerial victory claims. According to  US historian David T. Zabecki, Trenkel was credited with 138 aerial victories. Spick also lists Trenkel with 138 aerial victories claimed in over 500 combat missions, all but one on the Eastern Front. Matthews and Foreman, authors of "Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims", researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 138 aerial victory claims, plus three further unconfirmed claims. This figure includes 131 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and one Western Allies four-engined bomber. Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = "Planquadrat"), for example "PQ 59191". The Luftwaffe grid map () covered all  of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.