Horst Rudat

Horst Rudat (born 3 May 1920 in Wirtkallen, district Insterburg, East Prussia; died 31 August 1982 in Laaber/Waldelzerberg) was a German World War II Luftwaffe bomber pilot. After the war he joined the Bundeswehr and attained the rank of Generalmajor.

In the weeks following Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of France, Hauptmann Rudat was tasked with the leadership of a task force in 2./Kampfgeschwader 101. The task force was experimenting with the Mistel, a Luftwaffe aircraft bombing system, based broadly on the parasite aircraft concept. Rudat led a formation of 4 Mistel aircraft against the invasion fleet of off Normandy in the night of 24/25 June 1944. The HMS Nith, a British "River Class" frigate, was damaged killing nine of her crew.

Awards

 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (9 August 1941)
 * 1st Class (7 September 1941)
 * Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (27 May 1942)
 * German Cross in Gold on 27 July 1942 as Oberleutnant in the 3./KG 55
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 24 March 1943 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 2./KG 55