WWII: Soviet General Ivan Kozhedub, the highest scoring Allied ace of the war with 62 victories, recalled fighting against JG-52 many times. He also felt that the La-7 was the best Soviet fighter.

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Rall: Yes, it was excellent. I remember once I chased a Lavochkin a great distance at full throttle and I still could not get him. He was damned fast. Then by way of foreign aid, particularly in the south around the Caucasus where I was fighting, they brought in Spitfires and the Bell P-39 Airacobra, which I liked and the Russians liked but which was inferior to the Bf-109. It had the engine behind the cockpit. Now the big thing in the Home Defense as far as problems was the P-51. The P-51 was a damned good airplane and it had tremendous endurance, which for us was a new dimension. The P-47, which as you know shot me down, we knew right away. It had tremendous diving speed and could run up to 1,400 kilometers per hour, where the Bf-109 was limited to 1,000 kph. I learned this quickly when they chased me, and I could do nothing else. The structural layout design of the P-47 was much stronger, yet I consider the P-51 the best battle horse you had of all the fighter escorts.

WWII: How did the war end for you?

Rall: I was at Ainring near Salzburg when we finished the war. I walked with my staff, retreating at night, and we went to the Americans, who did not care too much for us. So at daylight we decided to try and go home. At Lake Chiemsee we could not go any farther and were captured. The Americans took me back to Salzburg and put me in prison. From Salzburg to Neu Ulm, then to Heilbronn, and there the CIC (Counter Intelligence Corps) saw me. They knew my name and they said that all air force officers should report, and they took me very quickly to interrogation. Then seven of us were taken to England.

WWII: Is it possible that the Americans and British wanted to recruit Luftwaffe officers since it was the beginning of the Cold War?

Rall: Yes, and there was a situation that I will never forget. There was a Mr. Reed, at least that was the name he gave me, his CIC name anyway. When he came to pick me up he asked me, “Major, I understand that you flew the 262,” and I answered, “Yes, I did.” He knew more about me and what I had done than I knew myself. Then he asked, “Are you willing to assist us in building up a jet force?” Well, the war was over, so I said, “Yes, sure.” He also wanted to know if I was willing to go to England, and then to America. I went to England for interrogation. His last question was, “Would you be willing to fly with us against the Japanese?” Well, here I said “No,” and he asked me why not. I told him that they were former allies, and I could not do that.

WWII: Did you consider that a matter of honor?

Rall: Sure.

WWII: How did you become involved in the new Luftwaffe?

Rall: General Steinhoff and Dieter Hrabak were already preparing this. I was in industry and Salem school, where my wife was a doctor, and I was in the organization. Well, they sent me letters saying, “You have to come” and so on. The first of January 1956, I was called and I went to Bonn and there I joined the air force again at the rank of major. From there on I underwent the refresher training, at first in Germany, and later we went to train in the Republic F-84 (Thunderjet) in the United States. This was at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, and from then on I spent quite a lot of time in your country.

WWII: Luke Air Force Base must have been quite a change for you from the forests in Germany.

Rall: Oh, yes, it was a beautiful time. Just beautiful. I remember those early days were great. It looked different than it looks today. You know, Luke Air Force Base and the whole Arizona area was just beginning to build up. It was not as extensive as it is today. Phoenix was not as big a city as it is now, and it was beautiful. It was such a beautiful time and all we did was fly, and then I came back. I was appointed to a staff (position), and then I became the project officer for the F-104–you know, the Starfighter– which took me again to the States.

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