Rudolf Rickenbacher, son of a village physician, came from Gutenburg-Lotzwil. He was one of the family’s three children. Like his brother Hans, Rudolf had entered active duty in 1939. Both were pilots, but served in different units. In June 1940, as tensions between Nazi Germany and Switzerland escalated. aerial battles broke out over the Jura, in the area between Pruntrut, the Lake of Biel and Basel. German aircraft deliberately invaded Swiss airspace and provoked Swiss pilots. The Swiss pilots took up the fight against the invaders and succeeded in shooting down several aircraft. But the Germans also attacked. Two Swiss fighter planes got hit and crashed. Lieutenant Rudolf Rickenbacher was killed on June 4th. At 3:35 p.m. two Messerschmitt ME-109 planes soared into the blue summer sky at Olten airfield: Rickenbacher and another pilot. The two flew into the area near St.Ursanne, where the previous air battles had originated. Some time later the pilots lost sight of each other. There was no radio contact, because their planes had not yet been equipped with radios. Around 4:00 pm Rickenbacher's plane crashed down in flames; he did not survive the accident. No one had observed the crash. Later investigations into the wreckage showed that Rickenbacher himself had fired, but his ME-109 had also been hit. The German strikes had set Rickenbacher's plane on fire and caused it to crash. Mourning in Lotzwil. There was great dismay in Lotzwil, since Rudolf Rickenbacher was the first member of the army to die in combat during World War II. On June 7th, the funeral service took place at Lotzwil Cemetery, attended by the majority of the population as well as many pilots and high-ranking army officers. A small memorial stone was later placed in Boécourt to commemorate the crash. His brother had crashed and died in a training flight during the last days of the war. His sister had no descendants.
Rudolf Rickenbacher Story
