Rudolf Sinner was born in 1915 in Austria. In the thirties he served in the Austrian Army in the horsedrawn artillery. After the Austrian Bundesheer became part of the Wehrmacht, Sinner served in an AA unit during the Poland campaign, in 1940 he became a fighter pilot, serving with JG27, JG54 and JG7. On April 4th 1945, when he was already CO of the III. Gruppe, he and other 262s encountered P-51s of the 339th FG. His aircraft was hit which caused burns on Sinner´s face and hands. He bailed out at low level, his parachute didn´t fully open when he hit the ground and landed in a field. His open parachute then dragged him into a barbed wire fence. The P-51 attempted to strafe him but he played "deadman" and the Mustang flew off. Sinner made it to safety but due to his severe injuries he didn´t participate in the war anymore until its end. Sinner was credited with 39 victories in 305 missions. He was shot down 12 times, had to bail out 3 times, and was wounded 5 times.
