In 1933 the Nazi Party seized power and Rall, deciding upon a military career, joined the Army in 1936 to train as an infantry soldier.

Rall was assigned to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) and flew combat patrols during the Phoney War period on the Western Front.

Rall ended the war with an unsuccessful stint commanding Jagdgeschwader 300 (JG 300—300th Fighter Wing) near Salzburg, Austria, where he surrendered in May 1945.

Rall attacked them and shot down one, stating: "I was lucky in my first dogfight, but it did give me a hell of a lot of self-confidence ... and a scaring, because I was also hit by many bullets.

"[23] Rall placed the blame for losses on faulty tactics; such as tying the Bf 109s to close escort of the slow Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers.

[26] Several of the highest claiming pilots of JG 52, Gerhard Barkhorn, Alfred Grislawski, Adolf Dickfeld were not successful over England.

Gruppe JG 52 fought for air superiority during the First Battle of Kharkov; an autumn offensive to seize the industrialized regions of Eastern Ukraine.

Gruppe also flew missions from Kerch on 12 May, from Sarabuz and Saky on 14 May, Zürichtal, present-day Solote Pole, a village near the urban settlement Kirovske on 23 May, and Yevpatoria on 25/26 June.

[70] Rall noted the improvement of Soviet pilot training and regarded the Kuban as the first serious test of the German fighter force on the Eastern Front.

[77]On 9 July, following combat with Soviet fighters, Rall made a forced landing in his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 20019) near Petrovka, north of Belgorod.

Rall stated that after Kursk his pilots no longer believed the endsieg, though the German army managed to stabilize the front somewhat over the following weeks.

Rall claimed two LaGG-3 fighters shot down on 29 August 1943 in the vicinity of Kuybyshev, present-day Samara, taking his total to 200 aerial victories.

Rall claimed his 273rd and last aerial victory on the Eastern Front on 16 April 1944 over a Lavochkin La-5 fighter aircraft in the vicinity of Sevastopol.

The purpose of his Bf 109-equipped group was to engage the American escorting fighters, to allow the slower, heavier, and well-armed Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Sturmbock (Battering Ram) aircraft to intercept the bombers.

[99] In total 886 four-engined bombers, escorted by 980 fighters, headed for the five main synthetic fuel factories in middle Germany in the area of Leuna, Merseburg, Böhlen and Zeitz, and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and Brüx.

[100] That day, Rall was leading a Staffel of Bf 109s and bounced a flight of three Republic P-47 Thunderbolts led by Colonel Hubert Zemke.

Rall's left thumb was hit, and after he cleared the ice from his windshield with his remaining good hand, he decided there was no escape, and bailed out.

[101] In the autumn, 1944, Rall moved to Bad Wörishofen and became an instructor at the Verbandsführerschule of the General der Jagdflieger (Training School for Unit Leaders).

Part of this training involved flying captured Allied aircraft and preparing notes for student pilots on their capabilities and deficiencies.

[103] On 20 February 1945, he was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 300 (JG 300—300th Fighter Wing), operating from airfields in southern Germany during the last months of the war.

On one mission, the pilots claimed an optimistic total of 50 to 60 aircraft at the cost of 24 killed to the ever present USAAF fighter escorts, while Rall was hospitalized again due to his wounds.

[117] Rall was sent to the United States to train on modern jets at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas.

Hauser claimed that Lockheed had made a series of bribes which included the Christian Social Union in Bavaria and the head of the F-104 task-force Rall.

[124] In the summer 1966, he visited Fort Bliss where the Bundesluftwaffe had a training facility under command of Rall's former World War II comrade Brigadegeneral Walter Krupinski.

[131] In this capacity, he visited Washington DC and Fort Bliss[132] On 22 November 1973, Rall in his role as Inspector of the Air Force gave Jagdgeschwader 74 (JG 74—74th Fighter Wing) the honorary name "Mölders".

[136] When news of the general's ill-advised visit to Cape Town broke, German weekly magazine Stern claimed Rall held high-level meetings with South African officials and emphasized the personal nature of the trip.

The political embarrassment, following a concerted press campaign, encouraged Federal Minister of Defense Georg Leber to retire Rall in October 1975.

However, the South African ambassador in West Germany, Donald Bell Sole [de], had informed Leber six months prior to the visit of Rall's travel plans.

When Der Spiegel published a copy of this letter in October 1974, the South African government was forced to recall Sole from West Germany.

[139] Buck was the owner of a company based in Fronau, present-day part of Schneizlreuth, which had specialized on defensive systems against missiles, and laser and radar guided weapons of all types.