Hans-Karl Stepp was a German World War II Luftwaffe Stuka ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves The Knight's Cross was awarded on 4 February 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 7./StG 2 "Immelmann" after 418 combat missions, and the Oak Leaves on 25 April 1944 as Oberstleutnant and Geschwaderkommodore of SG 2 "Immelmann"after over 800 combat missions. ...more

Hans-Karl Stepp was a German World War II Luftwaffe Stuka ace, and fought in the Invasion of Poland and Battle of France with Sturzkampfgeschwader 76. He also served in the Reichsluftwaffenministerium in Berlin. He flew over 800 sorties - see sidebar....more

Johannes Wiese was a German World War II fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe from 1935 until the end of World War II on 8 May 1945. His most successful day was 5 July 1943 when he shot down twelve enemy aircraft in one mission. Johannes Wiese was officially credited with 133 victories claimed in 480 combat missions. Additionally he had 25 more unconfirmed claims. Among his claims are 70 Il-2 Stormoviks. Soviet fighter pilots therefore greatly respected Wiese, and referred to him as the "Lion of Kuban." On December 1, 1944, Wiese became Geschwaderkommodore of the JG 77. Only three weeks later he was severely injured when, following ejection at an altitude of more than 9000 meters after combat with British Spitfires, his parachute ruptured 80 meters above ground. He spent the rest of the winter in hospital, and was replaced as commander by Erich Leie. He surrendered to U.S. forces at the end of the war but was released from captivity only weeks later. However, Wiese spent over four years in Soviet POW camps from September 1945 onward, having been denounced by German communists. ...more

Curt Ehle was a highly decorated Oberstleutnant der Reserve in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves while in command of Panzer-Brigade 102 in North Africa. He took part in the Invasion of Poland, Battle of France, North African Campaign, Operation Battleaxe, Operation Crusader, Battle of Gazala, First Battle of El Alamein, Second Battle of El Alamein and the Eastern Front....more

Helmut Lipfert was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Lipfert ranks as the world's thirteenth fighter ace. Lipfert was credited with 203 victories achieved in 687 combat missions. All his victories were claimed over the Eastern Front and included a P-51 Mustang, 41 Yakovlev Yak-1, 41 Yakovlev Yak-9 fighters, two four-engine bombers and 39 Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft. He was shot down fifteen times, without being injured....more

Wolfgang Schenck was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves during World War II. Wolfgang Schenck was an important figure in the Luftwaffe's development of the fighter-bomber, as well as pioneering work in the use of the Me 262 jet-bomber. He has 18 Victories in the air and destroyed over 30 vehicles on the ground....more

Gunther Radusch was a German aircraft pilot, the sixth highest-scoring night fighter flying ace in the German Luftwaffe during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. He claimed one victory during the Spanish Civil War, the remaining 64 victories were all claimed at night in over 140 combat missions, including the destruction of 57 four-engine bombers....more

Helmut Bruck (16 February 1913 – 25 August 2001) was a highly decorated Oberst in the Luftwaffe during World War II, and one of only 882 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. He fought in the Invasion of Poland, Battle of France, Battle of Britain Invasion of Yugoslavia, Battle of Greece, Operation Barbarossa Battle of Kiev (1941), Battle of Moscow, Third Battle of Kharkov Battle of Kursk and Lower Dnieper Offensive with over 950 sorties. ...more

Karl Kennel was a German World War II Luftwaffe ground attack pilot and flying ace. He flew 957 combat missions and is credited with 34 victories, including 3 on the Western Front. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Kennel is also believed to have shot down Soviet fighter ace Nikolay Abramashvili over Stalingrad on 30 November 1942....more

Wilhelm "Willy" Antrup was a highly decorated Oberstleutnant in the Luftwaffe during World War II, and one of only 882 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. He fought in the Spanish Civil War, Invasion of Poland, Battle of the Netherlands, Battle of Belgium, Battle of France, Battle of Britain, Operation Barbarossa, Battle of Kiev (1941), Battle of the Caucasus, Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk. See sidebar for more details. ...more

Paul Anton Guido Zorner was a German night fighter pilot in World War II. Zorner is credited with 59 nocturnal aerial victories claimed in 272 missions, including 110 night fighter missions. See sidebar for more information....more

Major Wolfgang Späte (1911-1997) was a German World War II Luftwaffe flying ace. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, scoring 99 Victories flying aircraft as deverse as gliders to both the Me-163 "Komet" and the Me0262 jet fighter. See sidebar for more details....more

Gerhard "Stutz" Stüdemann was a highly decorated Hauptmann in the Luftwaffe during World War II, and one of only 882 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Gerhard Studemann is credited with destroying 117 tanks in 996 missions and was rated 26th among Stuka pilots....more

Heinz Wittchow von Brese-Winiary (13 January 1914 – 3 December 1995) was a highly decorated Oberst in the Wehrmacht during World War II, and a recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. He led Panzer-Fusilier-Regiments and commanded "Grossdeutschland". He fought in the Invasion of Poland, Battle of France, Operation Barbarossa, Battle of Brody (1941), Battle of Rostov (1941), Second Battle of Kharkov Battle of the Caucasus, Battle of Stalingrad, Lower Dnieper Offensive, Cherkassy Pocket Battle of Memel, and the East Prussian Offensive. See sidebar. ...more

Gerhard Thyben was a German former Luftwaffe fighter ace flew 385 combat missions and claimed 157 aerial victories. He claimed 152 victories on the Eastern Front, including 28 Il-2 Sturmoviks and five victories on the Western Front. He flew 22 fighter-bomber missions on which he claimed two aircraft and seven trucks destroyed on the ground. On 8 May 1945 he claimed his last victory over the Baltic Sea. He shot down a Petlyakov Pe-2 that was almost certainly looking for German refugee ships escaping from the besieged Courland Pocket. Thyben caught the reconnaissance Pe-2 at 07:54 and achieved what very well might have been the last Focke-Wulf Fw 190 victory of World War II. Thyben surrendered to the British on touching down. Following his release in 1946 he traveled to Spain and Argentina before serving as an instructor with the Colombian Air Force....more

Lieutenant-General Günther Rall was the third most successful fighter ace in history. He achieved a total of 275 victories during World War II: 272 on the Eastern Front, of which 241 were against Soviet fighters. He flew a total of 621 combat missions, was shot down eight times and was wounded three times. He fought in the invasion of France, the Battle of Britain, in the Balkan Campaign and over Crete. He began the conflict as a young Second Lieutenant, and was a Major and Geschwaderkommodore of JG 300 at the surrender. He claimed all of his victories in the Messerschmitt Bf 109. In October 1943, Rall had his best month, downing 40 aircraft. He later rejoined the Luftwaffe in 1953. Awards include the Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (17 November 1941), Combined Pilots-Observation Badge, Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (23 May 1940), 1st Class (July 1940), Wound Badge (1939) in Gold, German Cross in Gold on 15 December 1941 as Oberleutnant in the 8./JG 52, "Crete" Cuffband, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords Knight's Cross on 3 September 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 8./JG 52, the 134th Oak Leaves on 26 October 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 8./JG 52, the 34th Swords on 12 September 1943 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur in the III./JG 52 and the Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for fighter pilots in Gold with penant "600". Mentioned twice in the Wehrmachtbericht "Honorary Fellow" Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) Grosss Bundesverdienstkreuz. mit Stern (1973)...more

Adolf "Addi" Glunz was a World War II flying ace in the Luftwaffe credited with 71 aerial victories achieved in 574 combat missions. He engaged the enemy on 238 occasions and claimed all but three victories over the Western Front. His first victory claim was a Spitfire on 7 May and a second on 19 May. He then claimed 3 victories on the Eastern Front, and two tanks destroyed. Glunz then was posted to II./Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" (JG 26—26th Fighter Wing) based in France in July 1941. By the end of 1942 he had some 23 victories. On 28 March, Glunz intercepted six Mosquito bombers near Dunkirk at low level. He succeeded in shooting 2 bombers within one minute for his 28th and 29th victories. In August 1943, he became the only Non-commissioned officer in JG 26 to receive the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). Oberfeldwebel Glunz became Staffelkapitän (squadron leader), 5./JG 26 in January 1944. On 22 February 1944, he claimed 6 victories in a day, including five four-engined bombers. He was commissioned as a Leutnant in April 1944. In March 1944, Glunz was appointed Staffelkapitän of 6./JG 26. Operating over the Invasion front in June 1944, Glunz claimed 3 P-47 fighters shot down on 10 June. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 24 June 1944 after 65 victories. He recorded his 71st and last victory, a Spitfire, on 1 January 1945. He is credited with 5 ground victories during Operation Bodenplatte. In March 1945, Glunz was transferred to the III./Ergänzungs-Jagdgeschwader 2 (EJG 2—2nd Replacement Training Unit) for conversion training for the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet. Assigned to Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7—7th Fighter Wing) he served the remainder of the war with this unit. However he never flew the Me 262 in combat. Although continuously in action until 1945, "Addi" Glunz was never shot down or wounded in aerial combat. He was wounded once on the ground when he was showered with glass fragments during a bombing raid on Abbeville airfield in April 1942. The nearest he came to losing an aircraft was on 13 October 1944, when a broken oil pipe caused his engine failure while in combat with P-47 Thunderbolts....more

Werner Mölders was a World War II German Luftwaffe pilot and the leading German fighter ace in the Spanish Civil War. Mölders became the first pilot in aviation history to claim 100 aerial victories—that is, 100 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft, and was highly decorated for his achievements. He was instrumental in the development of new fighter tactics that led to the finger-four formation. He died in an air crash in which he was a passenger. Mölders joined the Luftwaffe in 1934 at the age of 21. In 1938, he volunteered for service in the Condor Legion, which supported General Francisco Franco's Nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War, and shot down 15 aircraft. With other airmen in Spain, Mölders developed the formation known as the "finger-four". This improved the all-round field of vision and combat flexibility of a flight (Schwarm), enhanced mutual protection, and encouraged pilot initiative. In the "finger-four", the aircraft assumed positions corresponding to the fingertips of an outstretched hand. The fighters flew in two elements (Rotten) of two aircraft each; two Rotten (four aircraft) made up a Schwarm (swarm). In World War II, he became the first fighter pilot to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and on 29 May 1940 was honourably mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht radio report, the first of 11 such mentions. He lost two wingmen in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain, but shot down 53 enemy aircraft. On 5 June 1940, on his 133rd combat mission of the war, engaging in aerial combat for the 32nd time, Mölders was shot down near Compiègne at about 18:40 by Sous lieutenant René Pomier Layrargues, flying a French Air Force Dewoitine D.520. Mölders was taken prisoner but liberated three weeks later upon the armistice with France. While in French captivity, Mölders asked to shake hands with the pilot who had shot him down, and learned that Pomier-Layrargues had been killed in action 30 minutes after their encounter. His initial experience in French captivity was harsh; he sustained abrasions to his face and his Knight's Cross was stolen from him. A French officer, Capitaine Giron, intervened, ensured he was treated fairly, and returned the stolen medal. When a French soldier was later sentenced to death by the Germans for beating Mölders, Mölders approached Hermann Göring and requested clemency, which was granted. With his tally standing at 68 victories, Mölders and his unit, the Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51), were transferred to the Eastern Front in June 1941 for the opening of Operation Barbarossa. By the end of 22 June 1941, the first day of Barbarossa, he had added another four victories to his tally and a week later, Mölders surpassed Manfred von Richthofen's 1918 record of 80 victories. By mid-July, he had 100. In June 1941, JG 51 and the majority of the Luftwaffe were transferred to the Eastern Front in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. On the first day of combat operations, 22 June 1941, Mölders shot down three Tupolev SB bombers and one Curtis Hawk, earning him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern). Mölders was only the second German serviceman to receive this award; Adolf Galland, Fighter Squadron Commodore (Geschwaderkommodore) of Fighter Wing 26, had received one the day before. Prevented from flying further combat missions for propaganda reasons, at the age of 28 Mölders was promoted to Oberst, and appointed Inspector General of Fighters. He was inspecting the Luftwaffe units in the Crimea when he was ordered to Berlin to attend the state funeral of Ernst Udet, the World War I flying ace. On the flight to Berlin, the Heinkel He 111 in which he was travelling as a passenger encountered a heavy thunderstorm during which one of the aircraft's engines failed. While attempting to land, the Heinkel crashed at Breslau, killing Mölders and two others. The German Wehrmacht of the Third Reich and the Bundeswehr of the Federal Republic of Germany both honoured him by naming two fighter wings, a destroyer and barracks after him. However, in 1998, the German Parliament decided that members of the Condor Legion such as Mölders, should "no longer be honoured". Therefore, in 2005, the German Ministry of Defence decided to remove the name "Mölders" from the fighter wing still bearing his name. ...more

Hans-Joachim Marseille was a Luftwaffe fighter pilot and flying ace during World War II. He is noted for his aerial battles during the North African Campaign and his Bohemian lifestyle. One of the most successful fighter pilots, he was nicknamed the "Star of Africa". Marseille claimed all but seven of his "official" 158 victories against the British Commonwealth's Desert Air Force over North Africa, flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter for his entire combat career. No other pilot claimed as many Western Allied aircraft as Marseille....more

Johannes "Macky" Steinhoff was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace of World War II, and later a senior West German Air Force officer and military commander of NATO. He played a significant role in rebuilding the post war Luftwaffe, eventually serving as chief of staff from 1966 – 1970 and then as chairman of NATO's Military Committee from 1971 – 1974. In retirement, Steinhoff became a widely read author of books on German military aviation during the war and the experiences of the German people at that time. Steinhoff was one of very few Luftwaffe pilots who survived to fly operationally through the whole of the war period 1939–45. He was also one of the highest-scoring pilots with 176 victories, and one of the first to fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter in combat as a member of the famous aces squadron Jagdverband 44 led by Adolf Galland. Steinhoff was decorated with both the Oak Leaves and Swords to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He played a role in the so-called Fighter Pilots Conspiracy when several senior air force officers confronted Hermann Göring late in the war. Steinhoff's first combat experience was in 1939 when he fought RAF Vickers Wellington bombers that were attacking coastal industry in the Wilhelmshaven region, shooting down several. In February 1940, he was transferred to 4./JG 52 where he served in both the French campaign and the Battle of Britain. By the end of the Battle of Britain, Steinhoff's score had advanced to six kills. Steinhoff's great strength was in his ability to pass on his knowledge and training to novice pilots, equipping them with the skills to survive and ultimately become experienced fighter pilots. In June 1941 JG 52 were on offensive operations against the Soviet Union, becoming one of the highest scoring units in the Luftwaffe. Steinhoff himself claimed 28 Soviet aircraft shot down in the first month. By August 1941 Steinhoff had attained 35 victories and been awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. In February 1942, he claimed his 100th victory on 31 August, and his 150th on 2 February 1943. Steinhoff remained with JG 52 until March 1943, operating over the Mediterranean. A short time after taking command Steinhoff was shot down by Spitfires and had to crash-land his damaged aircraft. Previously he had been shot down only once during the Battle of Britain. On 28 July 1944, Steinhoff received the Swords to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He ended the war as a jet pilot, first being posted to Kommando Nowotny in October 1944, and then, with the rank of Oberst, as Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 7 in December. JG 7 was equipped with the Me 262 jet fighter, and Steinhoff was allowed to hand-pick several Staffelkapitäne, including Heinz Bär and Gerhard Barkhorn. After the heavy losses suffered during Operation Bodenplatte, Steinhoff and other fighter leaders fell into disfavour following the so-called 'Fighter Pilots Revolt' against what was perceived as the incompetence of Luftwaffe high command, and Hermann Göring in particular. Along with several others, Steinhoff was relieved of his command for challenging Göring's leadership. After a brief period spent in internal exile, Steinhoff transferred to the Jet Experten unit JV 44 then being put together by his close friend and confidant Adolf Galland in early 1945. Steinhoff initially acted as a de facto recruiting officer, persuading a number of veteran Luftwaffe aces to join the unit - some coming out of the Fighter Pilots' Rest Home at Bad Wiessee to do so. Steinhoff himself scored six confirmed kills with the unit. Steinhoff survived nearly 1000 combat missions, only to see his flying career come to an end on the ground. On 18 April 1945, Steinhoff's Me-262 suffered a tyre blow-out and crashed on take-off from Munchen-Riem airfield. Steinhoff suffered severe burns (spending two years in hospital) which left him visibly scarred despite years of reconstructive surgery. His eyelids were rebuilt by a British surgeon after the war. His wartime record was 176 aircraft claimed destroyed, of which 152 were on the Eastern Front, 12 on the Western Front and 12 in the Mediterranean. He also flew 993 operational sorties. During his career as a fighter pilot, Steinhoff was shot down 12 times, but had to bail out only once. Explaining his preference to remain with his damaged aircraft, Steinhoff admitted: "I only bailed out once. I never trusted the parachutes. I always landed my damaged planes, hoping not to get bounced on the way down when I lost power."...more

Oberstleutnant Hermann Hogelback - Luftwaffe KG-6 Lot # 73 Oberstleutnant Hermann Hogeback was a German Luftwaffe bomber pilot and flew more than 100 operational sorties during the Spanish Civil War and 500 during World War II. During World War II he fought in the Invasion of Poland, Battle of France, Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway, Battle of Britain, Battle of Crete, siege of Malta, Mediterranean theatre of operations, over the Eastern Front and in Defense of the Reich. By the end of hostilities, Hogeback's bomber crew held the unique distinction that every member—radio operator, combat observer and air gunner—was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Hogeback and III./LG 1 was relocated to Sicily for operations in the siege of Malta and on 20 January 1941 he was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of the 8./LG 1. On one of his first missions in the Mediterranean theatre he was credited with the sinking of a 10,000 gross register tons (GRT) freighter.His Ju 88 came under attack from 12 British fighters during an aerial reconnaissance flight over the Mediterranean Sea in July 1941. The British fighters broke off the attack following aerial combat, during the course of which Hogeback's radio operator Feldwebel (Sergeant) Willy Lehnert managed to shoot down two of the attackers. Following the German capitulation in May 1945, Hogeback was taken prisoner of war by United States Army forces. He was held captive in London, England, and at Sainte-Mère-Église, France, before being released in September 1945. ...more

Hans-Joachim "Hajo" Herrmann was a Luftwaffe bomber pilot and later after the end of World War II, focusing his activities as a lawyer on civil and criminal law. In World War II, he was a high ranking and influential member of the Luftwaffe. Herrmann was one of the Luftwaffe's most innovative air tacticians during World War II. Beginning his military career as an infantry officer, he was commissioned in the newly formed Luftwaffe in 1935. From 1936 until 1937, he was a bomber pilot in the Condor Legion. During the Spanish civil war, Herrmann joined KG-4, and wrote several well received tactical reports. When World War II began, he flew Heinkel He-111s in Poland and Norway. By 1940, he was Commander of the 7th Staffel of KG-4, and led many attacks on England during the Battle of Britain. In February 1941, his group went to Sicily, where it flew against Malta and Greece. In one such attack, Herrmann dropped a single bomb on an ammunition ship, the SS Clan Fraser; the resulting explosion sank 11 ships and made the Greek port of Piraeus unusable for many months. In early 1942, he was Commander of III./KG 30, attacking Arctic convoys from Norway, including the attacks on PQ-17. July 1942 saw him assigned to the general staff in Germany, where he became a close confidant of Hermann Göring. During his career as a bomber pilot, Herrmann flew 320 missions and sank 12 ships totalling 70,000 tons.In 1942, Herrmann was appointed to the Luftwaffe Operational Staff. Quickly gaining a reputation as one of the leading tactical and operational innovators of the Luftwaffe, he was the creator of the Luftwaffe night fighter wing designated Jagdgeschwader 300, nicknamed Wilde Sau (German: wild boar). Raised as a response to the growing threat of RAF Bomber Command's night raids on the Reich in mid-1943, which had gained the ascendancy over the Luftwaffe's Nachtjäger radar-guided night fighter forces through the use of chaff, Herrmann's theory was for experienced night flying pilots and ex-instructors to be equipped with Fw 190 day fighters and visually 'free-hunt' the bombers by the light of the fires below and with the aid of special 'flare-carrier' Junkers Ju 88s following the bomber streams, as well as the use of the Naxos radar detector unit on some of these single engined fighters, to find RAF night bombers, when they were aiming by radar. Herrmann himself flew more than 50 night fighter missions and claimed nine RAF bombers destroyed. Although JG 300 and subsequent units raised met with promising initial success, the high wastage of both pilots and aircraft due to high accident rates curtailed extensive use of 'Wilde Sau' beyond the start of 1944. In December 1943, Herrmann was appointed Luftwaffe Inspector of Aerial Defence. By 1944, he was Inspector General of night fighters and received the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. At the end of 1944, he led the 9. Flieger-division (J). At this time he was a leading exponent of the tactical deployment of the so-called Rammjäger Sonderkommando Elbe (German: ram fighters, task force Elbe), sent into action in April 1945. Pilot volunteers, often aged 18 to 20, were to be trained to be simply competent enough to control specially lightened and unarmoured Bf 109 fighters and charged with downing Allied bombers by deliberately ramming the tail or control surfaces with the propellers of their aircraft, and thereafter (hopefully) bailing out. Herrmann's intention was to gather a large number of these fighters for a one-off attack on the USAAF bomber streams, hopefully causing enough losses to curtail the bombing offensive for a few months. Fuel shortages prevented employment of the large numbers necessary, although from one mission of this type of the 138 planes thus committed only 50 came back.Herrmann was captured by the Soviets after the war and was held prisoner for 10 years before returning to Germany in 1955. Back in Germany, he studied law and settled in Düsseldorf....more

Major Erich Rudorffer is a German former Luftwaffe fighter ace, one of a handful who served with the Luftwaffe through the whole of World War II. He is the 7th most successful fighter pilot in the history of air warfare and, as of 2014, both the oldest jet fighter ace and the most successful ace still living. Rudorffer claimed a total of 222 victories, fighting in all the major German theaters of war, including the European and Mediterranean Theatre of Operations and the Eastern Front. During the war he flew more than 1000 combat missions, was engaged in aerial combat over 300 times, was shot down by flak and enemy fighters 16 times and had to take to his parachute 9 times. His 222 aerial victories include 58 heavily armoured Il-2 Sturmovik ground attack aircraft. He also sank a British submarine on 19 May 1941 off the Isle of Portland, but was credited only with damaging the submarine. Rudorffer is the last living recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oakleaves and Swords. Rudorffer got his first victory over a Curtiss Hawk 75, on 14 May 1940. He scored eight more times before the capitulation of France. He flew throughout the Battle of Britain, and legend has him being pursued down Croydon High Street below rooftop level by a Hurricane. On 9 February 1943 Rudorffer claimed to have defeated 8 British pilots during a 32-minute aerial battle, and collected his first multiple victories. In July 1943 Rudorffer was appointed to command II./Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54) on the Eastern Front. He claimed his first victory in that theater on 7 August. Due to the experience gained by fighting the RAF he achieved incredible success. During his first sortie on 24 August 1943, 5 Soviet aircraft were downed in 4 minutes. On 11 October 1943 Rudorffer made history when during 17 minutes he claimed 13 kills. Near the Latvian city of Libau while preparing to land he spotted a Soviet task force of about 60 close air support aircraft on its way to attack Libau airfields. He broke off the landing and engaged the enemy without any backup. He drove off the attackers, shooting down nine enemy aircraft within 10 minutes. In the winter of 1944 Rudorffer was trained on the Messerschmitt Me 262 Jet fighter. In February 1945 he was recalled to command I./Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7). Between December 1944 and beginning of April 1945 the I./JG 7 operated from the then newly built Luftwaffe Airbase in Kaltenkirchen north of Hamburg. Rudorffer claimed 12 victories with the Me 262, to bring his total to 222. His tally included 136 on the Eastern Front, 26 in North Africa and 60 on the Western Front including 10 heavy bombers....more

Herbert Schneider is a WWII Luftwaffe German Knights Cross Recipient for actions on February 5th, 1944 while commanding Flak combat troops in the 6./Flak-Regiment 49 (motorized) Wachtmeister....more

Arthur Büssecke was an Oberleutnant der Reserve in the Luftwaffe during World War II. Büssecke was captured by Russian troops in May 1945, he escaped only to be captured by American troops. He was released in June 1945. Awards include the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (27 May 1940), 1st Class (14 September 1942), Wound Badge (1939) in Black (27 July 1942), in Silver (6 December 1942), Anti-Aircraft Flak Battle Badge (25 February 1942), Ground Assault Badge of the Luftwaffe (18 June 1943), Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 23 December 1942 as Unteroffizier and Geschützführer (gun leader) in the 2. / Flak-Regiment 49 (motorisiert). ...more