Eduard Tratt Eduard Tratt ( 24 February 1919 – 22 February 1944 ) was a " Luftwaffe " fighter , test pilot and flying ace of World War II . Major Eduard Tratt was the highest scoring Zerstörer pilot of the war with 38 victories and " Gruppenkommandeur " of II . / Zerstörergeschwader 26 ( ZG 26 ) . He was also a recipient of the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves . The Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership . On 20 April 1944 he was posthumously promoted to the rank of Major . Career . Tratt was born on 24 February 1919 in Würzburg . By 1937 Tratt was serving as a Fahnenjunker in the Luftwaffe . At the beginning of World War II , Leutnant Tratt was serving in 1 Staffel , " Zerstörergeschwader 1 " ( ZG 1 ) , flying the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy twin - engine fighter . After participation in Polish campaign Tratt took part in the Battle of France , and on 1 June 1940 claimed 3 Hawker Hurricane fighters over Dunkirk . Tratt was wounded in action on 12 August 1940 flying with 2 . / Zerstörergeschwader 2 ( ZG 2 ) over England . Later in 1940 Tratt was transferred to 1 . / " Erprobungsgruppe " 210 . The Gruppe , charged with introducing the new Messerschmitt Me 210 to operations , were , while awaiting delivery of the new aircraft , were pioneering the use of Bf 110 and Bf 109 fighter - bombers in low level , pin - point bombing attacks against British targets . Tratt flew numerous combat missions over England , and by the end of 1940 had 13 victory claims to his credit . " Erprobungsgruppe " 210 , was redesignated Schnellkampfgeschwader 210 ( SKG 210 ) in April 1941 and transferred to the East to take part in the assault on Russia . As part of 1 . / SKG 210 Tratt flew over the Central part of the front during Operation Barbarossa supporting the German army ' s encirclement and overrunning of Russian land forces in the Bialystok and Minsk area in the early phase of the campaign . Tratt flew numerous ground attack and fighter missions during 1941 and claimed another 9 victories over Russian aircraft by the end of 1941 . When I Gruppe were recalled to Landsberg - Lech to begin conversion to the Me 210 in January 1942 , Tratt was then transferred to command 4 Staffel , Zerstörergeschwader 26 ( ZG 26 ) . On 18 February 1942 Oberleutnant Tratt was wounded by ground fire over Rzhev . He was then appointed " Staffelkapitän " , 6 . / ZG 26 in March , before being wounded again by enemy fire on 27 March . Oberleutnant Tratt received the " Ritterkreuz " in April 1942 and in May was transferred as to command 2 . / ZG 2 . He was then sent as " Staffelkapitän " to 1 . / ZG 1 in July 1942 . In early 1943 I . / ZG 1 flew against targets in the Stalingrad area , but then moved to Poltava , with attacks on Russian troop positions , supply and communications lines , and airfields . On 30 January 1943 Tratt suffered serious injuries ( and his " bordfunker " Fw . Paul Rennefahrt killed ) when he crash - landed his Bf 110 G - 2 ' RH + YK ' after suffering engine damage North of Rowenki . When recovered , Tratt next commanded a special testing unit , " Erprobungskommando 25 " , undertaking the operational testing and evaluation of new weapons for use against the United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) bomber offensive . With the increasing day bombing campaign over the Reich by the USAAF 8th Air Force , the Luftwaffe evaluated various means for its fighters to bring down more bombers during its incursions over occupied Europe . " Erprobungskommando 25 " was formed to test many and varied technical innovations to achieve that goal . One of these was the Me 410A - 1 / U4 ( bomber destroyer ) armed with a 50 mm BK - 5 gun mounted underneath the fuselage . The gun , weighing some 900 kg , severely restricted manoeuvrability , though carrying some 21 rounds and having a recoil pressure of about seven tons . Hptm . Tratt claimed 2 B - 17s during the summer of 1943 , on 21 May 1943 with Epr . Kdo . 25 , and one North of Baltrum on 13 June 1943 while Tratt briefly commanded Kdo . I . / JG 1 . On 11 October 1943 Hauptmann Tratt was appointed " Gruppenkommandeur " of the reformed II . / ZG 26 , flying the new heavy fighter versions of the Messerschmitt Me 410 from Hildesheim . He led the unit on " Reichsverteidigung " ( " Defence of the Reich " ) duties . As late 1943 ground on interceptions were infrequent , but by early 1944 the Zerstörer day fighters found the odds increasingly stacked as the massed American escort fighter accompanied the bombers all the way deep into Germany . During Tratt ' s tenure in command , II . / ZG 26 sustained increasingly heavy losses to these fighter escorts . He claimed a P - 38 south of Löningen on 13 November 1943 and on 29 November he shot down a B - 17 bomber near Borkum as his 30th victory . On 10 February he claimed a P - 38 near Ettenbrock , and on 11 February he claimed another 3 P - 38 fighters , shot down in the Oberstein area . He recorded his final and 38th victory on 20 February 1944 ; a B - 17 of the 452nd Bomb Group , 42 - 37951 " Mavoureen " , which was also attacked by Oberleutnant Dürkopp of 6 . / ZG 26 . Tratt was shot down and killed ( with his gunner Ofw . Gillert ) single - handedly attacking B - 17 ' s of the 91st Bomb Group near Nordhausen on 22 February 1944 , flying a Messerschmitt Me410B - 1 / U2 / R4 . S / Sgt R L Jackson , a right waist gunner of the 401BS , 91st BG claimed a fighter that day which may have been Tratt . He was posthumously awarded the " Eichenlaub " on 26 March 1944 and was promoted to the rank of Major on 20 April 1944 . Major Eduard Tratt was credited with 38 victories in over 350 missions . He recorded 18 victories over the Western front , including 6 four - engine heavy bombers ( 5 Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress and 1 Consolidated B - 24 Liberator ) and 5 P - 38 Lightning s . In addition he claimed 26 aircraft destroyed on the ground , 24 tanks , 312 road vehicles / transport and 33 anti - aircraft guns , 4 anti - aircraft batteries and 8 machine - gun nests .