Georg Seelmann Georg Seelmann ( 4 February 1917 – 18 September 1989 ) was a German Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II . The Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership - for the fighter pilots , it was a quantifiable measure of skill and success . Military career . At the start of the war " Unteroffizier " Seelmann was posted with Jagdgeschwader 51 ( Fighter Wing 51 ) , however was soon transferred , in October , to 2 . / JG 77 based near the Polish border . His first victory came in the campaign against France , when he shot down a Morane 406 near Charleroi . Against the RAF , he doubled his score shooting down a Spitfire on 7 September . Following the Battle of Britain , the Luftwaffe fighter units were consolidated , and on 21 November 1940 I . / JG 77 was renamed IV . / JG 51 and Seelman ' s 2 . / JG 77 became 11 . / JG 51 . In March 1941 " Leutnant " Seelmann was appointed a " Staffelführer " ( flight leader ) of 11 . / JG 51 , then full " Staffelkapitän " when Hptm Franz Hahn was injured in September 1941 . His unit was then sent , along with most of the Luftwaffe , to the Eastern Front and JG51 was tasked to support Army Group Centre on its drive on Moscow . In these initial weeks , Seelmann was particularly successful over the poorly trained and led Russian pilots . He quickly reached his 20th victory on 16 July and then his 30th on 9 August . But it wasn ' t all one - way , and on 30 August a Russian bomber rammed Seelmann ' s Bf109F2 ( W . Nr 9647 ) forcing him to bale out 16 km behind enemy lines . He successfully evaded capture and made his way back to his unit . For his success ( 37 victories ) , Seelmann was awarded the " Ritterkreuz " on 6 October , joining the rapidly growing list of honoured pilots in the new " Gruppe " . As winter set in and flying conditions deteriorated , he was posted to " Ergänzungsgruppe " JG51 - the " Geschwader ' s " training squadron - as an instructor . These individual training squadrons were merged in January 1942 as the new " Ergänzungruppe - Jagdgruppe Ost " . He finally returned to front - line duty on 1 August 1942 , back as the " Staffelkapitän " ( Squadron Leader ) for 11 . / JG 51 , still based in front of Moscow . Conditions had changed though and the Russian pilot quality had markedly improved . Just 2 days later , on 3 August , he was shot down by return fire from Russian bombers . Baling out badly wounded from his burning Bf109F2 ( W . Nr 12652 , ' White 5 ' ) he spent a month in hospital before returning to his unit . However just a month later he was posted as " Staffelkapitän " of 4 . / JG 51 on 8 October 1942 . With the Allied landings in North Africa in November ( Operation Torch ) , II . / JG 51 was one of the units sent to augment the over - extended Mediterranean Front , based initially in Sicily , then Tunisia . However at the end of March 1943 his wounds still troubled him , and as the Tunisian battles reached their peak , he had to resign his role as an active " StaKa " . After further recuperation , in summer 1943 he was instead transferred to a non - combat role as the " Staffelkapitän " for the training squadron 1 . / JG 103 , where he ended his successful combat career . In just three years of combat , Georg Seelmann flew 550 missions and was credited with 39 victories . He died on 18 September 1989 , aged 72 . Military Offices held .