Erbo Graf von Kageneck Erbo Graf von Kageneck ( 2 April 1918 – 12 January 1942 ) was a German fighter pilot and flying ace in the Luftwaffe from 1938 to 1942 during World War II . He was credited with 67 aerial victories — that is , 67 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft . He was the winner of the Knight ' s Cross with Oak Leaves . Early life . Von Kageneck was born in Bonn , one of four sons of " Generalmajor " Karl Graf von Kageneck and Freiin Maria von Schorlemer , daughter of Clemens Freiherr von Schorlemer , an Imperial Secretary of Agriculture . His brothers included : After passing his " Abitur " in 1936 , von Kageneck immediately joined the German air force , the " Luftwaffe " . At the outbreak of World War II , he served with " Jagdgeschwader 1 " and flew his first operational missions during the the invasion of Poland . Von Kageneck scored his first victory during the first days of the Blitzkrieg in the Netherlands and soon claimed four kills in the skies of Western Europe . He claimed a further nine victories during the Battle of Britain and on 18 September 1940 , he was appointed " Staffelkapitän " ( squadron leader ) of Staffel 9 , " Jagdgeschwader 27 " . Von Kageneck also gained four victories over Hawker Hurricane s during his spell supporting the offensive against Malta . Operation " Barbarossa " . In 1941 , during the invasion of the Soviet Union , JG 27 was tasked with neutralising the Soviet air force . Von Kageneck shot down more than 20 Soviet aircraft in less than four weeks . For that he was awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross on 30 July 1941 and also was promoted to " Oberleutnant " ( first lieutenant ) . By October 1941 , von Kageneck had recorded 48 Soviet victories and — with his total now at 65 — was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight ' s Cross ( Nr . 39 ) on 26 October 1941 . North Africa . In December 1941 , von Kageneck was transferred back to the Mediterranean theatre with Staffel 9 , JG 27 and gained his last two victories against British Commonwealth fighters over the deserts of North Africa . On 24 December , von Kageneck was seriously wounded in combat with several Desert Air Force ( DAF ) Tomahawk s , and Hurricanes south of Agedabia . Both Sergeant Maxwell ( of No . 94 Squadron RAF ) and Pilot Officer Thompson ( No . 229 Squadron RAF ) made claims for a fighter shot down in the same action . Many years later , some sources , including von Kageneck ' s brother , August Graf von Kageneck , claimed that the shots which hit Erbo were fired by the pre - eminent Australian ace of the war , Clive Caldwell . The main reason for this was that Caldwell favoured attacks from beneath his opponents , which was precisely the fashion in which Kageneck ' s wounds were sustained . Although he suffered severe injuries to his stomach , abdomen and groin , von Kageneck managed to fly his crippled fighter back to his base at El Magrun and pull off an emergency landing . He was immediately evacuated , first to a hospital in Athens , and then to another in Naples where , despite intensive care , he died of his wounds on 12 January 1942 at the age of 23 . He was posthumously promoted to " Hauptmann " ( captain ) .