Gerhard Schöpfel Gerhard Schöpfel ( 19 December 1912 – 17 May 2003 ) was a German World War II Luftwaffe 45 - victory flying ace and recipient of the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross ( ) . The Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership . He held the position of Geschwaderkommodore of fighter wing Jagdgeschwader 26 . Military career . Gerhard " Gerd " Schöpfel was born on 19 December 1912 at Erfurt in Thüringen . He was originally a member of the police force but transferred to the Luftwaffe in 1936 . Following completion of his flying training , Schöpfel was initially assigned to I . / Jagdgeschwader 233 ( JG 233 — 233rd Fighter Wing ) . However in June 1938 he was transferred to the " Stab " ( HQ ) flight of I . / Jagdgeschwader 334 ( JG 334 — 334th Fighter Wing ) , which became I . / Jagdgeschwader 132 ( JG 132 — 132nd Fighter Wing ) and , ultimately , I . / Jagdgeschwader 26 ( JG 26 — 26th Fighter Wing ) . " Oberleutnant " Schöpfel took command of 9 . / JG 26 ( 9th Squadron ) on its formation on 23 September 1939 . Schöpfel gained his first victory during the Battle of France , a Royal Air Force ( RAF ) Hawker Hurricane near Courtrai on 19 May 1940 . He added to his score over the beaches of Dunkirk during the evacuation of the British Army . He was very successful during the Battle of Britain , and on 18 August 1940 he shot down four Hawker Hurricanes from No . 501 Squadron RAF in one sortie over Canterbury , England . P / O Bland was killed , and Sgt Kozlowski baled out burnt . The other two victims in this engagement were notable RAF fighter pilots ; Sgt . Donald McKay ( 20 confirmed and 4 damaged victories ) who baled out wounded , and P / O Kenneth Lee ( 7 confirmed and 1 damaged victories ) , who also baled out wounded . " Hauptmann " Schöpfel became " Gruppenkommandeur " ( group commander ) of III . / JG 26 when Göring promoted Adolf Galland ( 104 victories , RK - Br ) to " Geschwaderkommodore " ( wing commander ) of JG 26 on 22 August 1940 , and on the same day shot down a Spitfire of No . 65 Squadron , his 13th victory . Soon afterward , on 11 September 1940 , he was awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross on achieving 20 victories ( the 11th Luftwaffe pilot to reach that mark ) . On 1 December 1941 he was promoted to " Major " and on 6 December 1941 became " Geschwaderkommodore " of JG 26 when Galland was again promoted , this time to " General der Jagdflieger " . Through 1942 , JG 26 and Jagdgeschwader 2 ( JG 2 — 2nd Fighter Wing ) were the only defence in northern France as the RAF took the fight back to them . On 19 August 1942 , over the Dieppe landings and now in the rugged Fw190A , he shot down two Spitfires for his 41st and 42nd victories . Schöpfel left JG 26 on 10 January 1943 , with 45 victories , to take up a number of administrative roles - firstly as the I - a ( Operations Officer ) at " Jafü Brittany " . He then went to serve as Fighter Operations Officer for the South Italy Command from July ( during the critical Sicily landings ) and then " Jafü " ( Fighter Leader ) Norway from November . He returned to a combat command on 1 May 1944 , briefly joining the staff of III . / Jagdgeschwader 54 ( JG 54 — 54th Fighter Wing ) for a month . This was based in Germany on Reich Defence , and he mentored the newly promoted " Gruppenkommandeur " Siegfried Schnell who had previously commanded the 9 . / JG 2 squadron alongside Schöpfel on the Channel Front . Then on 1 June 1944 , he was appointed " Geschwaderkommodore " of the newly set up Jagdgeschwader 4 , also based on Defence of the Reich . The original " Gruppe " I . / JG 4 , formed in mid 1943 , had previously been based in Romania defending the oilfields , and was currently based in northern Italy . The new II . and III . / JG 4 " Gruppen " were authorised in mid July , and I . / JG 4 transferred to Germany to join them to bring his " Geschwader " up to full strength . However , on 6 August he was shot down in combat and wounded near Schwerin flying Messerschmitt Bf 109 G - 6 ( " Werknummer " 440728 — factory number ) . His injuries were serious enough that he had to give up his command on 6 August to ObstLt Gerhard Michalski . Following recovery from his wounds , in November 1944 Schöpfel was appointed as " Jafü " ( Fighter Leader ) Hungary . In February 1945 he commanded the Luftkriegsschule ( training school ) at Gatow . On 10 April he was appointed the final " Geschwaderkommodore " of Jagdgeschwader 6 ( JG 6 — 6th Fighter Wing ) based in northern Czechoslovakia . Unluckily , even though he had only been based on the Eastern Front for a month , at war ' s end Schöpfel became a prisoner of the Russians and was interned in Soviet prisons for four and a half years before finally returning to Germany in December 1949 . Later life . After his release from imprisonment in the Soviet Union , Schöpfel worked as a chauffeur . He later became a merchant and in the early 1960s returned to the aviation field as an executive of Air Lloyd in Bonn , ironically in an office next to his former commander Adolf Galland . He died , of natural causes , on 17 May 2003 aged 90 . Victories . ' Gerd ' Schöpfel flew over 700 missions and claimed 45 victories . His total including three USAAF four - engined bombers . All his victories were scored over the Western Front .