Otto Schultz Otto Schultz ( 31 May 1920 – 28 July 2013 ) 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 . Schultz was credited with 73 aerial victories in about 820 combat missions . [ Not to be confused with the similarly named fighter ace Otto Schulz who served with JG27 ] Military career . After completing his pilot - training in 1940 " Feldwebel " Schultz was assigned to 4 . / JG 51 ( 4th squadron of the 51st Fighter Wing ) . Under " Staffelkapitän " Josef Fözö he learnt his craft as a junior pilot during the Battle of Britain . After a short break early in 1941 his " Gruppe " , II / JG 51 , took up its station in eastern Poland for the invasion of Russia , Operation Barbarossa . Schultz got immediate success in his first missions of the campaign , shooting down two SB - 2 bombers on 22 June for his first victories . But in the hectic opening days it would be a week before he got his next victory . There was no shortage of opportunities though , as the Russians flew desperate missions to support their surrounded frontier armies , and by the end of July he had scored 11 victories . Through the battles for Smolensk , Kiev and Moscow , he continued to pick up victories and when he was awarded the " Ehrenpokal " on 3 November his tally had risen to 18 . After an extended period away from the Eastern Front over the winter of 1941 - 42 , " Ofw " Schultz returned to II / JG 51 . Although the Central front appeared very static , fierce air battles took place overhead as the Soviets launched major offensives to try and drain German forces away from their disintegrating southern front . After sporadic victories in June and July , he scored a dozen in August over the Rzhev salient to extend his score to 36 victories . Another period of leave followed from September ( perhaps due to injury ? ) and he was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 24 September . Meanwhile his " Gruppe " was withdrawn in October 1942 to upgrade to the new Fw 190A fighter , but events overtook them : after the defeat at El Alamein in late October , the Western Allies then staged the Operation Torch landings in Algeria and Morocco . So II / JG 51 , with its core of veteran pilots , was immediately dispatched to reinforce the Mediterranean forces with new Me 109G2 ' s instead , and were ready for operations by mid - November . Back with 4 . / JG 51 and based near Tunis , " Ofw " Schultz scored his first western victory on 1 December , downing a Spitfire . In December , the " Gruppe " was very successful over the new American pilots - claiming 50 victories while losing only two of their own . But as in Russia , in 1943 , the superior numbers soon made their impact . Meanwhile , Schultz scored regularly and on 14 March 1943 he was awarded the Knight ' s Cross for reaching 51 victories . He was now one of the veteran experts of the " Gruppe " and they spend 1943 hopping across the Mediterranean . With the fall of Tunis in May , they went onto Sicily , Sardinia , southern and central Italy . In August , orders transferred II / JG 51 to Munich to retrain as a specialist anti - bomber unit . With the 15th USAAF now well established in Italy , Germany was now being targeted from two directions . Also at this time , Schultz undertook officer - training and was commissioned as a " Leutnant " . Transferred back with II / JG 51 to northern Italy in December as a first line of defense , he shot down his first " Viermot " ( four - engined bomber ) on 28 December . The Anzio landings in January 1944 then brought a forward deployment to Rome to be cover for the ground - attack aircraft supporting the counter - attack . On 4 February 1944 Schultz ( now with about 65 victories ) was promoted to " Staffelkapitän " of 6 . / JG 51 following the death in action of 54 - victory ace Herbert Puschmann northeast of Rome . In March he led his unit across the Adriatic into the Balkan theatre . The American bombers were now also targeting the Romanian oil - refineries at Ploesti , vital to the German war effort . He claimed 7 more " Viermots " there , including possibly his last victory on 15 July 1944 . With Romania ' s surrender to Soviet forces in late August , and its subsequent declaration of war against Germany , II / JG 51 was forced to retreat back to Yugoslavia . Left as final air - cover for the army retreating out of Greece , 6 . / JG 51 reportedly engaged their former allies in Romanian - flown Me 109s . When they finally reached Budapest , the " Gruppe " only had 3 serviceable aircraft left , out of a nominal complement of around 90 , although aircraft - production was no longer the issue - it was fuel and lack of trained pilots . They were re - united with the rest of JG 51 again , albeit scattered the length of the ( shortening ) Eastern Front . Now fighting against two enemy forces and grossly outnumbered , on 24 December , " Oberleutnant " Schultz was given command of II / JG 51 , with whom he had fought throughout the war . This was after its previous " Kommandeur " , Major Karl Rammelt was severely injured against American bombers northwest of Budapest . With its back to the wall there was now little of consequence that his " Gruppe " could do to impact on the war ' s outcome . After covering the SS Panzer Army ' s attack at Lake Balaton , it retreated back to Austria , flying its last mission on 9 April before disbanding three days later . It is possible that he was thereafter sent to Lechfeld to train on flying the Me262 jet . " Oberleutnant " Otto Schultz survived the war , and in 820 missions was credited with 73 victories . He went on to serve in the reformed West German airforce , retiring in 1976 with the rank of " Oberstleutnant " ( Lt Colonel ) .