Johannes Seifert Johannes " Hannes " Seifert ( 6 October 1915 – 25 November 1943 ) 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 . Seifert was born on 6 October 1915 at Pinneberg , Holstein . After service flying the Bf 110 during the Polish campaign " Oberleutnant " Seifert was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 26 as " Staffelkapitän " of 3 " Staffel " in March 1940 . His first claim was a Dutch Air Force Fokker D . XXI on 10 May 1940 near Rotterdam . His success continued through the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain , and at the end of the year he had eight victories . Along with JG 2 , JG 26 was tasked with defending the west as the rest of the Luftwaffe went east for the invasion of Russia . On 17 July 1941 , Seiffert was made " Gruppenkommandeur " , I . / JG 26 - a position he would hold for nearly two years . Although essentially a defensive role , as the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) tried to exert more pressure over France there were regular opportunities for air combat and Seifert continued to score regularly . He had raised his total to 24 by the start of 1942 . In June 1942 , " Hauptmann " Seifert was awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross for his leadership and 36 victories . In the furious air battles over the Dieppe landings in August 1942 Seifert shot down a Spitfire for his 41st victory . In January 1943 , his unit was withdrawn to Germany to re - equip and re - train on the new Fw190A fighter . At the same time , Seifert led the transfer of I . / JG 26 to the Eastern Front , as the first part of a misguided idea by High Command to rotate the fighter gruppen between the Western and Eastern Fronts . The style of combat between the two fronts was quite different and overall the experiment was not a success ; I . / JG26 was the only gruppe of JG 26 to serve in Russia . The unit was involved in the fighting around Demyansk and then the withdrawal from in front of Moscow ( Operation Büffel . From February to mid March I . / JG 26 claimed 126 Soviet aircraft , while only losing nine pilots in combat themselves . Seifert led from the front , personnally claiming 11 victories during the Eastern Front tour of duty . In June 1943 , Seifert had to leave his command of I . / JG 26 when transferred to a Luftwaffe staff position in Bulgaria and given promotion to " Major " . Unknown to Seifert his mother had invoked the ' last surviving son ' ruling as his younger brother , Gerhard , had been killed in action , and was thus allowed to be removed from active combat duties . However after a personal appeal to Adolf Galland , commander of the " Jagdwaffe " and his former C . O . at JG26 , he returned to France in September 1943 , now as " Gruppenkommandeur " II . / JG 26 . By now the American 8th Air Force was exerting increasing pressure with its daylight bomber raids . On 25 November 1943 , Seifert led 6 . and 8 . / JG 26 against the USAAF P - 38s of the 55th Fighter Group over Lille . During combat Seifert ’ s Fw 190A - 6 ( WNr 470006 , « - ) collided with a P - 38 , and crashed . Presumably knocked out or severely injured in the collision , Seifert hadn ' t made an effort to bale out and his body was found in the wreckage still strapped in . Posthumously promoted to the rank of Oberstleutnant , Johannes Seifert flew some 439 combat missions . Of his 57 victories , 46 victories were over the Western Front , including 3 four - engine heavy bombers and 32 Spitfires , and 11 victories over the Eastern front , including 6 Il - 2 Sturmoviks .