Siegfried Barth Siegfried Barth ( 23 January 1916 – 19 December 1997 ) was a bomber pilot in the German " Luftwaffe " during World War II and commander of the fighter - bomber wing Jagdbombergeschwader 32 ( JaBoG 32 ) of the German Air Force . He was also a 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 also served at the NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ( SHAPE ) from 1969 to 1972 . World War II . Barth was born 23 January 1916 in Augsburg , Bavaria and joined the military service in 1936 . He was trained as a pilot before World War II and been a member of Kampfgeschwader 255 " Edelweiß " ( KG 255 — 255th Bomber Wing ) , which was renamed Kampfgeschwader 51 ( KG 51 — 51st Bomber Wing ) on 1 May 1939 . When II . " Gruppe " ( 2nd group ) was formed on 1 April 1940 , Barth joined the 4 . " Staffel " ( 4th squadron ) holding the rank of " Leutnant " ( 2nd lieutenant ) . He flew his first combat missions in the Battle of France , attacking airfields and shipping off Dunkirk for which he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class on 17 July 1940 . KG 51 was then relocated to airfileds at Étampes - Mondésir and later to Paris - Orly in France . In the Battle of Britain he flew numerous day and night missions against British ports and industrial centers at London , Coventry and Portsmouth . Barth was promoted to " Oberleutnant " and following Operation Barbarossa , the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 , flew in the southern sector of the Eastern Front . He attacked airfields , railway stations as well as tank and troop concentrations in the Proskurov , Lvov , Rostov and Taganrog areas . He was wounded in action on 25 June 1941 when his Junkers Ju 88 A - 5 ( " Werknummer " 5254 — factory number ) was hit anti - aircraft fire in the vicinity of Darachow . Barth was appointed " Gruppenkommandeur " ( Group Commander ) on 1 February 1944 of the IV . / KG 51 , which was based at Hildesheim at the time . Here he was responsible for the tactical training of replacement crews . Initially they flew the Messerschmitt Me 410 , then the Focke - Wulf Fw 190 and lastly the Messerschmitt Me 262 , the first operational jet fighter - bomber . He was promoted to " Major " ( major ) on 1 May 1944 . The " Gruppe " was renamed to IV . / Ergänzungskampfgeschwader 1 ( EKG 1 — 1st Supplemantary Bomber Wing ) . Barth stayed in this position until 31 March 1945 before being appointed " Geschwaderkommodore " ( Wing Commander ) of KG 51 on 19 April 1945 . He led the Geschwader in Upper Bavaria until it was disbanded at the end of the war . F - 84 Thunderstreak incident . " Oberstleutnant " ( Lieutenant Colonel ) Barth , commander of Jagdbombergeschwader 32 , was initially removed of his command by the Minister of Defence , Franz - Josef Strauß for the 1961 F - 84 Thunderstreak incident . He was later , after a number of investigations and complaints , reinstated . On 14 September 1961 , two F - 84F Thunderstreak of 32 Fighter Bomber Wing crossed into East German airspace due to a navigational error , eventually landing at Berlin Tegel Airport , evading a large number of Soviet fighter planes . The event came at a historically difficult time during the Cold War , one month after the construction of the Berlin Wall . Barth had to take his case to the " Wehrdienstsenat des Bundesdisziplinarhof " , the highest court of German troops , to have him cleared of the alleged charges brought against him . The court in Munich processed Barth ' s complaint on 20 December . The court invited as witnesses , the generals Josef Kammhuber , Martin Harlinghausen , Werner Panitzki and Werner Streib as well as the lieutenant colonels Walter Krupinski and Walter Grasemann . However , the Federal Minister of Defence made it known through his Secretary of State , Volkmar Hopf , before the court , that the Minister sees himself unable to give the witness the testimony rights . Nevertheless , Strauß ' conduct in dismissing Barth was found to be at fault , and the latter had to be reinstated in his position . Strauß however ignored this decision until Hellmuth Heye , Ombudsman for the Military , forced him to accept it .