Hartmann Grasser Hartmann Grasser ( 23 August 1914 – 2 June 1986 ) was a World War II German fighter ace . He was credited with shooting down 103 Allied aircraft while flying 700 missions on the Western Front ( 8 victories ) , Eastern Front ( 83 victories ) , and in North Africa ( 12 victories . ) He was also a recipient of the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves ( ) . The Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership . Early life . Grasser was born on 23 August 1914 in Graz , Steiermark , Austria . Due to political reasons , he left Austria in 1934 and settled in Germany . He was trained at the Naval School in Neustadt and at the flying sports school at Rossitten , followed by six months at the Johannisthal flying school . Grasser then joined the " Luftwaffe " with the rank of " Fahnenjunker " ( cadet ) in 1936 . World War II . Beginning of the war . At the beginning of the war , Grasser was serving with " Jagdgruppe " ( JG ) 152 and was assigned to the 3 . / JG 152 . After a short service in Poland , the group was relocated to the west in mid - September 1939 . He participated in the Battle of France and shot down a French observation balloon on 16 September 1939 . Grasser shot down a French Curtiss H75 fighter near Hornbach on 24 September , which marked his first victory over an aircraft . Battle of Britain . In January 1940 , JG 152 was redesignated I . / ZG 52 and equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 110 and in June 1940 , I . / ZG 52 was renamed II . / ZG 2 . Grasser was assigned to the 6 . / ZG 2 during the Battle of Britain and shot down two aircraft , raising his total kills to six . In October 1940 , he was posted to " Jagdgeschwader 51 " as adjutant to Werner Mölders . On 1 December 1940 , Grasser shot down a Royal Air Force ( RAF ) Hawker Hurricane near Kent . Eastern Front . " Oberleutnant " Grasser participated in Operation Barbarossa and shot down a Soviet Tupolev SB on the first day of the invasion of the Soviet Union . He shot down two enemy aircraft on 29 June 1941 which were respectively his ninth and tenth victories . Grasser passed the 20 kill mark on 29 July , a day on which he shot down a Soviet Ilyushin DB - 3 . On 1 August , he was appointed " Staffelkapitän " of 5 . / JG 51 , and achieved his 30th victory on 7 September after downing a Soviet I - 61 near Karlewez . Grasser was appointed " Gruppenkommandeur " of II . / JG 51 on 4 September and received the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross for 29 victories . He achieved his 40th victory on 14 December after shooting down a Soviet Petlyakov Pe - 2 . On 24 January 1942 , after achieving his 45th victory , Grasser was shot down in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 , sustaining a severe eye injury . However , he was able to bail out , landing behind Soviet lines , but eventually reached German forces . Grasser spent several months in hospital but returned to flying duty after recovering from his eye injury . He achieved his 50th victory on 23 June 1942 after shooting down a Soviet Polikarpov I - 153 . On 5 July , Grasser destroyed six Soviet aircraft , including three Ilyushin Il - 2 ground - attack aircraft . He achieved his 70th and 80th victories on 13 August and 29 August respectively . When he was transferred from the Eastern Front , he had racked up a total of 91 kills . North Africa and Germany . In November 1942 , Grasser was assigned to command II . / JG 51 in North Africa . In Tunisia , he added 12 more kills , increasing his total to 103 . Grasser was awarded the Eichenlaub on 31 August . On 28 April 1944 , he was appointed " Gruppenkommandeur " of III . / JG 1 based in Germany replacing " Hauptmann " Friedrich Eberle who had been wounded in combat with the United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) . He stayed with this unit for a short time and then passed the command of III . / JG 1 to " Hauptmann " Erich Woitke . In December 1944 , Grasser was assigned to JG 110 and given command of the II . Gruppe . Later life . At the end of World War II , Grasser was handed over to the Soviet Union and was imprisoned until 1949 . Grasser ' s views on military service radically changed after his return from Soviet prison , and he swore to never again wear a military uniform . He traveled to India in 1949 to train civil pilots in Allahabad and New Delhi . In 1950 he became an adviser to the Syrian Air Force . After his return from Syria , he began the manufacturing of industrial pressed parts made of steel . Grasser died on 2 June 1986 in Cologne and was buried in his hometown of Graz .