Eduard Neumann Eduard " Edu " Neumann ( 5 June 1911 – 9 August 2004 ) was a German Luftwaffe Officer and commanded the famous Jagdgeschwader 27 ‘ Afrika ’ during the North African Campaign from 1941 to 1943 . Early life . Neumann was born in the city of Molodia , Bukovina , in the former Austria - Hungarian Empire . In 1914 , at the age of three , Eduard lost his mother , and his father not long afterwards . He and his sister Else came under the affectionate but strict guidance of their Grandmother , after World War I the family moved to Germany . Into the Luftwaffe . In 1928 Neumann went to Berlin to study mechanical and aviation engineering . It was here that he discovered his enthusiasm for flight and quickly became a member of the ' Akakflieg ' Glider club in 1929 . In 1932 he passed his flying examinations in powered flight in Cottbus . In 1934 he began training on the Fieseler Fi 5 aircraft , then later the same year he joined the fledgling Luftwaffe , which was still under secret construction . In Schleissheim he received final combat training , Neumann was then deployed to II . / JG 132 ‘ Richthofen ’ in July 1935 . After the re - training on the Bf 109 D at Barth in August 1937 he was transferred to the Luftwaffe ' s ‘ Condor Legion ’ which was to be sent to aid General Francisco Franco ' s Fascists in the Spanish Civil War along with other notable personalities like Adolf Galland and Werner Mölders . After a year ' s service Neumann returned to Germany at the rank of Oberleutnant with two victories and the Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords , and was then appointed " Gruppenkommandeur " with 4 . / JG 26 in Düsseldorf , remaining with the unit until departing for Jagdgeschwader 27 in early 1940 , becoming the unit ' s Adjutant . The day after scoring his first ( World War II ) victory during the opening phase of the Battle of Britain , a RAF No . 236 Squadron RAF Blenheim off the coast of Cherbourg on the 20 July 1940 , he was appointed " Gruppenkommandeur " of I . / JG 27 to replace Major Helmut Riegel , shot down and killed by 501 Squadron Hurricanes off the Island of Alderney . After a brief participation In the Invasion of Yugoslavia , in April 1941 the unit moved to Ain - el Gazala , Libya , North Africa on 18 April 1941 . He received the German Cross in Gold on 11 May 1942 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur I . / JG 27 . On 8 June 1942 he was promoted to Major and Geschwaderkommodore of JG 27 , which he successfully led until 22 April 1943 when he joined the Staff of General der Jagdflieger . In March 1943 Neumann was promoted to Oberstleutnant ( Lieutenant Colonel ) , and later in 1944 to Oberst ( Colonel ) . Neumann finished the war as the Commander of Fighter Forces in Northern Italy . Neumann was a believer in leading his squadron from the ground , and given these long periods of administrative command , Neumann ' s active combat career was somewhat limited , although he became one of the most respected and influential field commanders in the Luftwaffe . As a consequence he only achieved 13 victories during his Luftwaffe career ( 2 in Spain ) . In early 1945 Neumann was among those courageous men to protest against Hermann Göring in what came to be known as the " Fighter Pilots Revolt " or " Fighter Pilots Mutiny " . One of Neumann ' s most successful achievements was the moulding of the career of Hans - Joachim Marseille , giving the unorthodox fighter pilot free rein to practice his tactics . Marseille went on to score 158 victories against the Western Allied Air Forces , a number no other pilot would match . In 1989 Neumann and other members of JG 27 erected a Pyramid with the co - operation of the Egyptian Government on the place that Marseille fell to his death . After the war . After the war Neumann developed an engineering company . He continued to fly as a private pilot , after a ban on civilian flight clubs had been lifted . Neumann worked as a technical consultant on the Hans - Joachim Marseille biographical film , " Der Stern von Afrika " , ( " The Star of Africa " ) , directed by Alfred Weidenmann and starring Joachim Hansen as Marseille . Neumann remained a member of the German Fighter Pilots ' Association , until his death from a long illness aged 93 .