Waldemar Semelka Waldemar Semelka ( 8 January 1920 – 21 August 1942 ) 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 combat success . Waldemar Semelka was killed on 21 August 1942 over Stalingrad , Soviet Union . During his career he was credited with 75 ( or 65 ) aerial victories . Military career . Upon completing his flight training " Oberfähnrich " Semelka was posted to 4 . / JG 52 ( 4th squadron of the 52nd Fighter Wing ) . He scored his first victory in the opening hours of Operation Barbarossa - the German invasion of the Soviet Union - on 22 June 1941 , downing an I - 15 biplane fighter . Perhaps due to its poor performance during the Battle of Britain , JG 52 was split up as gap - filler units and scattered up and down the front : II / JG 52 was seconded to JG 27 , tasked with covering the " Stukas " supporting the drive onto Smolensk and Moscow . Under the patient leadership of his squadron commander , the future great ace Johannes Steinhoff , Semelka ( now commissioned as a " Leutnant " ) along with his fellow pilots of 4 . / JG 52 , started to score regularly . This included three victories on 23 – 24 September at the start of Operation Typhoon , the attack on Moscow . His " Gruppe " was stationed in Kalinin and so close to the front line that their airbases were shelled by Russian artillery , and ground crew had to defend against enemy attacks . After enduring the shockingly cold Russian winter for several months , II / JG 52 was finally withdrawn to East Prussia for rest and refit in January 1942 . At that time Semelka had a respectable 17 victories to his name . His " Gruppe " returned to the east at the end of April , now under the command of " Hptm " Steinhoff , and finally in the same sector as the rest of the " Geschwader " . It immediately joined the assault of Sevastopol and the reduction of the Izyum ' bulge ' . For the month of June 1942 Semelka was transferred temporarily to command 5 . " Staffel " from an injured Siegfried Simsch . Returning to 4 . / JG 52 on 1 July , he was awarded the " Ehrenpokal " on 6 July as the second summer offensive got properly underway - " Fall Blau " , the charge to the Caucausus . Initially II / JG 52 was covering the march on the Maikop oilfields . Right across the sector there was very intensive air combat and German pilots were racking up phenomenal scores . By this time , Semelka ' s own score moved on past 50 victories . On 25 July he was given temporary command of the 4th " Staffel " when his " Staffelkapitän " , Gerhard Barkhorn was injured . On 18 August he shot down five fighters , in two missions over the Black Sea coast near Novorossiysk . The next day , Steinhoff led II / JG 52 to the Stalingrad sector to cover the imminent storming of the city . On 21 August , in their first operational sorties , Semelka shot down three fighters , bringing his total to 65 . However , later that same day he was reported missing to the south of Stalingrad . It is possible he was shot down and killed by return fire from Pe - 2 bombers of 86 BAP . Waldemar Semelka flew over 240 missions and scored 65 victories ( some sources say 75 victories ) , all over the Eastern Front . At the time of his death he was the third - highest scorer in II / JG 52 . He was posthumously awarded the Knight ' s Cross a fortnight after his death on 4 September 1942 , and the German Cross in Gold on 7 September 1942 .