Gustav Denk
Gustav Denk (24 January 1915 – 13 February 1943) was a German Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Denk claimed 67 aerial victories, two over the Western Front and 65 over the Eastern Front. Career. Denk was born on 24 January 1915 in Soest in the Province of Westphalia of the German Empire. He joined the Luftwaffe at the beginning of the war and participated in the Invasion of Poland and the Battle of France, but did not claim his first victory until the Battle of Britain. Operation  Barbarossa. In preparation of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, II. "Gruppe" of JG 52, without a period of replenishment in Germany, was ordered to airfields close to the German-Soviet demarcation line. While the "Gruppenstab" (group headquarters unit) and 4. "Staffel" were based at Suwałki in northeastern Poland, 5. and 6. "Staffel" were transferred to a forward airfield at Sobolewo. For the invasion, II. "Gruppe" of JG 52 was subordinated to the "Geschwaderstab" (headquarters unit) of "Jagdgeschwader" 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing). The "Geschwader" was part of the VIII. "Fliegerkorps" commanded by "Generaloberst" Wolfram Freiherr von  Richthofen which supported the northern wing of Army Group Centre. Squadron leader and death. In January 1943, Denk officially succeeded "Oberleutnant" Siegfried Simsch as "Staffelkapitän" (squadron leader) of 5. "Staffel" of JG 52. Simsch had been wounded in combat on 3 November 1942. The "Staffel" had then been temporarily led by "Oberfeldwebel" Willi Nemitz. On 10 February, he succeeded "Hauptmann" Rudolf Resch as "Staffelkapitän" of 6. "Staffel" of JG 52. Denk was killed in action on 13 February 1943 when he was shot down in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2 ("Werknummer" 14554—factory number) by anti-aircraft artillery over the  Soviet airfield at Chernigov. He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 14 March 1943. Denk was succeeded by Nemitz as commander of 6. "Staffel". Summary of career. Aerial victory claims. According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Denk was credited with 67 aerial victories. Spick also lists Denk with 67 aerial victories claimed in over 500 combat missions. Matthews and Foreman, authors of "Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims", researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 67 aerial victory claims, plus one further unconfirmed claim. All but two of his confirmed victories  were claimed on the Eastern Front. Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = "Planquadrat"), for example "PQ 95722". The Luftwaffe grid map () covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.