Kurt Knappe

German fighter ace and Knight's Cross recipient From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kurt Knappe (2 June 1918 – 3 September 1943) was a 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, and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. On 3 September 1943, Knappe was killed over Evreux, France after attacking a formation of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. During his career he was credited with 56 victories, 51 on the Eastern Front and 5 on the Western Front.

Born2 June 1918

Berlin

Died3 September 1943 (aged 25)

Evreux, France

Causeof deathKilled in action

Buried

Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux German war cemetery, Lisieux, Normandy

Quick facts Born, Died ...

Kurt Knappe
Born	2 June 1918 Berlin
Died	3 September 1943(1943-09-03) (aged 25) Evreux, France
Cause of death	Killed in action
Buried	Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux German war cemetery, Lisieux, Normandy
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Branch	Luftwaffe
Service years	?-1943
Rank	Oberfeldwebel
Unit	JG 51 JG 2
Conflicts	World War II Operation Barbarossa Defense of the Reich
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Career

On 3 November 1942, Knappe was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) for 51 aerial victories claimed.^[1]^[2]

On 3 September 1943, Knappe was killed in action in aerial combat with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. His Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6 (Werknummer 470016—factory number) crashed on the road north of Le Neubourg, 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) northwest of Evreux.^[3] He is interred at Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux German war cemetery near Lisieux, Normandy, France.^[4]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Knappe was credited with 56 aerial victories.^[5] Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 55 aerial victory claims with 51 claimed on the Eastern Front and four heavy bombers on the Western Front.^[6]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 64512". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) 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 360 square miles (930 km²). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.^[7]

More information Chronicle of aerial victories, Claim ...

Chronicle of aerial victories
This and the – (dash) indicates unconfirmed aerial victory claims for which Knappe did not receive credit. This and the ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Bock, Mathews and Foreman.
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 – Operation Barbarossa — 22 June – 5 December 1941
1	26 July 1941	12:35	DB-3^[8]		5	13 September 1941	10:10	DB-3	east of Konotop^[9]
2	26 August 1941	18:15	Douglas	15 km (9.3 mi) east of Kaluga^[10]	6	28 September 1941	10:00	Pe-2^[9]
3	30 August 1941	17.40	Pe-2^[10]		7	11 October 1941	11:07	Pe-2^[9]
4	6 September 1941	13:35	R-3^[10]		8	17 November 1941	14:32	DB-3^[9]
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" – Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 30 April 1942
9	21 January 1942	12:27	Pe-2^[11]		15	6 March 1942	11:45	I-18^[12]
10	6 February 1942	12:45	R-Z^[12]		16	6 March 1942	12:15	Pe-2^[12]
11	19 February 1942	10:50	I-16^[12]		17	7 March 1942	14:10	I-18	southwest of Medyn^[13]
12	4 March 1942	15:55	I-16^[12]		18	7 March 1942	14:15	I-18	southwest of Medyn^[13]
13	6 March 1942	09:53	I-18^[12]		19	29 March 1942	07:59	Pe-2	northeast of Dugino^[14]
14	6 March 1942	10:00	I-18^[12]		20	31 March 1942	13:37	Il-2	southeast of Yukhnov^[14]
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" – Eastern Front — 1 May – 4 October 1942
21	22 May 1942	12:00	R-Z^[15]		36	13 August 1942	08:52	Il-2	PQ 64512^[16]
22	22 May 1942	12:03	R-Z^[15]		37	18 August 1942	08:15	Yak-1	PQ 54211^[16]
—	29 May 1942	—	unknown^[15]		38	22 August 1942	12:10	MiG-3	PQ 55764^[16]
23	4 June 1942	06:15	MiG-1^[17]		39	22 August 1942	18:12	MiG-3	PQ 64171, west of Belyov^[16]
24	4 June 1942	06:20	MiG-1^[17]		40	23 August 1942	10:05	LaGG-3	PQ 64171, west of Belyov^[18]
25	12 June 1942	12:10	Il-2^[17]		41	23 August 1942	10:08	LaGG-3	PQ 64171, west of Belyov^[18]
26	7 July 1942	11:23	MiG-3^[19]		42	9 September 1942	10:57	Il-2	east of Rzhev^[20]
27	9 July 1942	07:35	MiG-3^[19]		43	9 September 1942	11:01	Il-2	northeast of Rzhev^[20]
28	9 July 1942	07:37	MiG-3^[19]		44	9 September 1942	17:30	Il-2	PQ 47754^[20]
29	9 July 1942	07:47	MiG-3^[19]		45	14 September 1942	10:01	MiG-3	PQ 47584, southeast of Rzhev^[20]
30	17 July 1942	13:05	MiG-1^[21]		46	14 September 1942	10:14	I-180	PQ 47581, Dugino^[20]
31	2 August 1942	13:05	Il-2	PQ 47563^[21]	47	21 September 1942	08:02	R-5	PQ 47812^[20]
32	2 August 1942	18:17	Pe-2	PQ 47572^[21]	48	23 September 1942	15:05	I-16	PQ 47612^[20]
33	4 August 1942	10:16	MiG-3	PQ 47591^[22]	49	1 October 1942	09:35	R-5	PQ 46214^[23]
34	4 August 1942	14:25	Pe-2	PQ 47563^[22]	50	4 October 1942	13:05	LaGG-3	8 km (5.0 mi) east of Peno^[23]
35	5 August 1942	18:10	Pe-2	PQ 56432^[22]	51	4 October 1942	13:10	LaGG-3	5 km (3.1 mi) southeast of Peno^[23]
– 7. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" – On the Western Front — December 1942 – June 1943
52	30 December 1942	11:45	B-17	PQ 14 West 5813^[24]	54	28 June 1943	19:03	B-17	PQ 15 West 604^[25]
53	23 January 1943	14:12	B-17	PQ 14 West 4975, Carhaix^[26]
– 10. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" – On the Western Front — September 1943
55?^{[Note 1]}	2 September 1943	20:25	Spitfire	Béthune^[28]	56	3 September 1943	09:50	B-17	vicinity of Paris^[28]

Awards

Aviator badge
Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe
Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class^[4]
Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 18 May 1942 as Unteroffizier and pilot^[29]
German Cross in Gold on 24 September 1942 as Unteroffizier in the 5./Jagdgeschwader 51 ^[30]
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 3 November 1942 as Unteroffizier and pilot in the 5./Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders"^[31]^[32]

Notes

[1]
This claim is not listed by Mathews and Foreman.^[27]

References

Citations

[1]
Weal 2006, p. 122.
[2]
Aders & Held 1993, p. 244.
[3]
Prien et al. 2010, p. 507.
[4]
Dixon 2023, p. 283.
[5]
Zabecki 2014, p. 1618.
[6]
Mathews & Foreman 2015, pp. 650–652.
[7]
Planquadrat.
[8]
Prien et al. 2003, p. 282.
[9]
Prien et al. 2003, p. 285.
[10]
Prien et al. 2003, p. 284.
[11]
Prien et al. 2005, p. 93.
[12]
Prien et al. 2005, p. 94.
[13]
Prien et al. 2005, p. 95.
[14]
Prien et al. 2005, p. 96.
[15]
Prien et al. 2006, p. 295.
[16]
Prien et al. 2006, p. 303.
[17]
Prien et al. 2006, p. 296.
[18]
Prien et al. 2006, p. 304.
[19]
Prien et al. 2006, p. 299.
[20]
Prien et al. 2006, p. 305.
[21]
Prien et al. 2006, p. 300.
[22]
Prien et al. 2006, p. 302.
[23]
Prien et al. 2006, p. 306.
[24]
Prien et al. 2004, p. 291.
[25]
Prien et al. 2010, p. 502.
[26]
Prien et al. 2010, p. 500.
[27]
Mathews & Foreman 2015, p. 652.
[28]
Prien et al. 2010, p. 503.
[29]
Patzwall 2008, p. 119.
[30]
Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 237.
[31]
Fellgiebel 2000, p. 262.
[32]
Scherzer 2007, p. 452.

Bibliography

Aders, Gebhard; Held, Werner (1993). Jagdgeschwader 51 'Mölders' Eine Chronik – Berichte – Erlebnisse – Dokumente [Fighter Wing 51 'Mölders' A Chronicle – Reports – Experiences – Documents] (in German). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-613-01045-1.
Bergström, Christer [in Swedish]. "Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website". Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
Dixon, Jeremy (2023). Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe: Knight's Cross Holders 1939–1942. Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-52677-864-2.
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer [in German] (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
Mathews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 2 G–L. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-19-6.
Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1939 – 1945] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7.
Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
Patzwall, Klaus D. (2008). Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg [The Honor Goblet for Outstanding Achievement in the Air War] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-08-3.
Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2003). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 6/I—Unternehmen "BARBAROSSA"—Einsatz im Osten—22.6. bis 5.12.1941 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 6/I—Operation "BARBAROSSA"—Action in the East—22 June to 5 December 1941] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-69-4.
Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2004). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 7—Heimatverteidigung—1. January bis 31 Dezember 1942—Einsatz im Westen—1. Januar bis 31. Dezember 1942 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 7—Defense of the Reich—1 January to 31 December 1942—Action in the West—1 January to 31 December 1942] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-73-1.
Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2005). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 9/I—Winterkampf im Osten—6 December 1941 bis 30 April 1942 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 9/I—Winter War in the East—6 December 1941 to 30 April 1942] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-76-2.
Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2006). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 9/II—Vom Sommerfeldzug 1942 bis zur Niederlage von Stalingrad—1.5.1942 bis 3.2.1943 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 9/II—From the 1942 Summer Campaign to the Defeat at Stalingrad—1 May 1942 to 3 February 1943] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-77-9.
Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2010). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 10/IV—Einsatz im Westen—1.1. bis 31.12.1943 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 10/IV—Action in the West—1 January to 31 December 1943] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-92-2.
Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
Spick, Mike (1996). Luftwaffe Fighter Aces. New York: Ivy Books. ISBN 978-0-8041-1696-1.
Weal, John (2006). Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders". Aviation Elite Units. Vol. 22. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-045-1.
Zabecki, David T., ed. (2014). Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio. ISBN 978-1-59884-981-3.

Aerial victory claims

Awards

Citations

Bibliography

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