Kurt Knappe

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.

Career On 3 November 1942, Knappe was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for 51 aerial victories claimed.

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, northwest of Evreux. He is interred at Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux German war cemetery near Lisieux, Normandy, France.

Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Knappe was credited with 56 aerial victories. 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.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 64512". 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 in size.

Chronicle of aerial victories 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 5 13 September 1941 10:10 DB-3 east of Konotop 2 26 August 1941 18:15 Douglas east of Kaluga 6 28 September 1941 10:00 Pe-2 3 30 August 1941 17.40 Pe-2 7 11 October 1941 11:07 Pe-2 4 6 September 1941 13:35 R-3 8 17 November 1941 14:32 DB-3 – 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" –Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 30 April 1942 9 21 January 1942 12:27 Pe-2 15 6 March 1942 11:45 I-18 10 6 February 1942 12:45 R-Z 16 6 March 1942 12:15 Pe-2 11 19 February 1942 10:50 I-16 17 7 March 1942 14:10 I-18 southwest of Medyn 12 4 March 1942 15:55 I-16 18 7 March 1942 14:15 I-18 southwest of Medyn 13 6 March 1942 09:53 I-18 19 29 March 1942 07:59 Pe-2 northeast of Dugino 14 6 March 1942 10:00 I-18 20 31 March 1942 13:37 Il-2 southeast of Yukhnov – 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" –Eastern Front — 1 May – 4 October 1942 21 22 May 1942 12:00 R-Z 36 13 August 1942 08:52 Il-2 PQ 64512 22 22 May 1942 12:03 R-Z 37 18 August 1942 08:15 Yak-1 PQ 54211 29 May 1942 unknown 38 22 August 1942 12:10 MiG-3 PQ 55764 23 4 June 1942 06:15 MiG-1 39 22 August 1942 18:12 MiG-3 PQ 64171, west of Belyov 24 4 June 1942 06:20 MiG-1 40 23 August 1942 10:05 LaGG-3 PQ 64171, west of Belyov 25 12 June 1942 12:10 Il-2 41 23 August 1942 10:08 LaGG-3 PQ 64171, west of Belyov 26 7 July 1942 11:23 MiG-3 42 9 September 1942 10:57 Il-2 east of Rzhev 27 9 July 1942 07:35 MiG-3 43 9 September 1942 11:01 Il-2 northeast of Rzhev 28 9 July 1942 07:37 MiG-3 44 9 September 1942 17:30 Il-2 PQ 47754 29 9 July 1942 07:47 MiG-3 45 14 September 1942 10:01 MiG-3 PQ 47584, southeast of Rzhev 30 17 July 1942 13:05 MiG-1 46 14 September 1942 10:14 I-180 PQ 47581, Dugino 31 2 August 1942 13:05 Il-2 PQ 47563 47 21 September 1942 08:02 R-5 PQ 47812 32 2 August 1942 18:17 Pe-2 PQ 47572 48 23 September 1942 15:05 I-16 PQ 47612 33 4 August 1942 10:16 MiG-3 PQ 47591 49 1 October 1942 09:35 R-5 PQ 46214 34 4 August 1942 14:25 Pe-2 PQ 47563 50 4 October 1942 13:05 LaGG-3 east of Peno 35 5 August 1942 18:10 Pe-2 PQ 56432 51 4 October 1942 13:10 LaGG-3 southeast of Peno – 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 54 28 June 1943 19:03 B-17 PQ 15 West 604 53 23 January 1943 14:12 B-17 PQ 14 West 4975, Carhaix – 10. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" –On the Western Front — September 1943 55? 2 September 1943 20:25 Spitfire Béthune 56 3 September 1943 09:50 B-17 vicinity of Paris

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