Kurt Knappe

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Kurt Knappe
Born2 June 1918
Berlin
Died3 September 1943(1943-09-03) (aged 25)
Evreux, France
Cause of deathKilled in action
Buried
Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux German war cemetery, Lisieux, Normandy
AllegianceFile:Flag of Germany (1935–1945).svg Nazi Germany
BranchFile:War ensign of Germany (1938–1945).svg Luftwaffe
Service years?-1943
RankOberfeldwebel
UnitJG 51
JG 2
ConflictsWorld War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross

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 was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. On 3 September 1943, Kurt 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

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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

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Aerial victory claims

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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]

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

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Notes

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

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Weal 2006, p. 122.
  2. ^ Aders & Held 1993, p. 244.
  3. ^ Prien et al. 2010, p. 507.
  4. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d Prien et al. 2003, p. 285.
  10. ^ a b c Prien et al. 2003, p. 284.
  11. ^ Prien et al. 2005, p. 93.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Prien et al. 2005, p. 94.
  13. ^ a b Prien et al. 2005, p. 95.
  14. ^ a b Prien et al. 2005, p. 96.
  15. ^ a b c Prien et al. 2006, p. 295.
  16. ^ a b c d Prien et al. 2006, p. 303.
  17. ^ a b c Prien et al. 2006, p. 296.
  18. ^ a b Prien et al. 2006, p. 304.
  19. ^ a b c d Prien et al. 2006, p. 299.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g Prien et al. 2006, p. 305.
  21. ^ a b c Prien et al. 2006, p. 300.
  22. ^ a b c Prien et al. 2006, p. 302.
  23. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b 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

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