Kurt Knappe


Kurt Knappe 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 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, 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.

Awards