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 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.

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
Years of service	?-1943
Rank	Oberfeldwebel
Unit	JG 51 JG 2
Battles / wars	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]

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.^[2] He is interred at Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux German war cemetery near Lisieux, Normandy, France.^[3]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Knappe was credited with 56 aerial victories.^[4] 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.^[5]

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.^[6]

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[7]		5	13 September 1941	10:10	DB-3	east of Konotop[8]
2	26 August 1941	18:15	Douglas	15 km (9.3 mi) east of Kaluga[9]	6	28 September 1941	10:00	Pe-2[8]
3	30 August 1941	17.40	Pe-2[9]		7	11 October 1941	11:07	Pe-2[8]
4	6 September 1941	13:35	R-3[9]		8	17 November 1941	14:32	DB-3[8]
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" – Eastern Front — 6 December 1941 – 30 April 1942
9	21 January 1942	12:27	Pe-2[10]		15	6 March 1942	11:45	I-18[11]
10	6 February 1942	12:45	R-Z[11]		16	6 March 1942	12:15	Pe-2[11]
11	19 February 1942	10:50	I-16[11]		17	7 March 1942	14:10	I-18	southwest of Medyn[12]
12	4 March 1942	15:55	I-16[11]		18	7 March 1942	14:15	I-18	southwest of Medyn[12]
13	6 March 1942	09:53	I-18[11]		19	29 March 1942	07:59	Pe-2	northeast of Dugino[13]
14	6 March 1942	10:00	I-18[11]		20	31 March 1942	13:37	Il-2	southeast of Yukhnov[13]
– 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" – Eastern Front — 1 May – 4 October 1942
21	22 May 1942	12:00	R-Z[14]		36	13 August 1942	08:52	Il-2	PQ 64512[15]
22	22 May 1942	12:03	R-Z[14]		37	18 August 1942	08:15	Yak-1	PQ 54211[15]
—	29 May 1942	—	unknown[14]		38	22 August 1942	12:10	MiG-3	PQ 55764[15]
23	4 June 1942	06:15	MiG-1[16]		39	22 August 1942	18:12	MiG-3	PQ 64171, west of Belyov[15]
24	4 June 1942	06:20	MiG-1[16]		40	23 August 1942	10:05	LaGG-3	PQ 64171, west of Belyov[17]
25	12 June 1942	12:10	Il-2[16]		41	23 August 1942	10:08	LaGG-3	PQ 64171, west of Belyov[17]
26	7 July 1942	11:23	MiG-3[18]		42	9 September 1942	10:57	Il-2	east of Rzhev[19]
27	9 July 1942	07:35	MiG-3[18]		43	9 September 1942	11:01	Il-2	northeast of Rzhev[19]
28	9 July 1942	07:37	MiG-3[18]		44	9 September 1942	17:30	Il-2	PQ 47754[19]
29	9 July 1942	07:47	MiG-3[18]		45	14 September 1942	10:01	MiG-3	PQ 47584, southeast of Rzhev[19]
30	17 July 1942	13:05	MiG-1[20]		46	14 September 1942	10:14	I-180	PQ 47581, Dugino[19]
31	2 August 1942	13:05	Il-2	PQ 47563[20]	47	21 September 1942	08:02	R-5	PQ 47812[19]
32	2 August 1942	18:17	Pe-2	PQ 47572[20]	48	23 September 1942	15:05	I-16	PQ 47612[19]
33	4 August 1942	10:16	MiG-3	PQ 47591[21]	49	1 October 1942	09:35	R-5	PQ 46214[22]
34	4 August 1942	14:25	Pe-2	PQ 47563[21]	50	4 October 1942	13:05	LaGG-3	8 km (5.0 mi) east of Peno[22]
35	5 August 1942	18:10	Pe-2	PQ 56432[21]	51	4 October 1942	13:10	LaGG-3	5 km (3.1 mi) southeast of Peno[22]
– 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[23]	54	28 June 1943	19:03	B-17	PQ 15 West 604[24]
53	23 January 1943	14:12	B-17	PQ 14 West 4975, Carhaix[25]
– 10. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" – On the Western Front — September 1943
55?[Note 1]	2 September 1943	20:25	Spitfire	Béthune[27]	56	3 September 1943	09:50	B-17	vicinity of Paris[27]

Awards

• Aviator badge
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe
• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class^[3]
• Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (18 May 1942)
• German Cross in Gold on 24 September 1942 as Unteroffizier in the 5./Jagdgeschwader 51 ^[28]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 3 November 1942 as Unteroffizier and pilot in the 5./Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders"^[29][30]

Notes

1. This claim is not listed by Mathews and Foreman.^[26]