2. Otto Kittel was the leading ace killed during World War II
The Luftwaffe’s Otto Kittel flew his first combat mission in 1941, against the Soviet Air Force. By early 1945, Kittel had flown 582 combat missions, all against the Soviets, with 267 confirmed aerial victories. The first came on June 22, 1941, during the opening of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. During the early phases of the war in the East, Kittel flew in the bf 109. In the spring of 1943, Kittel failed to return from a mission over Soviet lines and was presumed lost by his superiors. He returned to his unit after two weeks, having evaded capture and crossed the lines to safety. He immediately returned to combat duty, eschewing a period of leave.
In May, 1944, Kittel visited the Berghof where Adolf Hitler bestowed on him the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Germany’s highest military award. Throughout the summer of 1944 Kittel engaged in combat against the Soviets, piloting a Focke-Wulf FW 190, returning from several missions in damaged aircraft, riddled with bullet holes. In February 1945, his luck finally ran out. On his 563rd combat mission of the war, he attacked a formation of Shturmovik (ground attack) aircraft, which were armed with a rearward-facing gunner. His wingman reported Kittel’s plane went down in flames, and the pilot did not bailout. Kittel was history’s highest-scoring fighter ace to die in combat.