although not up with the top scorers of the 'experten' pilots of the Luftwaffe, all of Heinz Knoke's 54 kills were in the west.
and they came at a price. Knoke was shot down 6 times and force landed at least once in his career.
numerous spells in hospitals and the amputation of a thumb
must have made getting back into the cockpit of a 109 an act of extraordinary courage.
in the spring of 1944, at the age of just 23, Knoke was promoted to Gruppenkommandeur of II./ JG 11.
the youngest Gruppenkommandeur in the Luftwaffe.
the day after Knoke was promoted, he was shot down by Capt Cannon of the 354th FG
but before bailing out, Knoke was able to shoot down Cannon's P-47 as he overshot Knoke's 109.
Cannon spent the rest of the war as a POW
Knoke survived the war and in the 50's became famous for his book, 'I flew for the Fuhrer'. I read it back in the early '90s.
'Lilo' was his wife's nickname. Heinz Knoke died in 1993 at the age of 72.
