airfield near Taranto in Apulia to support the Invasion of Yugoslavia by the Wehrmacht. On the first day of the campaign, Mietusch claimed a Yugoslav Hawker Fury, which in fact was an Avia BH-33, in combat northeast of Podgorica. On 8 April, 7. Staffel returned to Gela and resumed operations over Malta. On 13 April, Mietusch was credited with shooting down two Hurricanes from No. 261 Squadron, one of which was piloted by Flight Officer Ernest "Imshi" Mason who was wounded in the encounter. On 18 June, 7. Staffel flew together with I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing) and intercepted Hurricane fighters belonging to No. 1 Squadron of the South African Air Force (SAAF) covering the British retreat after Operation Battleaxe. In this encounter, No. 1 Squadron lost three Hurricanes, two were claimed by JG 27 and a third was shot down by Mietusch in combat southeast of Sidi Omar. On 21 August, twelve Martin Maryland bombers from the SAAF No. 12 and No. 24 Squadron attacked the Luftwaffe airfields at Kambut. The bombers were escorted by RAF Hurricane fighters from No. 229 Squadron. Bf 109s from JG 27 and 7. Staffel of JG 26 intercepted the flight, some attacking the bombers while others engaged the escort fighters. Mietusch claimed the probable destruction of a Maryland bomber which was not confirmed. This was his last claim on the North African Theater. 7. Staffel was then withdrawn from North Africa and returned France. During its six-month tenure in the Mediterranean Theater, 7. Staffel claimed 52 aerial victories without losing a single pilot nor aircraft in combat. 7. Staffel was reunited with III. Gruppe of JG 26 at Ligescourt. The Gruppe had just been equipped with the Bf 109 F-4. Mietusch, who had been on vacation before rejoining his unit, flew his next combat mission on 16 September. On 18 September, the RAF flew "Circus" No. 99 targeting the Rouen. Defending against this "Circus", Mietusch shot down a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No. 452 Squadron Spitfire fighter. Squadron leader Mietusch was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 7. Staffel on 19 September 1941. He succeeded Hauptmann Joachim Müncheberg in this command position. Müncheberg had led the Staffel since 22 August 1940 and had been given command of II. Gruppe after its former commander, Hauptmann Walter Adolph was killed in action. On 20 September, 7. Staffel began conversion training to