of 6. Staffel of JG 52. On 1 March, the Staffel was redesignated and became the 7. Staffel. That day, he was shot down in his Bf 109 G-10/U4 (Werknummer 610964) by German anti-aircraft artillery near the airfield at Vesprém. On 3 April, he made a strafing attack on Russian positions and came under attack of 12 North American P-51 Mustang resulting in a forced landing near the front line. II. Gruppe moved to an airfield at Brünn, present-day Brno in the Czech Republic, on 14 April. There, Ewald claimed his last four aerial victories. That day, he shot down two Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft and a Yakovlev Yak-9 fighter on 15 and 16 April, taking his total to 84. Four days later on 20 April, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (). Ewald was held as a Prisoner of War at Fürstenfeldbruck Lager from 8 May until 22 June 1945. Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Ewald was credited with 84 aerial victories. Spick also lists Ewald with 84 aerial victories claimed in 396 combat missions. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 82 aerial victory claims, including one North American P-51 Mustang, plus 16 further unconfirmed claims. All of his confirmed victories were claimed on the Eastern Front. Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 34 Ost 66562". 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 3 × 4 km in size. Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (8 January 1944) 1st Class (7 March 1944) Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold (22 March 1944) Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 19 June 1944 as Unteroffizier and pilot Wound Badge in Black (1 August 1944) German Cross in Gold on 30 November 1944 as Leutnant in the II./Jagdgeschwader 52 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 20 April 1945 as Leutnant and pilot in the 5./Jagdgeschwader 52 Notes References Citations Bibliography 1922 births 2002 deaths People from Sopot Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the