Rudolf Rademacher, formed a team known as the "chain of devils" (Teufelskette) or the Nowotny Schwarm, which during the course of the war was credited with 524 combined kills, making them the most successful team in the Luftwaffe. Nowotny scored his 69th to 72nd victory on 16 March. He reached the century mark on 5 June 1943, on his 344th combat mission. He was the 42nd Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. By 24 June, he would accumulate a further 24 victories increasing his total to 124. On 2 August, Hauptmann Gerhard Homuth, the commander of I. Gruppe was wounded in combat. In consequence, command temporarily was passed to Oberleutnant Hans Götz who was killed in action only two days later. Command of the Gruppe was then given to Oberleutnant Otto Vinzent. On 11 August, Vinzent was given command of 2. Staffel and Nowotny temporarily assumed command of I. Gruppe. On 15 September, Nowotny was officially appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe. In August alone, he shot down 49 aircraft – a number matched exactly by Jagdgeschwader 52's (JG 52) Erich Hartmann – bringing Nowotny's total to 161 victories. On 1 September, he scored ten victories in two sorties, which took his tally to 183. Seventy-two hours later, that number had risen to 189, earning him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves () on 8 September. The award was to be personally presented by the Führer, Adolf Hitler, on 22 September 1943. However, by this date Nowotny had claimed his double century (200) on 8 September, and, on 15 September, his 215th victory, making him the highest-scoring pilot in the Luftwaffe to that time. Two Lavochkin La-5s and a Yakovlev Yak-9 on 17 September brought his score to 218 victories, earning him Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords () on 22 September 1943. The planned "Oak Leaves" presentation thus became a "Swords" ceremony. The presentation was made by Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, Hitler's headquarters in Rastenburg on 22 September 1943. Three other Luftwaffe officers were presented with awards that day by Hitler, Major Hartmann Grasser and Hauptmann Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein were awarded the Oak Leaves, and Hauptmann Günther Rall also received the Swords to his Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. Diamonds Nowotny was promoted to Hauptmann on 21 September 1943, effective as of 1 October, following his