that when he came to the presentation his first words were, "Where is the night fighter?" Shortly following the presentation of the Schwerter both Rumpelhardt and Gänsler received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 8 August. His crew was the only night fighter crew in the entire Luftwaffe of which all crew members wore this decoration. In early September 1944, NJG 1 was forced to abandon its airfields in the Netherlands and Belgium. Continuous heavy attacks by RAF and USAAF bombers and strafing by Allied fighter-bombers rendered the airfields unsuitable for operations. On 2 September, VI./NJG 1 relocated from Sint-Truiden to Dortmund-Brackel. Schnaufer achieved his 100th victory on 9 October 1944, when he claimed two bombers shot down from an attack force of 415 bombers targeting Bochum. He was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 10 October 1944 and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds () on 16 October 1944. He was the 94th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. Wing commander of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 Schnaufer was then appointed Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 (NJG 4—4th Night Fighter Wing) on 20 November 1944; the youngest Geschwaderkommodore in the Luftwaffe at the age of 22. The Geschwaderstab and the II. Gruppe were stationed at Gütersloh. He flew his first combat mission as Geschwaderkommodore on 22 November 1944 from Gütersloh and claimed two victories in the area of Dortmund. Schnaufer and his crew flew from Gütersloh to Berlin-Staaken on 27 November 1944 for the official presentation of the Diamonds to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords by Hitler. Following the official photo session by Hitler's photographer Heinrich Hoffmann, Schnaufer met with Oberst (Colonel) Nicolaus von Below, Hitler's Luftwaffe adjutant, at the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Ministry of Aviation). Here Schnaufer and his crew were filmed for the German newsreels Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Three days later they returned to Gütersloh. Schnaufer became the leading night fighter pilot on 9 November 1944. Schnaufer surpassed Oberst Helmut Lent's record of 102 night-time victories, after he claimed three Lancasters shot down from a force of 235 Lancasters from No 5. Group which attacked the Dortmund-Ems Canal. Schnaufer, whose victory total stood at 106 at the end of 1944, failed to shoot down a single bomber in January 1945. It was his first month without filing a claim since April 1943. Schnaufer was