On 1 December 1941, JG 3 was given the honorary name "Udet" following the suicide of World War I fighter pilot and Luftwaffe Generalleutnant Ernst Udet. Mediterranean Theatre At Wiesbaden-Erbenheim airfield, II. Gruppe was equipped with Bf 109 F-4 trop as the unit was to be deployed in the Mediterranean Theatre. After almost two months of rest, II. Gruppe was ordered to transfer to Sicily in early January 1942. Lucas was awarded the German Cross in Gold () on 27 March 1942. II. Gruppe flew its last combat mission over Malta on 25 April 1942. On 27 April, II. Gruppe arrived at Plzeň where it was placed under the command of Hauptmann (Captain) Kurt Brändle. Eastern Front After three weeks of rest, II. Gruppe was moved to the southern sector of the Eastern Front and placed under control of VIII. Fliegerkorps (8th Air Corps) on the left wing of Army Group South. On 15 July, II. Gruppe was moved to an airfield at Millerovo. Flying from this airfield, Lucas claimed his 33rd and 34th aerial victory. On 27 July 1942, Lucas flew on a fighter escort mission for nine Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers and claimed his 39th and 40th aerial victory. The flight was intercepted by Yakovlev Yak-7 fighters from 434 Istrebitelny Aviatsionny Polk (434 IAP—434rd Fighter Aviation Regiment). In this encounter, Lucas claimed two Yakovlev fighters shot down. It is possible that his opponents were Mládshiy Leytenánt Kukushin and Serzhánt Smirnov, who both were shot down that day. On 20 August 1942, for the second time in his combat career, Lucas became an "ace-in-a-day". On his first combat mission of the day, he claimed an Ilyushin Il-2 dive bomber destroyed, followed by four Petlyakov Pe-2 bombers within six minutes, taking his total to 52 aerial victories. On 19 September 1942, Lucas received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () for 57 air victories. In November 1942, Lucas was appointed Staffelkapitän of the 4. Staffel of JG 3. He thus succeeded Hauptmann Gerhard Wendt who was posted to a staff position with Luftflotte 4. In December, Lucas volunteered for the Platzschutzstaffel (airfield defence squadron) of the Pitomnik Airfield. The Staffel, largely made up from volunteers from I. and II. Gruppe of JG 3, was responsible for providing fighter escort to Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft and Heinkel He 111 bombers shuttling supplies for the encircled German forces fighting