in the Battle of Stalingrad. On 21 July 1943, Lucas was credited with his 100th aerial victory. He was the 47th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. During the Donbass Strategic Offensive, II. Gruppe supported the 6th Army on the Mius-Front. On 31 July 1943, II. Gruppe claimed 17 aerial victories in this sector, including two by Lucas, his last two claims on the Eastern Front. On 2 August, the Gruppe was ordered to return to Germany. Defense of the Reich and death The increasing daytime attacks of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force against targets in western Europe forced the Luftwaffe to transfer more and more fighter units from the Eastern Front back to Germany in Defense of the Reich. On 3 August 1943, II. Gruppes air elements arrived at Uetersen Airfield in northern Germany. On 20 October, the USAAF targeted Düren. II. Gruppe intercepted the bombers near Venlo but were fended off by the escorting Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. Elements of II. Gruppe managed to reach the bombers on their return. Two Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers were shot down, including one by Lucas. Whilst with JG 3 flying from Schiphol, he was killed in combat with Supermarine Spitfires, possibly escorting USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, on 24 October 1943. His Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 27080 —factory number) crashed in the city centre of Leiden, Netherlands. He on purpose, crashed his aircraft in the courtyard of a hospital on the Hooigracht, thus taking no other people with him than his 106 kills. Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Lucas was credited with 106 aerial victories. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 105 aerial victory claims, plus one further unconfirmed claim. This figure includes 104 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and a four-engined bomber over the Western Allies. Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 47844". 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 Honour Goblet of the