Unger, for the loss of five Fw 190 fighters damaged in combat. On 8 May 1944 he was shot down by defensive fire from one of the B-17s, but managed to make a gear-up landing in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 at Uelzen. Awarded the Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe on 21 June 1944, Unger hit two B-24 Liberator over the town of Oschersleben on 7 July 1944, claiming his 10th and 11th victories. In total, Luftwaffe pilots claimed the destruction of 60 bombers while actual losses were 28 bombers destroyed and further bombers returned with various levels of combat damage. The authors Prien, Stemmer and Bock state that the consolidated attack flown in close formation by the Sturmgruppe resulted in overclaiming of aerial victories caused by the confusing combat situation. During these attacks, multiple pilots may have simultaneously fired at the same bomber. It was therefore unclear who was responsible for the destruction of the bomber. On 3 August 1944, he shot down two further B-24s, but his Fw 190 A-8 was hit again, forcing him to abandon his aircraft. In August 1944 Unger vas awarded the German Cross in Gold. On 23 October 1944, when he had accounted for a total of 19 four-engine bombers, the Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel Unger was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (). Unger was promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant) in December 1944. Eastern Front and end of war On 12 January 1945, Soviet forces launched the Vistula–Oder offensive advancing into German-held territory, capturing Kraków, Warsaw and Poznań on the Eastern Front. In consequence, on 21 January, IV. Sturmgruppe was ordered to relocate from Gütersloh Airfield to Märkisch Friedland, present-day Mirosławiec, located approximately east of Stargard. With this transfer, the Sturmgruppe came under the control of the 1. Flieger-Division (1st Air Division), commanded by Generalmajor Robert Fuchs, and subordinated to II. Fliegerkorps (2nd Air Corps), headed by General der Flieger Martin Fiebig. The following day, Unger was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 14. Sturmstaffel of JG 3, succeedin Oberleutnant Karl-Heinz von den Steinen who was transferred. On 27 January, Märkisch Friedland had to be abandoned and the Sturmgruppe retreated to an airfield southwest of Stargard. Over the next weeks, the Sturmgruppe predominantly flew fighter-bomber missions in support of German ground forces retreating towards the Oder. On 19 February, the Sturmgruppe flew ground support missions south of Stargard near the Oder. During this mission, Luftwaffe pilots