of France. That day, Hauptmann Werner Mölders was shot down in combat in the vicinity of Compiègne and taken prisoner of war. Pingel was transferred from 2. Staffel and temporarily took command of III. Gruppe. On 11 June, JG 53 supported the fighting at the Aisne and near Reims where Pingel shot down two Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 fighters. Following the Armistice of 22 June 1940 Mölders returned to III. Gruppe only to be transferred to take command of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing). Hauptmann Harro Harder was officially appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of III. Gruppe and Pingel returned to take command of 2. Staffel. With Jagdgeschwader 26 On 22 August, the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, appointed Major Adolf Galland as Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" (JG 26—26th Fighter Wing). Göring was convinced that the Luftwaffe's failure to defeat the RAF Fighter Command was caused by the lack of aggressiveness on behalf of the Luftwaffe fighter pilots. In consequence, Göring reassigned every Geschwaderkommodore position to younger and more successful men. Galland shared Göring's opinion, and as a first measure had Gruppenkommandeur of I. Gruppe, Hauptmann Kurt Fischer replaced by Pingel. Pingel claimed his first aerial victories with JG 26 on 29 August. In terms of aerial victories claimed, it was I. Gruppes most successful mission so far, for the loss of one of their own, the Gruppe claimed five RAF fighters. Pingel accounted for two Spitfire fighters, shot down near Dungeness. On 14 September, two members of JG 26 received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), Oberleutnant Joachim Müncheberg and Pingel. At the time, twenty aerial victories were the requirement for a Knight's Cross nomination. Pingel had not yet reached this figure. Caldwell assumes that Pingel, in parts, received this award for his leadership skills. On 28 September, Pingel shot down a No. 249 Squadron Hawker Hurricane near Maidstone but his Bf 109 E-4 (Werknummer 3756—factory number) was badly damaged, forcing Pingel to ditch off the English coast near Hastings and be rescued by the Seenotdienst (sea rescue service). He claimed his last aerial victory in 1940 on 5 November. In combat with the No. 12 Group's Duxford Wing, Pingel claimed a No. 19 Squadron Spitfire shot down east of Gravesend. On 22 June 1941, the RAF flew "Circus" No. 18 targeting Hazebrouck with six Bristol Blenheim bombers, escorted by Spitfires from No. 609