the new Fw 190 D-9. On 28 September, Weiß was credited with the destruction of a Supermarine Spitfire fighter, his 119th victory claim. His opponent was Flight Lieutenant Duncan McCuaig from the Royal Air Force (RAF) No. 541 Squadron, a photographic reconnaissance squadron. III. Gruppe became fully operational on 25 December with all three squadrons uniting at Varrelbusch airfield. On 27 December, III. Gruppe fought Hawker Tempest fighters from the No. 486 Squadron, a New Zealand fighter squadron of the RAF. In this encounter, III. Gruppe lost five aircraft for one victory claimed. On 29 December, Weiß led his Gruppe in combat against Allied fighters of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force. Vectored by ground control to the Münster-Rheine area, the engagement ended with the destruction of 17 German fighters, 13 pilots killed and two wounded. In return III. Gruppe claimed eight aircraft shot down. Weiß led the Stab, III./JG 54 and 11./JG 54 into a large formation of Spitfires from 331 and 501 Squadrons. None of Weiß's Schwarm returned, with 17 aircraft lost and 13 pilots, including Weiß, killed, while claiming six fighters. Weiß was one of the pilots killed, he was shot down in his Fw 190 D-9 (Werknummer 210 060—factory number) "Black 10" near Lengerich. His victor was Flight Sergeant K. F. Haanes of the RAF No. 331 Squadron, a Norwegian squadron. He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves () on 12 March 1945, the 782nd officer or soldier of the Wehrmacht so honored. Initially he was interred on the new cemetery in Lingen. In 1958, his remains were moved and reinterred to the war cemetery at Baden bei Wien and again moved to the Helenen cemetery where he now rests in a family grave. He was replaced by Oberleutnant Hans Dortenmann as commander of III. Gruppe of JG 54. Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Weiß was credited with 121 aerial victories. Obermaier also lists Weiß with 121 aerial victories in claimed 471 missions. 26 of his victories were claimed over the Western Front. Included in his total are 40 Ilyushin Il-2s, 12 Supermarine Spitfires and five P-38 Lightnings. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces – Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 122 aerial victory claims. This figure of confirmed claims includes 96 aerial