were both awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on the same day - 22 February - the first such awards for JG 27 since arriving in North Africa. After this his scoring slowed down to only three victories in March. On 15 March Schulz downed Sergeant Rozanski, No. 112 Squadron. Sent to officer-training school, he was promoted to Leutnant in April. At the end of May, now an Oberleutnant and assigned to the Stab (headquarters unit) flight of II. Gruppe as Technical Officer, he had another quick flurry of four victories including his 50th on 31 May: a P-40 flown by South African ace Major Andrew Duncan (5.5 victories) of No. 5 Squadron SAAF, who was killed. Death On 17 June 1942, after claiming his 51st and last victory (Canadian ace Flight Lieutenant Walter "Wally" Conrad (6.5 victories) of No. 274 Squadron, Schulz himself was shot down and killed in his Bf 109 F-4trop (Werknummer 10 271—factory number) by RAF Kittyhawks near Sidi Rezegh. Schulz descended to low level to strafe Conrad's P-40 when he was caught by an Allied fighter. Research suggests the victory should be credited to Canadian ace James "Stocky" Edwards of No. 260 Squadron RAF. At the time of his death, behind Marseille and Günther Freiherr von Maltzahn, Schulz was in third place with respect to the number of aerial victories claimed in the North African Theater. Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to Obermaier, Schulz was credited with 51 aerial victories claimed in approximately 400 combat missions, including three victories on the Eastern Front and 42 in North Africa. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for more than 50 aerial victory claims, plus one further unconfirmed claim. This number includes three claims on the Eastern Front and 47 on the Western Front. Awards Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 5 January 1942 as Oberfeldwebel and pilot German Cross in Gold on 14 February 1942 as Oberfeldwebel in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 27 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 22 February 1942 as Oberfeldwebel in the II./Jagdgeschwader 27 Notes References Citations Bibliography Further reading Ring, Hans & Girbig, Werner. Die Dokumentation über den Einsatz and allen Fronten 1939-1945 Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag (1994). for extensive unit history & data Shores, Christopher & Massimello, Giovanni. A History of the Mediterranean Air