 He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ("Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes") after 46 aerial victories on 13 November 1942.From August 1943 he served with 11 "Staffel" of Jagdgeschwader 27 (11./JG 27), later 15./JG 27, firstly on the Balkan front and then on Defense of the Reich(Reichsverteidigung) duties.By the end of 1943 he had increased the number of aerial victories claimed to 73.