 Having joined the Luftwaffe in 1935 and completed his pilot training , at the start of the war Specht was a Leutnant in 3 . / ZG 26 " Horst Wessel " ( the 3rd squadron of the 26th Heavy Fighter Wing ) . In 1939 he was wounded by an RAF tail gunner and blinded in one eye . He returned to active duty and was shot down six times during the war . After his recovery in 1939 , he chose to return to active service but was shot down again in France and was seriously injured . These injuries kept him grounded for the next two years . In 1942 he returned to active duty with 1st Fighter Wing ( Jagdgeschwader 1 Oesau ; JG 1 ) ) . He was then made Group Commander ( Gruppenkommandeur ) of II Group of JG 11 ( II . / JG 11 ) and promoted to Major . He was appointed as Wing Commander ( Geschwaderkommodore ) of JG 11 and was listed as missing in action during the attack on the Allied bases at Asch and Ophoven as part of Operation Bodenplatte . He was posthumously promoted to lieutenant colonel ( German : Oberstleutnant ) and was recommended for the Oak Leaves ( German : Eichenlaub ) to the Knight 's Cross , which was never actioned amongst all the confusion in the last months of the war . 
