Werner Quast
Werner Hermann Quast (21 June 1920 – 12 July 1962) was a German Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Following a mid-air collision on 7 August 1943, he was taken prisoner by Soviet forces and was held until 1949. He joined the postwar Luftwaffe in 1956 and died in a helicopter accident in Mittenwald on 12 July 1962. During his career he was credited with 84 aerial victories, all on the Eastern Front. Career Quast was born on 21 June 1920 in Thale of the Weimar Republic. Following flight training, he was posted to the 4. Staffel (5th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) in the summer of 1942. At the time, the Staffel was under the command of Oberleutnant Gerhard Barkhorn and subordinated to II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 52 headed by Hauptmann Johannes Steinhoff. War against the Soviet Union In August 1942, II. Gruppe was subordinated to VIII. Fliegerkorps and supported the 6th Army offensive to capture Stalingrad. On 20 August, II. Gruppe reached the airfield at Tusov, approximately southwest of Kalach-na-Donu on the western bank of the Don, from where the Gruppe operated in the combat area of Stalingrad. Flying from this airfield, Quast claimed his first aerial victory on 23 August when he shot down a Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter. Six days later, Quast claimed two further LaGG fighters in the same combat area. In September 1942, II. Gruppe was ordered into the Battle of the Caucasus, supporting Army Group South on the front over the Caucasus. Opposing it was the 4th and 5th Air Armies of the Red Air Force. The Gruppe then moved to Maykop located in the North Caucasus on 21 September where, with the exception of 24 to 29 October, they were based until 26 November. Operating from Maykop, Quast claimed his fourth and fifth aerial victory when he again claimed two LaGG fighters shot down on 7 October. To support the German forces fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad forced the Luftwaffe to relocate its forces and ordered II. Gruppe to move from Maykop to Morozovsk, located approximately west of Stalingrad, on 26 November. Kuban bridgehead and Crimea The Gruppe was moved to the combat area of the Kuban bridgehead on 10 February 1943 where it was initially based at an airfield at Slavyansk-na-Kubani. Due to whether conditions, II. Gruppe then moved to Kerch on 16 February. While based at Slavyansk-na-Kubani, Quast claimed three aerial victories on 11 February including two Polikarpov I-16 fighters. The next day, he shot down an Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft followed by four fighters claimed destroyed on 13 February. Operating from Kerch, Quast claimed a I-16 fighter shot down on 25 February and a LaGG-3 fighter the next day followed by a Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber on 5 March. On 13 March, the Gruppe moved to Anapa