The Award Documents to Luftwaffe Ace Major Ludwig Franzisket

The Award Documents to Luftwaffe Ace Major Ludwig Franzisket - A Group of Award Documents to a Luftwaffe Ace, Major Ludwig Franzisket, Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross Winner, at one time Geschwaderkommodore (wing Commander) of the famous JG 27, an Ace who scored all of his 43 victories against the Western Allies in over 500 combat missions: award document for Honor Goblet -Ehrenpokal (20 October 1940), with original signature of Göring, with nice embossed seal on the bottom left corner, in very fine condition; award document for German Cross -Deutsches Kreuz- in Gold (12 January 1943), folded, with nice embossed seal on the bottom left corner, with facsimile signature of Göring and original signature of General Der Flieger, in very fine condition; preliminary award document for Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 -Ritterkreuz - (23 July 1941), measures 13.5cm x 18.2cm (slightly cut off on top and the bottom), with original signature of General Der Flieger, never been folded, in near mint condition; one original photo of Franzisket. Footnote: Prof. Dr. Ludwig Franzisket (born 26 June 1917 in Düsseldorf – died 23 November 1988 in Münster) was a German World War II Luftwaffe fighter ace. He scored all of his 43 victories against the Western Allies in over 500 combat missions whilst flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Franzisket claimed his first two victories on 11 May 1940, and eventually ending the French campaign with nine kills. On 9 July 1./JG 1 was re-designated 7./JG 27. On 1 October 1940 Franzisket was appointed Adjutant of I./Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing). Franzisket had achieved 14 victories at the time of the unit relocation to North Africa. A notable success in this period occurred on 14 June 1941 when Franzisket intercepted and shot down South African ace Captain Ken Driver. Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant) Franzisket was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 23 July for 22 victories in 204 missions. Franzisket was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1./JG 27 on 6 December 1941. With his score at 39, Frankisket was shot down on 29 October 1942 by Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfires. As he bailed out of Messerschmitt Bf 109 (Werknummer 10616—factory number) he struck the vertical stabilizer, a fate suffered by his close friend and fellow ace Hans-Joachim Marseille just four weeks before, breaking his leg. Marseille had not been as fortunate to survive the accident and was killed. Franzisket was tasked with recovery of Marseille's body from the desert. After recovering Franzisket led 1./Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Süd—a supplementary training unit—from 1 July 1943 and was then appointed Gruppenkommander (group commander) of I./JG 27 based in Germany. On 12 May 1944 Franzisket's Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 441097) was badly damaged in combat with United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) bombers. On 15 December 1944 Franzisket joined the Geschwaderstab of JG 27, and then was appointedGeschwaderkommodore of JG 27 on 30 December 1944.  Franzisket surrendered with the remnants of his unit to American Forces at Salzburg, Austria on 8 May 1945.  After the war, he became a professor and director of the Westfälisches Museum für Naturkunde.