Description
KNIGHTS CROSS WINNER PRESS PHOTO – SCHALANDA, JOHANN – Staffelkapitän, 3. Staffel, I. Gruppe, Schlachtgeschwader 1,
Original wartime press photo with caption “slug” attached on reverse.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes
Flugzeugführer, 8. Staffel, III. Gruppe, Sturzkampfgeschwader 1, Luftwaffe
Awarded on: April 3rd, 1943
The following newspaper article (dated 24./25.04.1943) describes why Schalanda received the Knight’s Cross…
“Oberleutnant and Stuka pilot Schalanda sunk a 4000 GRT freighter in the port of Tobruk. During the war against the Soviet Union he has destroyed (among other things) 23 enemy tanks and 26 artillery/anti-aircraft guns. Furthermore he has also knocked out two armoured trains and successfully engaged enemy columns, infantry positions, ammunition dumps and assembly areas.”
By this time Schalanda had flown 581 sorties as a ground attack pilot.
