Benno Kosch (12 March 1900 - 16 June 1975) received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 1 October 1940 as Oberstleutnant and Gruppenkommandeur II.Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 1 (KG 1) "Hindenburg". The following newspaper article (dated 29 October 1940) describes why Kosch received the Ritterkreuz: "Oberstleutnant Kosch has led his bomber Gruppe from success to success right from the very outbreak of the war, and in this capacity he has provided a shining example of courage for his crews. His Gruppe was particularly successful in its operations against the Albert Marth airfield, the Potez factory, the main aviation department Paris-Monterne and the port facilities at Le Havre, Cherbourg, Brest, Lorient and Bordeaux. The Gruppe was able to destroy 80 aircraft on the ground. Later, during the attacks against England, Oberstleutnant Kosch went on to lead his Gruppe against its assigned targets with bitter determination despite the very strong enemy fighter defenses. A notable case of this was during an attack on London. During this attack the other aircraft in Oberstleutnant Kosch’s Kette were put out of action, while he personally received two bullet wounds in the shoulder and one in the head. Despite this he fearlessly kept up his attack until his engine was also shot up. After dropping his bombs onto the southern part of London he succeeded in landing his damaged aircraft safely at his airbase despite encountering powerful enemy fighter attacks en-route."
Source :
https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/benno-kosch_EF8449EAEE
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/44936/Kosch-Benno.htm
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