Kurt Ebener (4 May 1920 – 7 May 1975) was a Luftwaffe fighter 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. Ebener was credited with 57 victories in 150 missions, 52 over the Eastern Front.
Career
Ebener was born on 4 May 1920 in Könitz, present-day a municipality of Unterwellenborn, at the time in Thuringia of the Weimar Republic. He volutunteered for military service in the Luftwaffe on 17 November 1939. Following completion of flight and fighter pilot training, was posted to 4. Staffel (4th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing) on 1 December 1941. The Staffel was subordinated to II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 3 and based at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim Airfield and preparing for deployment to Mediterranean theater. At the time, 4. Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Walther Dahl while II. Gruppe was headed by Hauptmann Karl-Heinz Krahl.
In early January 1942, II. Gruppe received orders to relocate to Sicily where the II. Fliegerkorps (2nd Air Corps) concentrated forces during the Siege of Malta. On 18 January, the first aircraft from 4. Staffel arrived at Comiso Airfield. On 25 April, the Gruppe flew its last mission to Malta, escorting bombers.
War against the Soviet Union
On 27 April 1942, II. Gruppe arrived at Pilsen, present-day Plzeň, following their deployment to the Mediterranean theater. The Gruppe was then placed under the command of Hauptmann Kurt Brändle after its formed commander Krahl had been killed in action. During the next three weeks, the Gruppe underwent a period of maintenance and overhaul before on 18 May began deploying to the southern sector of the Eastern Front. Too late to participate in the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula, it was located on the left wing of Army Group South, assigned to an airfield at Chuguyev in the Kharkov area where they arrived on 19 May. On 23 May, Ebener claimed his first two victories when he shot down two I-61 fighters, an early German designation for a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 fighter.
In December 1942, Ebener volunteered for the Platzschutzstaffel (airfield defence squadron) of the Pitomnik Airfield. Ebener, whose oldest brother Walter had been killed in action on the Eastern Front, was motivated to volunteer since his older brother Helmut served with a Panzer-Jäger (tank-destroyer) regiment in Stalingrad. The Staffel, largely made up from volunteers from I. and II. Gruppe of JG 3, was responsible for providing fighter escort to Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft and Heinkel He 111 bombers shuttling supplies for the encircled German forces fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad. II. Gruppe pilots claimed 39 aerial victories between 16 and 26 December, including 13 by Ebener. In total, Ebener claimed 33 aerial victories with the Platzschutzstaffel which made him the most successful Luftwaffe fighter pilot over Stalingrad. On 17 December, Ebener claimed his 20th aerial victory when he shot down an Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft. Two days later, the Luftwaffe managed to fly in 289 tons of supplies. That day, Ebener became an "ace-in-a-day" when he claimed four Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighters and two Petlyakov Pe-2 bombers shot down.
On 1 March 1943, Ebener was transferred to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost, a fighter pilot training unit for pilots destined for the Eastern Front, as an instructor. On 18 March, Ebener was awarded the German Cross in Gold (), and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 7 April for 52 aerial victories claimed. Simultaneously, he was promoted to the rank of Leutnant (second lieutenant).