Military Hero - Frederich Beckh was a career soldier having joined the cavalry in 1926 as part of the Versailles Treaty agreement for Germany to have a maximum 100,000 strong army. In 1935 after Hitler and the Nazi's came to power, he transferred to the Luftwaffe with the rank of Oberleutnant and trained to be a fighter pilot but had little aptitude for flying. Although he qualified as a pilot, he was largely relegated to General Staff positions and when World War II broke out he did not fly any combat missions due to his age (and, later due to his failing eyesite). He also lectured at the Air War Academy. It was during 1940 as Jägerverbindungsoffizier in the Luftgaukommando Wiesbaden (fighter communications or liaison officer) that he became close friends with Werner Mölders, the two men served in Jagdgeschwader 134 Horst Wessel. When Werner Mölders became the commander of JG 51 on July 27, 1940, he arranged for Beckh to transfer to his squadron. During the opening weeks of Operfation Barbarossa, Beckh took to the air for combat and had a fair amount of success largely due to his wingman Leutnant Bernd Gallowitsch, who at the time was credited with around twenty victories. The two pilots invariably returned from sorties with a victory each. On July 21, 1941, Beckh was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 51 in succession to Werner Mölders and on September 8th, while JG 51 supported General Heinz Guderian's Panzers in the battles around Kiev, Beckh claimed the squadron's 2000th victory. However on September 16, his luck ran out during a fighter sweep in his BF-109 when he was hit by flak, taking an incendiary round through the left foot. Two days after being wounded in action he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for 27 victories, 23 of them in Russia. He had also claimed around twenty aircraft destroyed on the ground. Initially he insisted on leading the squadron from the ground but on October 3rd, he was admitted to a hospital due to his foot wound being infected. Beckh returned to the squadron on December 21, 1941. He achieved approximately 20 further victories before being transferred back to the Reich Air Ministry on April 9, 1942. He was appointed Kommodore of JG 52 two months later following the death of Major Wilhelm Lessmann. On June 21, 1942 Beckh was in his BF-109 with his wingman for a low-level mission in the area of Izium-Kupiansk-Waluiki, east of Kharkov. While flying east of Waluiki, the duo observed a Russian air base with numerous Russian fighters on the ground. A large force of Russian LaGG-3s appeared in the skies and Beckh assaulted. Beckh shot down two of the Russian fighters before his plane took a number of hits from the ground flak units. His wingman reported that Beckh's plane turned and headed nose down and plunged to the ground. His body was never recovered.