Courtesy Christian König

Courtesy Christian König

In mid-1940, I. Gruppe relocated to the airbase Bordeaux-Mérignac at the Atlantic coast near Bordeaux in France. In October 1940, he was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 2. Staffel of KG 40. Flying the Fw 200 to its maximum range, I. Gruppe was credited with the destruction of 39 enemy merchant ships totaling 206,000 gross register tons (GRT), further damaging 20 ships of 115,000 GRT. On 6 February 1941, U-37 under the command of Kapitänleutnant (Captain Lieutenant) Nicolai Clausen, spotted convoy HG 53, 19 merchant ships escorted by HMS Velox and Deptford, heading for Liverpool. Clausen reported the sighting, which was relayed to KG 40 by Fliegerführer Atlantik. On 9 February, KG 40 sent five Fw 200s to attack the convoy which was spotted at 4 pm roughly 640 kilometers (400 miles; 350 nautical miles) southwest of Lisbon. In the attack at 35°42′N 14°38′W, the Fw 200's managed to sink five ships (Britannic, Dagmar I, Jura, Tejo and Varna), and Deptford damaged the Fw 200 piloted by Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant) Erich Adam, who managed to fly his aircraft to Spain. U-37 sank three further ships from HG 53. This achievement earned him his first mention in the Wehrmachtbericht, an information bulletin and element of Nazi propaganda issued by the headquarters of the Wehrmacht. Fliegel was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 25 March 1941. In mid-April 1941 he was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe of KG 40, replacing Major Edgar Petersen. He was mentioned a second time in the Wehrmachtbericht on 20 June 1941 after the number of enemy shipping destroyed by his Gruppe increased by a further 24 ships, reaching 109 enemy ships sunk. By early 1941 I. Gruppe of KG 40 had five holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross reflecting the success of the Condors in Atlantic Ocean operations. (Source: Wikipedia)