Jürgen Brocke

Jürgen Brocke (4 February 1922 – 15 September 1942) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Brocke claimed 42 victories in 150 missions. He was shot down on 15 September 1942 and was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross on 9 December 1942.

Career
On 15 September 1942, Brocke was shot down and killed in action by anti-aircraft artillery in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 (Werknummer 7623—factory number) southwest of Devitsa, located approximately 15 km west of Voronezh.

Aerial victory claims
According to Obermaier, Brocke was credited with 42 aerial victories claimed in approximately 150 combat mission on the Eastern Front. Spick also lists him with 42 aerial victories and a mission-to-claim ratio of 3.57. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 39 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed over the Eastern Front.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 82133". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 sqmi. These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 x in size.

Awards

 * Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
 * Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 13 September 1942 as Leutnant and pilot
 * German Cross in Gold on 8 October 1942 as Leutnant in the II/Jagdgeschwader 77
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 December 1942 as Leutnant and pilot in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 77