 On 18 September, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his 23 victories (including the 12 in Spain).The presentation was made by Göring at the headquarters of the Netherlands, "General der Flieger" (General of the Flyers) Friedrich Christiansen, at Wassenaar near The Hague on 19 September.A month later he made way for Helmut Wick (at the time in a 3-way battle with Galland and Mölders, as top-scoring pilot) and moved to take command of JG 27.