on 7 april, after reaching 53 victories, ebener was awarded the knight's cross of the iron cross, he was simultaneously promoted to the rank of "leutnant". on 31 march 1944 he was transferred to "5./ jg 11" and on 15 july, he was appointed the "staffelkapitän" of "5./ jg 11" based on the invasion front in normandy. in august ebener shot down five usaaf fighters, including three p-47 thunderbolts. he was shot down himself in a dogfight with usaaf fighters southeast of paris while flying a bf 109 g (“black 2”) on 23 august 1944. although saved by his parachute, he was badly wounded and become a prisoner of war. due to his serious injuries he was repatriated to germany in january 1945.