Grenadier Auctions is proud to offer this historic grouping which belonged to Oberst Ernst Kupfer, which includes his Knight’s Cross document and his early SMF Luftwaffe officer’s sword. This grouping is fresh from the daughter of the WWII USAAF officer who brought it home after WWII and has been in the possession of this family since 1946. It also comes with a handwritten letter of provenance from the late veteran’s daughter. This grouping will be featured in Auction XXX.

Oberst Ernst Kupfer (2 July 1907 – 6 November 1943) was a ground-attack pilot in the Luftwaffe who commanded a wing (StG 2) of Stuka aircraft. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Kupfer was appointed acting Geschwaderkommodore (Wing Commander) of Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 (StG 2—2nd Dive-Bomber Wing) on 13 February 1943. He led StG 2 in the battles of the Kuban bridgehead and Operation Citadel. In April and May, several other fighter and ground attack groups augmented his command. Following the failure of Operation Citadel in July 1943, he took command of all local ground attack units, named Gefechtsverband "Kupfer" (Combat Detachment "Kupfer").  He flew 636 combat missions and was shot down three times, all by ground fire.

On 1 September 1943, Kupfer was appointed General of the Ground Attack [aircraft] (General der Schlachtflieger) and promoted to Oberstleutnant.  In this role he handled the procurement of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, which was to replace the old and obsolete Junkers Ju 87 and especially the Henschel Hs 123. For this purpose he flew and visited a number of Schlachtgeschwader (ground attack wings) to meet with the various Geschwaderkommodore (wing commanders). He visited Oberstleutnant Kurt Kuhlmey, commander of Schlachtgeschwader 3, in early November 1943 and was killed when his Heinkel He 111 crashed returning to his base in bad weather on 6 November 1943. His body lay undiscovered until 17 November. He received a posthumous promotion to Oberst (Colonel) and was posthumously awarded the 62nd Swords on 11 April, 1944.

A wonderful and newly found group of tableware and cutlery from Hitler's personal train the Führersonderzug  "Amerika" which was renamed Führersonderzug "Brandenburg" in January 1943. This important trove was brought home from the war by a member of Eisenhower's staff and acquired directly from his family. Train tableware was marked with numbers to the car to which it was assigned. Nearly all the items here are marked to car "244" which was Hitler's personal dining car in the 10 to 16 car train. Each piece is marked with the Reichsadler and "DR" (Deutsche Reichsbahn) and the silver markings. The items in this trove will be sold individually in the coming auctions XXX and XXXI.