Hugo Broch, the German World War II flying ace who was the last living recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, died on June 11, 2026.
He was 104. Born on January 6, 1922, in Leichlingen, then in the Rhine Province of Prussia, Broch became an aircraft pilot and flew with the Luftwaffe during the Second World War.
He was credited with 81 victories in 324 missions, all on the Eastern Front, and received both the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross and the German Cross in Gold.