Today In History:  21 October  [1943]   --  German ace Emil Lang shoots 12 Soviet aircraft in one day

Lang completed this single day feat on the Eastern Front, near Kiev in the USSR, raising his victory total to 72. He was eventually credited with 173 aerial victories -- 144 on the Eastern Front, 29 on the Western Front, and one Soviet Motor Torpedo Boat sunk, over a span of 403 combat missions. He was killed over Belgium in September 1944 while dogfighting with American P-47 Thunderbolts.

PHOTO: A German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-3 of 11./JG 2 after landing in the UK by mistake in June 1942. This is the type of aircraft that Lang was flying when he was killed.

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