[4] In preparation of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the aircraft were given a maintenance overhaul at Mannheim-Sandhofen Airfield.

On 21 June, the commanding officers were ordered to Suwałki where they were briefed by Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring.

[6] With JG 53 participating in the invasion of Russia from June 1941 onward, Michalski claimed 13 further victories by the end of August 1941 for a total of 22.

Gruppe of JG 53 was withdrawn from the Eastern Front and ordered to Insterburg, present-day Chernyakhovsk.

Michalski was to become the most successful German fighter pilot in the Siege of Malta, claiming 26 victories against the island's defenders.

Staffel was then passed to Oberleutnant Wilhelm Hobirk for two months before it was assigned to Leutnant Fritz Dinger in October.

He bailed out over sea, climbed into his life raft before he was picked up by a Dornier Do 24 flying boat of Seenotstaffel 6, the 6th Squadron of the German air-sea rescue service.

On 27 November, Michalski claimed a Spitfire fighter shot down 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) south of Majaz al Bab.

[16] On 13 June, Michalski claimed a Supermarine Spitfire fighter shot down near Syracuse.

In November 1943, II./JG 53 was relocated to airfields in Austria, operating on Reichsverteidigung (Defense of the Reich) duties.

Near Schandelah, present-day part of Cremlingen, he shot down a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber.

[24] On 1 May, the Eighth Air Force attacked German railroad infrastructure in southern Germany.

Defending against this attack, Michalski was shot down by USAAF escorting fighters in his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 440232) near Saarbrücken.

The position of Geschwaderkommodore was left vacant until on 21 May Major Walther Dahl was given command of JG z.b.V.

[22] As Geschwaderkommodore, Michalski was ordered to Berlin on 22 January 1945 and attended the meeting with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring which was later dubbed the Fighter Pilots' Mutiny.

The meeting was held at the Haus der Flieger in Berlin and was attended by a number of high-ranking fighter pilot leaders which included Michalski, Günther Lützow, Hannes Trautloft, Hermann Graf, Erich Leie, Helmut Bennemann, Kurt Bühligen and Herbert Ihlefeld, and their antagonist Göring supported by his staff Bernd von Brauchitsch and Karl Koller.

The fighter pilots, with Lützow taking the lead as spokesman, criticized Göring and made him personally responsible for the decisions taken which effectively had led to the lost air war over Europe.

[27] Michalski was involved in a motor vehicle accident on 22 February 1946 and died in a hospital at the age of 28 in Kaltenkirchen.

[22] His brother Werner was killed in action as a Leutnant on 10 April 1942 serving with Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter".