Flying with this wing, Huppertz claimed his first aerial victory on 28 May 1940 on the Western Front during the Dunkirk evacuation.

Huppertz was born on 3 June 1919 in Rheydt, present-day a borough of Mönchengladbach, at the time an independent city in the Rhine Province.

Huppertz, the son of a postal inspector (Postinspektor), joined the Luftwaffe in late 1937 as a Fahnenjunker (cadet).

[3] World War II in Europe began on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland.

Staffel of JG 51 was a newly created squadron commanded by Oberleutnant Josef Priller based at Eutingen im Gäu.

That day, remnants of the French Army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were retreating towards Dunkirk.

To save the BEF, the British under the cover of the Royal Air Force (RAF), had launched Operation Dynamo.

[8] For this achievement, Huppertz was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz zweiter Klasse) on 30 May 1940.

[10] Four days later, Huppertz received the Iron Cross 1st Class (Eisernes Kreuz erster Klasse).

[1] He claimed his third aerial victory on 25 October, a Hawker Hurricane fighter shot down near Tunbridge Wells.

Gruppe of JG 51 was withdrawn from the Channel Front in early June 1941 and ordered to Dortmund where the unit was reequipped with the Bf 109 F series.

Staffel commanded by Oberleutnant Karl-Gottfried Nordmann, claimed a Tupolev SB bomber shot down.

[17] The Gruppe was moved to an airfield at Schatalowka, present-day Shatalovo air base, 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Smolensk, on 21 July.

Three were lost from the 411 BAP (Bombardirovochnyy Aviatsionyy Polk—bomber aviation regiment) operating under the OSNAZ (Osoboye Naznachenie—Special purpose-unit or task force).

At the time, the unit was based in Zerbst before moving to Düsseldorf and to Vannes-Meucon Airfield in mid October.

The objective of this assignment was to give the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen fighter protection in the breakout from Brest to Germany.

[28] On 2 April 1942, Huppertz attacked the de Havilland Mosquito W4056 aerial reconnaissance aircraft from the RAF No.

The crew made a forced landing at the German Ørland Airfield and was taken prisoner of war.

Its pilot, Flighing Officer Peter Geoffrey Charles Gimson was on an aerial reconnaissance mission searching for the German battleship Tirpitz.

Flying Officer Ian Malcolm was also searching for Tirpitz when he was shot down and killed by Huppertz.

That day, he was injured when his Fw 190 A-2 (Werknummer 122208) suffered engine failure resulting in a forced landing near Mogensbæk.

[41] In late June, the Staffel was declared operational readiness and moved to Vannes Airfield.

[44] Three days later on 4 July, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) attacked the U-boat pens at La Pallice, Nantes and Le Mans.

The next day, flying off of Brest, he claimed a RAF Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber shot down.

[45] On 30 August, Huppertz shot down a RAF North American P-51 Mustang fighter on a "Rhubarb" mission.

[46] The Gruppe engaged in aerial combat with Martin B-26 Marauder bombers and their fighter escort heading for Rouen on 11 September.

Gruppe flew in Defense of the Reich on 1 December when the VIII Bomber Command attacked Solingen that day.

[50] On 20 February 1944, the first day of Big Week, Hupertz claimed the destruction of a B-17 bomber of the 91st Bombardment Group near Mons.

[56] In contrast, authors Mathews and Foreman list him with five claims over three Typhoon, a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and a P-51 fighter that day.

[61] He was posthumously promoted to Major (major) and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) on 24 June, the 512th officer or soldier of the Wehrmacht so honored.