On 30 March, Schnörrer was forced to bail out from his damaged aircraft, sustaining severe injuries to his leg which then had to be amputated.

[3][Note 1] He "earned" his nickname "Quax" by crashing the difficult-to-control Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter plane three times during his flight-training.

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

Schnörrer arrived on the Eastern Front as an Unteroffizier, soon after German forces had launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.

The Ergänzungsgruppe was a supplementary training group attached to JG 54 under the command of Hauptmann Leo Eggers.

Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Heinz Lange and subordinated to I. Gruppe (1st group) headed by Hauptmann Hans Philipp.

The combat area was predominantly in the east and southeast of Leningrad where Soviet forces had created a corridor to the city in Operation Iskra.

[15] On 23 February, Soviet forces launched an attack south of Leningrad as part of Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda.

[21][Note 2] In early July, I. Gruppe of JG 54 was ordered to move to Oryol, in the southern sector of Army Group Centre, where it fought in Operation Citadel which initiated the Battle of Kursk.

[24] The next day, I. Gruppe targeted the airspace near Ponyri and during multiple combat missions claimed 29 aerial victories which included a LaGG-3 shot down by Schnörrer at 14:33.

[27] One of his opponents may have been a pilot from the Free French Régiment de Chasse Normandie-Niémen (Fighter Squadron 2/30 Normandie-Niemen).

[29] On 9 August, I. Gruppe was ordered 400 kilometers (250 miles) south to Poltava Airfield where they were placed under the control of Luftflotte 4 (Air Fleet 4).

[30] On 11 August, Nowotny was temporarily appointed commander of I. Gruppe, a position he held until 15 September when he was officially assigned as Gruppenkommandeur.

[18] The next day, the Gruppe flew multiple combat air patrols and fighter escort for Ju 87 dive bombers in the area west of Kharkiv.

Without loss, I. Gruppe claimed 15 aerial victories, including a Pe-2 bomber and an Il-2 ground attack aircraft by Schnörrer.

[33] On 27 August, I. Gruppe was withdrawn from the combat area of Kharkiv and ordered to the airfield Iwanowka which was located at Ordschonikidsegrad, present-day part of Bryansk, which again placed them under the control of Luftflotte 6.

[36] On 7 October, I. Gruppe again flew missions to combat area of Velizh where Schnörrer claimed a Bell P-39 Airacobra and P-40 fighter aircraft.

[7] On 11 November, the Nowotny Schwarm lost Döbele, who was killed in a mid-air collision with an Il-2 ground attack aircraft east of Vitebsk.

[41] Bailing out at approximately 70 meters (230 feet), his parachute failed to deploy in time, and he crashed to the ground, breaking both legs and suffering a severe concussion.

[42] Schnörrer was then rescued by the German infantry and flown in a Junkers Ju 52 to a Luftwaffe hospital in Dölau, today part of Halle.

[43] Seven months later in June 1944, having recovered from his injuries, and commissioned as an officer, Leutnant Schnörrer was transferred to Erprobungskommando 262, a small unit doing flight-testing of the revolutionary new Messerschmitt Me 262 jet aircraft.

In September, the fighter was ready to proceed to advanced combat-testing and his friend Nowotny was brought in to lead the project.

But progress was slow and with the war-situation getting worse, an impatient General Adolf Galland arrived in early-November to get a personal report.

On 8 November, in very poor weather conditions, Nowotny led a Schwarm of Me 262s into one of its first group combat missions and was killed in action, probably shot down after an engine flame-out left him defenceless.

[Note 3] From February to March 1945, he claimed eleven aerial victories flying the Me 262 jet-fighter, making him one of the top jet-aces of the war.

The USAAF lost 23 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers and seven North American P-51 Mustang fighters in the attack.

[51] On 9 February, over 1,200 heavy bombers of the Eighth Air Force attacked synthetic fuel factories, railroad and other targets.

[56] On 18 March, the Eighth Air Force headed for various railway stations and tank factories in the greater Berlin area with 1,329 heavy bombers, escorted by 632 fighter aircraft.

[59] On 30 March, the USAAF 3rd Air Division dispatched 1,320 heavy bombers, escorted by 852 fighter aircraft, to the U-boat pens and oil storage facilities at Hamburg, Bremen, Wilhelmshaven and Farge.

Staffel was then passed on to Oberleutnant Gustav Sturm[5][61] After the war, Schnörrer worked as a photographer for the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).