 He was called by his fellow pilots Graf Punski (Count Punski) due to his Prussian origins.Krupinski was one of the first to fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter in combat as a member of "Jagdverband" 44 led by Adolf Galland.Krupinski was born on 11 November 1920, in the town of Domnau in the Province of East Prussia, and grew up in Braunsberg, present-day Braniewo, Poland.