Following the withdrawel from the Eastern Front, III. "Gruppe" had been moved to Döberitz on 26 October. There, the "Gruppe" was equipped with the Bf 109 F-4 trop and began training for deployment to the Mediterranean theatre. On 5 November, Kageneck, together with "Hauptmann" Gordon Gollob, received the Oak Leaves from Adolf Hitler personally at the Wolf's Lair, Hitler's headquarters in Rastenburg, present-day Kętrzyn in Poland. On 6 December, III. "Gruppe" transferred to North Africa where they where based at Timimi, Lybia.