I've always wondered if the Comics Code (still pretty vigilant at that point) ever gave DC any static about ENEMY ACE. As a German in the war, he was technically the bad guy from the American point of view, and the Code did not allow the villains to triumph or go unpunished. I suspect this might be a reason for Von Hammer admiring his foes and being so unhappy... It's great melodrama of course, but it also shows him not as a triumphant winner.