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Aces of The Nachtjagdgeschwader Luftwaffe

Prince Heinrich zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was a highly successful night fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe during World War 2, shooting down 83 Allied aircraft before being killed in a mid-air collision in January 1944. He was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves for his accomplishments. Martin Becker was another top German night fighter ace, shooting down 58 aircraft with his Messerschmitt Bf 110. He achieved notable success during the Battle of Berlin and in a single sortie in March 1945 downed 9 Lancaster bombers.

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88 views

Aces of The Nachtjagdgeschwader Luftwaffe

Prince Heinrich zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was a highly successful night fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe during World War 2, shooting down 83 Allied aircraft before being killed in a mid-air collision in January 1944. He was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves for his accomplishments. Martin Becker was another top German night fighter ace, shooting down 58 aircraft with his Messerschmitt Bf 110. He achieved notable success during the Battle of Berlin and in a single sortie in March 1945 downed 9 Lancaster bombers.

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Timia Talashek
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[fl][b]Heinrich zu Sayn-Wittgenstein[/span][/span][p]

At the moment of his death, Prince Heinrich zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was the record
pilot among the ones of night fight of the Luftwaffe, having downed not less than
83 Allied aircraft in the darkness.

Only Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer and Helmut Lent could improve his record. Born in
Copenhagen, Denmark, the 14th August 1916, Prince Heinrich enlisted in the
Luftwaffe before the Second World War and

initially he served as bomber pilot. In August 1941, after having performed about
150 flight missions, he was transferred to the Nachtjagdgeschwader (Night Fighter
Wing). The Prince demonstrated to

be a particularly deadly enemy at the controls of his night fighter - in those


moments a Messerschmitt Bf 110G - and when his record reached 22 aircraft destroyed
he was rewarded with the Knight's

Cross, the 2nd October. In the following month of July he destroyed seven bombers
in a single night - which was then considered as a worldwide record -, which earned
him the category of Oak Leaves

for his Knight's Cross the 31st August. Between September and November, he
commanded the II Gruppe of the Nachtjagdgeschwader 3, but the 1st January 1944 he
was promoted to Commander of the entire

Nachtjagdgeschwader 2.[p]
The 21st January, Prince Heinrich took off from Stendal in his night fighter Ju
88C-6C, equipped with radar SN-2 Lichtenstein and armed with cannons MG 151 of
oblique trajectory ("Schrage Musik").

He was oriented by his radar operator, Feldwebel Ostheimer, towards a wave of


bombers from the Royal Air Force, which moved towards Magdeburg, and one hour later
he downed a Lancaster bomber with

his "Schrage Musik" cannons; he destroyed three more heavy bombers in quick
succession and immediately engaged a fourth aircraft. When opening fire with his
cannon against the bombs compartment of

the bomber, his operator saw the beginning of a fire which, apparently, was
extinguished. Approaching the Lancaster with his aircraft, Prince Heinrich wanted
to open fire once more against the

bomber, when this one suddenly exploded. In that moment were heard violent
explosions in the larboard wing of the German fighter; Prince Heinrich ordered his
operator to throw in parachute while he

tried to take control of his damaged aircraft. But, while Ostheimer survived to the
parachuting, Prince Heinrich died in the cockpit of the Ju 88, which crashed near
Schonhausen.
Near there were found the remainings of a Heinkel He 219 piloted by another great
German fighter pilot, Captain Manfred Meurer, who had 65 victories in his record.
It was believed then that Meurer

could have crashed against the Lancaster downed by Prince Heinrich. Two days later,
this latter was rewarded posthumously with the category of Swords for his Knight's
Cross.[p]
[aimg96]high_res/night_fight_of_the_luftwaffe/junkers_ju_88c-
6c_night_fighter.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/night_fight_of_the_luftwaffe/junkers_ju_88c-
6c_night_fighter.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]Junkers Ju 88C-6C from the Nachtjagdgeschwader 2, piloted by Major Heinrich zu
Sayn-Wittgenstein in January 1944.[/span][p]
[box]
Wingspan: 20 meters[p]
Length: 14.36 meters (excluding antennas)[p]
Height: 5.06 meters[p]
Engines: Two Junkers Jumo 211J of 1350 horsepower[p]
Maximum speed: 488 kilometers/hour[p]
Operative ceiling: 9900 meters[p]
Maximum range: 1980 kilometers[p]
Armament: Three MG FF/M 20-millimeter cannons (one in the nose and two in the
ventral gondola), two MG 151 20-millimeter cannons (in dorsal position), three MG
17 7.92-millimeter machine guns

(in the nose) and one MG 131 13-millimeter machine gun (in the cockpit shooting
backwards)[p]
[/div][p]
[fl][b]Martin Becker[/span][/span][p]
Martin Becker was one of the most important German night pilots of the last months
of the Second World War; he earned fame due to his extraordinary series of multiple
victories achieved in single

night missions, piloting his Messerschmitt Me Bf 110G. Born in Wiesbaden the 12th
April 1916, "Tino" Becker enlisted in the Luftwaffe immediately before the outbreak
of the Second World War,

training as reconnaissance pilot. He was assigned a position in an


Aufrarungsgruppe, which piloted the Me Bf 110C in 1940, and remained in this unit
until the early 1943, when he was transferred to

the night fighters, also Me Bf 110. He achieved his first victory during the early
hours of the 23rd September 1943, when he destroyed a heavy bomber Avro Lancaster
which took part in the bombing

over Hannover. Quickly it was established his reputation as excellent pilot in any
meteorological situation, taking off frequently in missions against the Royal Air
Force when the bad visibility

forced the largest part of the German night force to remain in land. In that time
he was Oberleutnant in the I Gruppe of the Nachtjagdgeschwader 4. During the Battle
of the Ruhr he destroyed at

least six night bombers of the RAF, but it was in the Battle of Berlin where he
would achieve his most outright success.[p]
Because the Bomber Command of the RAF had to disperse its efforts in attacks
against targets other than the German capital, the night of the 22nd-23rd March
1944 a large amount of bombers Avro

Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax overflew the strongly defended city of
Frankfurt-am-Main. Taking off from Finthen, airfield near Mainz, Becker penetrated
in the bomber formation and downed six

of the 33 heavy cuatrimotors that the RAF lost that night. In the first hours of
the 31st March, piloting again a Me Bf 110G-4, he performed two sorties against the
RAF bombers that tried to attack

Nuremberg in that famous but failed operation. In the timespan elapsed between
00:20 and 00:50 hours, he localized and destroyed three Halifax and three
Lancaster. After that, he landed to refill
fuel and ammunitions. Taking off again, he attacked a Halifax - of the Canadian
force, 429th Squadron "Brison" - that was on its returning flight, downing it 48
kilometers north of Metz.[p]
Until then, Becker had been flying aircraft equipped with machine guns of
telescopic aiming and he had employed the attack method known as "von unter
hinden", reducing speed to attack from beneath

and towards the tail. Soon he was fond of the deadly "Schrage Musik", which allowed
him to attack the enemy bombers from beneath just by passing below them, and use
the telescopic-aiming cannons

against the vulnerable fuel tanks and bombs compartment of the unaware bombers. In
September 1944 we was promoted to Captain and given the command of the IV Gruppe
Nachtjagdgeschwader 6, piloting

the heavily armed Me Bf 110G-4B/R3. With two MK 108 30 millimeters telescopic-


aiming cannons and four 20-millimeter cannons mounted in "Schrage Musik"
configuration, he achieved his most resonant

success in a single mission the night of the 14th-15th March 1945, when he
destroyed not less than nine Lancaster during a bombing over Zweibrucken. Martin
Becker survived the war, with a record of

58 victories achieved in about 80 night missions.[p]


[aimg96]high_res/night_fight_of_the_luftwaffe/messerschmitt_me_bf_110g-
4b_r3_night_fighter.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/night_fight_of_the_luftwaffe/
messerschmitt_me_bf_110g-4b_r3_night_fighter.jpg[/aimg96][br]
[fs]Messerschmitt Me Bf 110G-4B/R3 from the IV Gruppe, Nachtjagdgeschwader 6,
piloted by Captain Martin Becker on 14-15 March 1945.[/span][p]
[box]
Wingspan: 16.25 meters[p]
Length: 13.05 meters[p]
Height: 4.18 meters[p]
Engines: Two Gnome-Rhone 14 M 4/5 of 700 horsepower[p]
Maximum speed: 550 kilometers/hour[p]
Operative ceiling: 8000 meters[p]
Maximum range: 2100 kilometers[p]
Armament: Two MK 108 30-millimeter cannons, four MG 151 20-millimeter cannons and
one MG 812 7.9 millimeters twin machine gun[p]
[/div][p]

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