Date of Birth: 13.06.1918 - Pyrehne, Kreis Landsberg/Warthe, Province of Brandenburg, German Empire (today Pyrzany, Poland)
Date of Death: 07.10.1944 - Paderborn, Westphalia, German Reich (aircraft accident)
Battles / Operations: Invasion of Poland 1939, Campaign in Norway 1940, Night Defence of the Reich 1940-1944
Religion: Evangelical Lutheran
Parents: Johannes Lent (Lutheran minister), Marie Elisabeth née Braune
Siblings: Werner and Joachim (brothers), Käthe and Ursula (sisters)
Spouse: ∞ 1941 Helene "Lena" Senokosnikow
Children: none recorded
Promotions:
06.04.1936 Fahnenjunker
01.10.1936 Fahnenjunker-Gefreiter
01.12.1936 Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier
20.04.1937 Fähnrich (RDA 01.04.1937)
01.02.1938 Oberfähnrich
24.02.1938 Leutnant (RDA 01.01.1938)
22.06.1940 Oberleutnant (RDA 01.06.1940)
01.01.1942 Hauptmann
01.01.1943 Major (RDA 01.07.1943)
01.03.1944 Oberstleutnant (RDA 01.05.1944)
07.10.1944 Oberst (posthumous)
Career:
13.06.1918 born in Pyrehne as fifth child of a Lutheran minister
Easter 1924-Easter 1928 local primary school Pyrehne
1928-1935 secondary school Landsberg/Warthe, Abitur 12.12.1935
02.02.1936- end March 1936 Reichsarbeitsdienst at Mohrin
01.04.1936 entry into Luftwaffe as Fahnenjunker
06.04.1936-1940 training at Luftkriegsschule 2 Gatow, flight training from 07.08.1936, first solo 15.09.1936 in Fw 44, A/B licence 19.10.1937, observer training Große Kampffliegerschule Tutow 01.03.1938-30.05.1938
01.07.1938 posted to III./JG 132 (later forming part of ZG 76)
1939-1940 1. Staffel Zerstörergeschwader 76 (Bf 110), Poland and Norway campaigns
1940 transfer to Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 after night-fighter conversion at Ingolstadt
01.10.1940 Staffelkapitän 6./NJG 1, Deelen airfield, Netherlands
01.07.1941 Staffelkapitän 4./NJG 1, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
01.11.1941 acting Gruppenkommandeur II./NJG 2
01.10.1942 Gruppenkommandeur IV./NJG 1 (redesignated from II./NJG 2)
01.08.1943 Geschwaderkommodore NJG 3, Stade
07.10.1944 killed in landing accident at Paderborn, buried with entire crew at Stade garrison cemetery
Awards and Decorations:
Flugzeugführerabzeichen 15.11.1937
Sudetenland Medal with Prague Castle clasp 1938/39
Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th Class
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse 21.09.1939
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse 11.05.1940
Narvik Shield 30.01.1941
Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe 26.06.1941
Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Schwarz 14.07.1941
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold 09.04.1942
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes 30.08.1941 (8 day + 14 night victories, 303rd award)
Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub 06.06.1942 (35 night victories, 98th award)
Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern 02.08.1943 (66 night victories, 32nd award)
Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten 31.07.1944 (100 night victories, 15th award)
Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Silber 22.12.1943
Front Flying Clasp for Night Fighters in Gold with Pennant "300"
Gemeinsames Flugzeugführer- und Beobachterabzeichen in Gold mit Brillanten
Six references in the Wehrmachtbericht (10.11.1941, 28.01.1942, 16.05.1942, 21.06.1942, 18.06.1944, 11.10.1944 posthumous)
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Helmut Johannes Siegfried Lent, a deeply religious son of a Lutheran minister who joined the Luftwaffe against his father's wishes and became the leading German night-fighter ace of the Second World War with 110 confirmed victories (102 at night, including 59 four-engined bombers), rose steadily through the ranks while flying the Bf 110 and later specialized night fighters. Beginning his combat career with daylight Zerstörer missions over Poland and Norway where he scored seven daytime kills, he transitioned to night fighting in 1940 and claimed his first nocturnal victory on 12 May 1941. Commanding successively 6./NJG 1, 4./NJG 1, II./NJG 2 (later IV./NJG 1) and finally NJG 3, he achieved the milestone of 100 nocturnal victories on the night of 15/16 June 1944, becoming the first night-fighter pilot to reach this figure and earning the Diamonds to the Knight's Cross. His steady accumulation of kills, often against RAF Bomber Command streams over the Reich and occupied territories, brought him six mentions in the Wehrmachtbericht and the admiration of his superiors and comrades alike. On 7 October 1944, while returning from a routine flight in a Ju 88, the left engine failed on final approach to Paderborn airfield; the aircraft struck high-voltage power lines and crashed, mortally wounding Lent and his entire crew (radio operator Walter Kubisch, gunner Hermann Klöss and mechanic Werner Kark), all of whom were buried together at the Old Garrison Cemetery in Stade.
Unique and interesting facts include that Lent came from a family in which his father, both brothers and both grandfathers were Lutheran ministers, yet he pursued a military flying career from an early age after developing a passion for gliding; he suffered multiple non-combat injuries during training (broken leg in a road accident and broken jaw plus concussion when run over by a car); he was one of the very few night-fighter pilots to receive the full Diamonds award and the only one to reach 100 nocturnal victories by mid-1944; despite the demands of combat he remained known for his calm leadership and technical skill, and his fatal crash occurred not in action but during a non-operational landing when engine failure caused the aircraft to hit power lines, with all four crew members dying from their injuries within two days.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Lent
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/1040/Lent-Helmuth.htm
https://luftwaffe.cz/lent.html
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/ (search Lent Helmut)
https://rk.balsi.de/ (Ritterkreuzträger database)
https://www.ww2.dk/lwoffz.html (Luftwaffe officer summaries)
https://forum.axishistory.com/ (threads on NJG 1, NJG 3 and Lent)
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/ (award discussions)
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/ (personnel records)
https://grokipedia.com/ (Helmut Lent entry)
https://aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/ (victory claims)
W.P. Fellgiebel, Elite of the Third Reich, Helion 2003
Ernst Obermaier, Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe, Verlag Dieter Hoffmann 1989
Martin Spick, Luftwaffe Fighter Aces, Greenhill Books 1996
Christopher Shores, Luftwaffe Aces, Osprey 2004
various entries in Google Books previews of night-fighter histories and Wehrmachtbericht compilations
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