Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 (NJG 2) was a Luftwaffe night-fighter and night-intruder wing active from 1 September 1940 until 5 May 1945, formed initially when I./NJG 2 was created at Gilze-Rijen from elements of II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 and other Zerstörer units, with Stab/NJG 2 established only on 1 November 1941 under Oberstleutnant Karl Hülshoff; uniquely among early night-fighter formations, I./NJG 2 specialised in long-range Fernnachtjagd intruder missions over Britain, operating modified Junkers Ju 88C and Dornier Do 17Z/Do 215 aircraft that could carry bombs as well as forward-firing armament, flying from bases in the Netherlands to intercept RAF bombers taking off or returning to their airfields in eastern England, claiming around 143 victories (with roughly 90 confirmed RAF losses) between October 1940 and October 1941 before Hitler ordered the cessation of such operations on 12 October 1941 in favour of destroying bombers over German territory. Thereafter the Geschwader expanded with II. and III. Gruppen (subject to several redesignations, including temporary absorption into NJG 1 and later re-formations from NJG 6 and NJG 7 elements), shifting to conventional Himmelbett and later free-lance night-fighting under the Kammhuber Line while also deploying detachments to the Mediterranean—Sicily, North Africa and Crete—from late 1941 onward for defence of Axis shipping and airfields; equipped primarily with Ju 88C/G variants (later also Bf 110, Do 217 and briefly the Ju 388J), NJG 2 claimed approximately 800 aerial victories overall, producing notable aces such as Paul Semrau, Heinz Strüning and Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, and in July 1944 one of its Ju 88G-1s accidentally landed intact at RAF Woodbridge, giving the Allies their first detailed examination of the Lichtenstein SN-2 radar and Flensburg detector. In the final months the wing defended the Ruhr and other industrial regions from bases in western Germany, receiving limited numbers of the advanced Ju 388 before fuel shortages and overwhelming Allied air superiority ended operations in May 1945.
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SCHWERTERTRÄGER
Major Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (1916-1944) was born on 14 August 1916 in Copenhagen to diplomat Gustav Alexander Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Walburga Freiin von Friesen. After schooling in Switzerland, Bavaria and Freiburg, where he obtained his Abitur, he joined the Hitler Youth and completed Reichsarbeitsdienst before entering the 17. Kavallerie-Regiment in Bamberg in 1937. He soon transferred to the Luftwaffe, trained at the Fliegerschule Braunschweig and was commissioned Leutnant in June 1938. As observer and later pilot with Kampfgeschwader 1 Hindenburg and Kampfgeschwader 51 Edelweiss he flew some 150 combat missions in the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain and Operation Barbarossa with Heeresgruppe Nord. In late 1941 he volunteered for the Nachtjagd and became Staffelkapitän of 9./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2. His first nocturnal victory came on the night of 6/7 May 1942. Rapid success followed; after 22 confirmed night victories he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 2 October 1942 as Hauptmann. Posted to the Eastern Front as Gruppenkommandeur of IV./Nachtjagdgeschwader 5, later redesignated I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 100, he achieved multiple victories including seven in one night near Oryol. Awarded the Eichenlaub on 31 August 1943 after 54 victories, he next commanded II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 and II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2. On 1 January 1944 he was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 and promoted Major, already holding 68 victories. On the night of 21 January 1944, flying a Ju 88 near Berlin, he shot down five British bombers, raising his total to 83 and becoming the Luftwaffe’s leading Nachtjäger. Immediately after the fifth success his aircraft was hit, the left wing caught fire and he ordered his crew to parachute; they survived while he was killed near Lübars by Stendal when his parachute failed to open. Posthumously he received the Schwerter on 23 January 1944 as the 44th recipient, in recognition of his 83 night victories.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Oberst Helmut Lent (1918-1944) was born on 13 June 1918 in Pyrehne, Landsberg an der Warthe, into a devoutly Lutheran family as the fifth child of a minister; after primary schooling and private tutoring he passed his Abitur in December 1935, completed Reichsarbeitsdienst, and against his father’s wishes entered the Luftwaffe as a Fahnenjunker on 1 April 1936, training at Luftkriegsschule 2 Gatow where he earned his wings and was commissioned Leutnant on 1 March 1938 before converting to the Messerschmitt Bf 110 with I./Zerstörergeschwader 76. He claimed his first victories during the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and further successes over the North Sea, including two confirmed Wellingtons in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight on 18 December 1939, then flew ground-support missions during the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, force-landing at Fornebu after engine damage while helping secure the airfield. Transferred to the newly formed Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, he scored his first nocturnal victory on 12 May 1941 and, as Staffelkapitän of 6./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 with 8 day and 14 night victories, received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 30 August 1941. Promoted Hauptmann and appointed Kommandeur of II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2, he continued to accumulate night victories against RAF bombers and was awarded the Eichenlaub on 6 June 1942 after 35 nocturnal kills; later as Kommandeur of IV./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 he received the Schwerter on 2 August 1943 after 66 night victories. On the night of 15–16 June 1944, by then Oberstleutnant and Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3, he became the first night-fighter pilot to claim his 100th nocturnal victory, for which he was awarded the Brillanten on 31 July 1944; overall he was credited with 110 aerial victories (102 at night, including 61 four-engined bombers) in 507 sorties. On 5 October 1944, while flying a Junkers Ju 88 on a routine transit flight from Stade to Nordborchen near Paderborn, an engine failed on approach and the aircraft struck power lines; Lent succumbed to his injuries two days later on 7 October 1944 and was posthumously promoted to Oberst.
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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
Major Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld (1918-1944) was born on 14 July 1918 in Salzburg, Austria-Hungary, as the only son of Alfred Rudolf Maria Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld and Gräfin Anna von Goëss, belonging to a cadet branch of the House of Lippe; the family resided at Schloss Alt-Wartenburg in Upper Austria. Enthusiastic about mountains, hunting, music and flying from youth, he trained as a glider pilot with the Austrian Aero Club and completed basic flying courses before joining the infantry of the Austrian Bundesheer in 1936 at age eighteen. Following the Anschluss in 1938 he transferred to the Luftwaffe, earned his Flugzeugführerabzeichen on 5 October 1938 and was promoted to Leutnant in 1939. He initially served as a reconnaissance pilot with II. Gruppe of Zerstörergeschwader 76 before transferring on 4 August 1940 to the night fighter force of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. Operating mainly from bases in the Netherlands with Messerschmitt Bf 110 aircraft, he claimed his first nocturnal victory, a Vickers Wellington, on the night of 16 to 17 November 1940. Promoted to Oberleutnant and appointed Staffelkapitän of 5. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 in November 1941, he steadily increased his score. On the night of 26 to 27 March 1942 he shot down four RAF bombers, bringing his total to 21 victories, for which he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 16 April 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 5./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2. Later promoted to Hauptmann, he commanded I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 from October 1942 and then III. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 from June 1943. After reaching 45 aerial victories he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 2 August 1943 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of III./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1; Adolf Hitler presented the decoration personally at the Wolfsschanze. In February 1944 he was promoted to Major and appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 5. On 12 March 1944, while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 from Parchim to Athies-sous-Laon, he and his crew, Oberfeldwebel Josef Renette and Unteroffizier Kurt Röber, crashed near St. Hubert in Belgium in dense fog and bad weather, probably due to icing; all three perished. Credited with 51 nocturnal victories in 167 sorties, he was buried at the German war cemetery in Ysselsteyn.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachtjagdgeschwader_2
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