Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1) was the first and most successful German Luftwaffe night-fighter wing of the Second World War, formed on 22 June 1940 at the direction of Hermann Göring under the command of Oberst Wolfgang Falck (who remained Geschwaderkommodore until 30 June 1943) as an air-defence unit for the Defence of the Reich against RAF Bomber Command night raids, initially organised from elements of I./Zerstörergeschwader 1, IV./Zerstörergeschwader 26, IV.(N)/Jagdgeschwader 2 and other Zerstörer units and based primarily at Deelen-Arnhem, Venlo, Düsseldorf, St. Trond, Twente and Leeuwarden; it eventually comprised four Gruppen equipped successively with the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Dornier Do 17, Messerschmitt Bf 110 (its mainstay), Junkers Ju 88, Dornier Do 217 and the advanced Heinkel He 219 Uhu, operating under the evolving Kammhuber Line system of Himmelbett controlled interceptions that combined Freya and Würzburg ground radars, searchlights and, from 1941–42, airborne Lichtenstein radar. Early experimental intercepts in July 1940 yielded the wing’s first claims (including an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley by Werner Streib), and by the end of 1941 pilots such as Streib, Paul Gildner and Helmut Lent had become leading night aces; the wing played a central role in the battles over the Ruhr, Hamburg and Berlin, introducing innovative attack tactics (notably Ludwig Becker’s underside approach) and producing the highest-scoring night-fighter pilot in history, Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer (121 victories), who later commanded IV./NJG 1. Command passed to Oberst Werner Streib in July 1943 and then to Oberstleutnant Hans-Joachim Jabs in March 1944; despite mounting losses from improved Allied electronic countermeasures, Mosquito night fighters and overwhelming numbers, NJG 1 claimed approximately 2,311 victories by day and night for the loss of some 676 aircrew killed, remaining operational until the final collapse in May 1945 when its remnants withdrew to Husum and other northern bases before the German surrender on 8 May.
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SCHWERTERTRÄGER
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.
Oberst Werner Streib (1911-1986) was born on 13 June 1911 in Pforzheim and after completing his Abitur and a commercial apprenticeship joined the Reichswehr in 1934 as a Fahnenjunker in Infanterie-Regiment 14 before transferring to the Luftwaffe in 1936 where he trained as an observer and later as a pilot serving initially with Zerstörergeschwader 1. On 10 May 1940 during the Westfeldzug he scored his first and only daytime aerial victory by shooting down a Bristol Blenheim while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and shortly thereafter as Staffelkapitän of 2. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 achieved the Luftwaffe’s first confirmed night victory on the night of 19/20 July 1940. After accumulating eight victories of which seven were at night he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 6 October 1940 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 2./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 and was simultaneously promoted to Hauptmann then appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. Continuing his success in the Defense of the Reich against RAF Bomber Command he reached approximately forty-two night victories and on 26 February 1943 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz. On the night of 11/12 June 1943 while evaluating the new Heinkel He 219 A-0 with his Bordfunker Unteroffizier Helmut Fischer he claimed five four-engined bombers in a single mission near the Dutch-German border. Appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 on 1 July 1943 he continued to lead operations until after sixty-five to sixty-six confirmed victories he was awarded the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub on 11 March 1944 as Major and Kommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 the fifty-fourth such award. He was then withdrawn from front-line flying and appointed Inspekteur der Nachtjäger remaining in that post until the end of the war with the rank of Oberst. After a period in civilian business following his release from captivity he rejoined the armed forces in 1956 serving in the Bundeswehr and rising to the rank of Brigadegeneral before retiring in 1966. Streib died on 15 June 1986 in München having been credited overall with sixty-six to sixty-eight aerial victories nearly all at night in roughly one hundred fifty combat missions and having played a key role in the development of German night-fighter tactics and organization.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Hauptmann Reinhold Knacke (1919-1943) was born on 1 January 1919 in Strelitz Alt in Mecklenburg-Strelitz and entered the Luftwaffe in 1937, completing pilot training before serving initially with Zerstörergeschwader 1. In the autumn of 1940 he was transferred to the night-fighter arm and assigned to Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, where he flew the Messerschmitt Bf 110 and claimed his first nocturnal victory on the night of 9 March 1941 while serving with the 2. Staffel. He later transferred to the 3. Staffel of the I. Gruppe and steadily increased his score against RAF Bomber Command over the Western Front. On 14 April 1942 he received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold as Oberleutnant in the 2. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. For achieving approximately thirty night victories, including several multiple successes such as three bombers destroyed on the night of 30/31 May 1942, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 1 July 1942 while still an Oberleutnant and Flugzeugführer in the 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. Appointed Staffelkapitän of the 3. Staffel of the I. Gruppe, he continued to add to his tally and reached his fortieth victory near the end of 1942. On the night of 2/3 February 1943 Knacke shot down two further bombers, bringing his total to forty-four confirmed night victories in roughly 160 combat missions, before his Bf 110 F-4 “G9+DK” was fatally damaged in combat with an RAF four-engined bomber over the Netherlands. His Bordfunker, Unteroffizier Kurt Bundrock, managed to parachute to safety, but Knacke was killed when the aircraft crashed near Achterveld. He was posthumously promoted to Hauptmann and on 7 February 1943 received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz as the 190th recipient for his outstanding record as Staffelkapitän of the 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1.
Oberleutnant Paul Gildner (1914-1943) was born on 1 February 1914 in Nimptsch in Silesia and entered military service in 1933 with Infanterie-Regiment 7 before transferring to the Luftwaffe in 1935, where he trained as a pilot and was promoted to Unteroffizier in 1937. After serving in reconnaissance units he moved to Zerstörergeschwader 1 and flew the Messerschmitt Bf 110 with I. Gruppe during the Polish campaign and the Battle of France, claiming four daytime victories. In the summer of 1940 he transferred to the newly formed Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 and joined 3. Staffel of I. Gruppe, scoring his first nocturnal victory on the night of 2/3 September 1940 over a Handley Page Hampden. Flying regular night-fighter missions over the Netherlands and northern Germany against RAF Bomber Command, he steadily increased his score and by early July 1941 had claimed fourteen night victories. On 9 July 1941 he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as Oberfeldwebel for these successes, becoming one of the first non-commissioned officers of the night-fighter arm to be so decorated. Promoted to Oberleutnant in 1942 and awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold, he continued to fly with NJG 1 and by early 1943 had raised his total to approximately forty-four nocturnal victories plus a small number of daytime claims. In February 1943 he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 1. Staffel of NJG 1. On the night of 24 February 1943 his Messerschmitt Bf 110 suffered engine failure near Gilze-Rijen; after ordering his radio operator to bail out, Gildner crash-landed and was unable to escape the burning aircraft, perishing in the flames. Two days later, on 26 February 1943, he was posthumously awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz as the 196th recipient in recognition of his overall record of night and day victories.
Hauptmann Ludwig Becker (1911-1943) was born on 22 August 1911 in Dortmund-Aplerbeck and, after studying law and economics while developing a passion for aviation, joined the Luftwaffe reserves, serving initially as a Leutnant der Reserve. He flew with Zerstörergeschwader units during the early campaigns before transferring in summer 1940 to the II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, where he achieved his first nocturnal victory on the night of 16/17 October 1940 against a Wellington bomber in a ground-radar controlled interception. As an early pioneer of night fighting tactics and equipment, including work with the Lichtenstein airborne radar and service as a test pilot at the Nachtjagdversuchsstaffel in Werneuchen, he developed specialised attack methods from below and behind, later flying the Dornier Do 215 B-5. Promoted to Oberleutnant, he served with 6. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2, earning the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold, and by late 1941 had become Staffelkapitän of the 12. Staffel of IV. Gruppe, Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. After claiming his 25th night victory he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 1 July 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of that unit. Continuing his successes against RAF Bomber Command, he reached around 40 victories by the end of 1942 and was promoted to Hauptmann. On 26 February 1943, after being informed of the award of the Eichenlaub to his Ritterkreuz as the 198th recipient for his 46 night victories while serving as Staffelkapitän of the 12. Staffel, IV. Gruppe, Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, he took off with his Bordfunker Oberfeldwebel Josef Staub in a Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 on a daylight interception of American bombers over the North Sea and was reported missing north of Schiermonnikoog after his 165th combat mission, never to return.
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.
Hauptmann Manfred Meurer (1919-1944) was born on 8 September 1919 in Hamburg and after completing his Abitur at the Gymnasium Johanneum and Reichsarbeitsdienst he entered the Luftwaffe in 1938 as Fahnenjunker in Flak-Regiment 6. Following the outbreak of war he volunteered for flying training, was promoted to Leutnant on 1 April 1940 and initially served with Zerstörergeschwader 76 flying the Messerschmitt Bf 110. In October 1941 he transferred to III. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 and was assigned to 9. Staffel, claiming his first nocturnal victory, a Vickers Wellington, on the night of 26/27 March 1942. By the end of 1942 he had eight confirmed kills and received the Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse. Appointed Staffelkapitän of 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 on 1 January 1943, Meurer rapidly increased his score; on the night of 14/15 February he destroyed three bombers and on 12/13 March, during the Battle of the Ruhr, he claimed four more—two Handley Page Halifax, one Avro Lancaster and one Wellington—bringing his total to 23. For these achievements he was awarded the Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe on 15 March, the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 31 March and the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 16 April 1943 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän. Promoted to Hauptmann, he continued his success and on the night of 27/28 July 1943, flying a specialised Junkers Ju 88, he shot down a de Havilland Mosquito for his 50th victory. This feat earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz, the 264th award, presented by Adolf Hitler at the Wolfsschanze on 2 August 1943. Shortly afterwards he became Gruppenkommandeur of II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 5 and later of I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, flying the Heinkel He 219. On the night of 21/22 January 1944, while intercepting a raid near Magdeburg, his He 219 collided with a Lancaster and both he and his radar operator Oberfeldwebel Gerhard Scheibe were killed. In 130 combat missions Meurer achieved 65 nocturnal victories, including 40 four-engined bombers, establishing him as one of the leading night-fighter aces of the Defence of the Reich.
Hauptmann August Geiger (1920-1943) was born on 6 May 1920 in Überlingen near Lake Constance as the son of a typographer and grew up in the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany before joining the Luftwaffe on 15 November 1939 as a Fahnenjunker following his Abitur; after flight training on the Messerschmitt Bf 110 he was promoted to Leutnant on 1 April 1941 and posted in mid-1941 to Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 where he first served with 9. Staffel of III. Gruppe and later 8. Staffel, claiming his initial aerial victory on the night of 9 July 1941 by destroying a Handley Page Halifax south of Nijmegen and steadily increasing his score against RAF Bomber Command during Defence of the Reich operations while receiving the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse in 1941, the Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse after his tenth victory in 1942, and the Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe on 19 October 1942; appointed Staffelkapitän of 7. Staffel of III. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 on 5 January 1943 and promoted to Oberleutnant on 1 April 1943, Geiger achieved particular distinction on the night of 29/30 March 1943 when he became an ace-in-a-night by claiming five bombers—two Wellingtons, one Halifax and two Lancasters—raising his total to twenty victories, and continued to add successes including three more on 12/13 May against the Duisburg raid so that by the time of his nomination he had twenty-six confirmed nocturnal kills, for which he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 22 May 1943 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 7. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, the presentation being made by Generalmajor Josef Kammhuber; subsequently promoted to Hauptmann on 1 July 1943 and serving as Kommandeur of III. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 while still leading 7. Staffel, he received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 31 August 1943 and by the end of September had amassed fifty-three night victories (with some sources recording fifty-four) in 328 combat missions, all but one of them nocturnal against RAF aircraft plus a single daytime B-17 claim, the Eichenlaub to his Ritterkreuz being bestowed posthumously on 2 March 1944 as the 416th award in recognition of these fifty-three victories and his leadership as Hauptmann and Kommandeur of III. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1; Geiger’s final rank was Hauptmann when, on the night of 29 September 1943, his Bf 110 G-4 Werknummer 5477 “G9+ER” was shot down over the Zuiderzee northwest of Harderwijk by Wing Commander Bob Braham’s Beaufighter of No. 141 Squadron RAF, after which both he and his Funker Feldwebel Dieter Koch baled out successfully yet drowned, and he was later buried at the German war cemetery Ysselsteyn.
Major Hans-Dieter Frank (1919-1943) was born on 8 July 1919 in Kiel and joined the Luftwaffe in 1937 as a Fahnenjunker, completing pilot training before assignment to Zerstörergeschwader 1 where, as a Leutnant in I. Gruppe, he flew the Messerschmitt Bf 110 during the Invasion of Poland and the Battle of France. In mid-1941 he transferred to Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, claiming his first nocturnal victory on the night of 10/11 April 1941 and becoming an ace by 25 August 1941. Appointed Staffelkapitän of 2. Staffel of NJG 1 on 8 August 1942, he received the Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe on 19 October 1942 and the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 27 November 1942 as Oberleutnant. His success accelerated in 1943, including six victories in one night in March and his twentieth by early April. The Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes was awarded on 20 June 1943 while he served as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of 2. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, the nomination based on 33 aerial victories against RAF Bomber Command; that same night of 21/22 June, during the raid on Krefeld, he claimed six further bombers—Halifax and Lancaster types from several RAF and RCAF squadrons—making him an ace-in-a-day and raising his total significantly. On 1 July 1943 he assumed command as Gruppenkommandeur of I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, operating from Venlo and later flying the Heinkel He 219, continuing to add victories until reaching 55 nocturnal claims in approximately 150 combat missions. On the night of 27/28 September 1943 his He 219 collided northwest of Celle with a Bf 110 of the Geschwaderstab of NJG 1; he ejected but was strangled by his radio cable and died, aged 24. Posthumously he was promoted to Major and, on 2 March 1944, awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz as the 417th recipient, recognized as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 for his cumulative achievements as one of the Luftwaffe’s leading night-fighter aces.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachtjagdgeschwader_1
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