The German Nachtjagd during the Second World War represented the Luftwaffe’s specialized night fighter force developed to counter the growing nocturnal bombing campaign of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command against the Reich and occupied territories. Formed in the summer of 1940 after the first British night raids, the organization was placed under the command of Oberst Josef Kammhuber, who established the 1. Nachtjagddivision and later the Kammhuber-Linie, a chain of overlapping radar-controlled defensive zones known as Himmelbett sectors stretching from Denmark to central France. Each sector combined Freya and Würzburg radars with searchlights and assigned Nachtjäger, initially drawn from Zerstörer units and equipped mainly with the Messerschmitt Bf 110. The first dedicated formation, Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 under Oberst Wolfgang Falck, began operations in June 1940, followed by Nachtjagdgeschwader 2, 3 and subsequent Geschwader that expanded the force across the Western and Eastern fronts. Early tactics relied on Helle Nachtjagd, in which searchlights illuminated bombers for visual interception, later supplemented by Dunkel Nachtjagd using ground-controlled radar guidance. From 1942 airborne radar such as the FuG 202 and FuG 220 Lichtenstein systems allowed crews to conduct independent final approaches, while passive devices including Naxos and Flensburg homed on British H2S and Monica emissions. Aircraft evolved to include the Junkers Ju 88, Dornier Do 217 and the purpose-built Heinkel He 219 Uhu. In 1943 Major Hajo Herrmann introduced the Wilde Sau procedure, employing single-engine day fighters of Jagdgeschwader 300 over illuminated target areas, while the complementary Zahme Sau tactic massed radar-equipped twin-engine Nachtjäger into the bomber stream under ground-radar support. A decisive innovation was Schräge Musik, upward-firing 20 mm or 30 mm cannon mounted in the fuselage so that pilots could attack from below, outside the bombers’ defensive arcs. The Nachtjagd reached its peak effectiveness during the raid on Nürnberg on the night of 30–31 March 1944, when coordinated radar-controlled intercepts claimed ninety-five four-engine bombers. Despite these successes and the appearance of jet-powered Me 262 night fighters in the final months, Allied electronic countermeasures, the bomber stream and overwhelming numerical superiority gradually eroded the force, which nevertheless remained one of the most technologically sophisticated air-defence systems of the war until the collapse of the Reich in May 1945.
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BRILLANTENTRÄGER
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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SCHWERTERTRÄGER
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.
Source :
https://www.ww2today.com/p/23-08-13-nachtjagd-defenders-of-the-reich
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