Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 was a prominent night fighter wing of the German Luftwaffe during World War II, officially established on April 18, 1941, at Metz. The primary mission of this elite wing was to counter the devastating strategic night-bombing offensive unleashed by the Royal Air Force Bomber Command against the German homeland. Under the leadership of successive commanders such as Major Rudolf Stoltenhoff, Oberstleutnant Wolfgang Thimmig, and Major Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, the unit expanded its organizational structure to incorporate multiple sub-units including I. Gruppe, II. Gruppe, and III. Gruppe. Operating aircraft types such as the Messerschmitt Bf 110, Dornier Do 217, and later the heavily equipped Junkers Ju 88 variants, the pilots and aircrews of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 utilized sophisticated radar systems and ground-controlled interception techniques within the Kammhuber Line defensive network to intercept enemy bombers. Throughout the conflict, various staff elements and Gruppen were stationed across strategic airbases in France and Germany—including Metz, Florennes, Mainz-Finthen, and St. Dizier—subordinated to tactical formations like the 3. Jagd-Division and 4. Jagd-Division as part of the broader Defense of the Reich. Numerous pilots achieved elite status and high scores, such as Ludwig Meister and Wilhelm Herget, while others were awarded prestigious decorations like the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for their operational successes. As the war progressed and Allied air superiority grew, the wing endured heavy attrition and underwent various re-organizations, including reductions and redeployments, before finally disbanding with the collapse of the Luftwaffe and the conclusion of hostilities in May 1945.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Major Wilhelm Herget (1910-1974) was born on 30 June 1910 in Stuttgart and died there on 27 March 1974 after a distinguished career as a Luftwaffe pilot who achieved remarkable success both by day and by night. He began the war serving with the II. Gruppe of Zerstörergeschwader 76 flying the Messerschmitt Bf 110, scoring his first victories during the campaign in the West and the Battle of Britain so that by the end of 1940 he already had fourteen confirmed aerial victories to his credit. After a brief deployment with Sonderkommando Junck in Iraq in 1941 he transferred to the night-fighter arm, initially with Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 and then Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, before being appointed Staffelkapitän and subsequently, on 1 September 1942, Gruppenkommandeur of the newly formed I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4, a command he retained until December 1944. Promoted successively to Oberleutnant der Reserve, Hauptmann der Reserve on 1 October 1942 and Major der Reserve on 1 October 1943, he received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 7 February 1942. His outstanding performance as a night fighter led to the award of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20 June 1943 while serving as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 after approximately thirty to thirty-one aerial victories and the destruction of several ground targets; the decoration recognized his consistent success in intercepting RAF Bomber Command aircraft over the Western Front. An extraordinary feat that underlined his exceptional skill occurred on the night of 20/21 December 1943 when, in the space of only forty-five minutes, he destroyed five Handley Page Halifax and three Avro Lancaster bombers, becoming an ace-in-a-day in spectacular fashion. Continuing his relentless score, he reached his sixty-third victory and was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 11 April 1944 as the 451st recipient while still serving as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 4; the formal presentation was made by Adolf Hitler at the Berghof on 5 May 1944. By the end of the war Herget had flown more than seven hundred combat missions and was officially credited with seventy-two or seventy-three aerial victories, of which fifteen were claimed by day and fifty-seven or fifty-eight by night, the great majority against the heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force. In early 1945 he converted to the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter, served with Sonderkommission Kleinrath and finally joined Jagdverband 44, where on 27 April 1945 he scored his last victory, a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. His combination of leadership, technical adaptability and outstanding combat results, especially the concentrated success that earned him the Ritterkreuz and the subsequent accumulation of victories that brought the Eichenlaub, established him as one of the most effective night-fighter commanders of the Luftwaffe.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachtjagdgeschwader_4
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