Schnaufer

NJG 2

Air Victories

Major

121 Kills

Major

Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer

Whilst Jabs and Lent were somewhat reluctant convertees from day to night fighting, the same cannot be said of the man who was to survive the war as Germany's top night fighter ace with a total of 121 night victories, and a Ritterkreuz with Diamonds, Swords and Oak Leaves. Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer took to night fighting like the proverbial duck to water, and joined 11/NJG 1 immediately after completing his training .

The 20-year-old Leutnant had all the attributes of a top-class night fighter pilot, and these soon became evident on the night of 2 June 1942 when he recorded his first kill. At this time the Germans had devised the simple but effective system of dividing their airspace into boxes, each of which was patrolled by night fighters that were warned of the approach of enemy bombers by ground radar interpreted by a ground controller. Once the aircraft had entered the 'box', the night fighter used its on-board radar to track it and hopefully shoot it down.

Throughout the war, this system was improved and revised as both sides found counters for the other's new equipment, but generally it always ended with the fighter crew being the last link between the bomber and its fate. The long loiter time of aircraft like the Bf 110, Ju 88 and later the He 219, enabled the crews to intercept the RAF night bomber streams over
very long distances, and there were many occasions when bomber crews relaxed their vigils just that little bit too soon and paid the ultimate price. Of course, it required a considerable amount of fortitude and self-discipline to stay alert at the controls of a heavy fighter for several hours, listening to the ground controller, the aircraft's radar operator, and peering into the darkness to spot tell-tale flames from exhausts or the sudden burst of fire as another night fighter made an interception. Some crews flew several months without victories and some were content with downing one bomber
then relaxing their own vigil. Schnaufer was exceptional, and his record of multiple kills was not matched by any other night ace. This skill came to light on the night of 16 December 1943 when, in extremely poor weather conditions, he persisted
with his patrol and shot down four Lancasters. At this time his score stood at 36, of which 22 had been achieved by the previous August when he became Staffelkapitan of 9/1V/NJG 1. This promotion seemed to act as a spur, for in the next four months he added 14 more before his first multiple victory. Before the end of 1943 he scored twice more to reach 42, at which point he was awarded the Ritterkreuz.

In early 1944 he reached the ranks of the half-centurians in a gallop with nine Lancasters, six of which fell to him on two nights. Multiple kills became an everyday occurrence as the fine spring weather made conditions ideal for the fighters, and disastrous for the bombers. April brought him nine more Lancasters four on the 27.th alone, and in May nine more together with four Halfaxes fell to his guns, three of the latter being shot down on the 13th and no fewer than five of the former on 24th. It is not surprising that promotion as well as decorations followed at a swift rate, and when he became only the second night fighter pilot to achieve 100 victories on 9 October, he was already the Kommandeur of 1V/NJG 1; by the end of 1944, his score stood at 106, which took him ahead of his nearest rival, Helmut Lent.
However, his greatest achievement was yet to come. As the war drew to its conclusion, the hard-pressed night fighter pilots realised that they were now making token gestures against an air force that had total air superiority. There was nonetheless honour still at stake, and Schnaufer made it a costly night for the RAF on 7 March. His first sortie brought him two more
Lancasters, then, on his second, and in the space of 17 minutes, he accounted for seven more to take his final score to 121, making him the leading night fighter ace of the war.
After the war his Bf 110 was displayed in London and one of its rudders is still on display in the Imperial War Museum in London. Although Heinz Schnaufer survived the war he, like the American ace Dave Schilling, was killed in a motoring accident in France in 1950, at which time he was still
only 28 years old.