Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein

Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (14 August 1916 – 21 January 1944) was a German night fighter pilot and flying ace during World War II. At the time of his death, Sayn-Wittgenstein was the highest-scoring night fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe and still the third highest by the end of World War II, with 83 aerial victories to his credit.

Born on 14 August 1916 in

Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was appointed to command

Personal life

Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn was born on 14 August 1916 in

In April 1937, Sayn-Wittgenstein decided on a military career and joined the 17. Kavallerie-Regiment (17th Cavalry Regiment) in Bamberg. He transferred to the Luftwaffe in the summer of 1937 and, in October, he was accepted at the flight training school in Braunschweig. He received his officer's commission and was promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant) in June 1938.^[4] Sayn-Wittgenstein served on various air bases from where he flew the Junkers Ju 88 and the Heinkel He 111. In the winter of 1938–39 he served as a Kampfbeobachter (combat observer or navigator) in Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54—54th Bomber Wing) based at Fritzlar.^{[5][Note 1]}

With the bomber arm

After the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, Sayn-Wittgenstein experienced his first combat action on the Western Front in the Battle of France and, later, during the Battle of Britain. Initially he served as an observer on the He 111 H-3 from Kampfgeschwader 1 "Hindenburg," piloted by Gerhard Baeker, with whom he flew high-altitude missions against the Royal Air Force (RAF) airfield at Biggin Hill.^[5]

In the winter of 1940–41, Sayn-Wittgenstein returned to pilot school and took his Luftwaffe Advanced Pilot's Certificate 2 (Erweiterter Luftwaffen-Flugzeugführerschein 2), also known as 'C2'-Certificate, confirming proficiency for blind-flying, a prerequisite for night duty, and returned to a combat unit in March 1941. In preparation for

Following the 1939 aerial

Sayn-Wittgenstein had left KG 51 by January 1942, after he had volunteered for the night fighter force and been appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of the 9./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 (9./NJG 2—9th Squadron of the 2nd Night Fighter Wing) on 1 November 1941.^[10] He claimed his first nocturnal victory—a Bristol Blenheim 40 kilometers (25 mi) west of Walcheren—on the night of 6 May 1942, while serving with the Ergänzungsgruppe (Supplementary Group) of NJG 2.^[11] He shot down three aircraft in both the nights of 31 July 1942 (victories 15–17) and 10 September 1942 (victories 19–21). Sayn-Wittgenstein received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 7 October 1942, after 22 aerial victories.^[10] The award was presented by General Josef Kammhuber, after which they both inspected the personnel of 9./NJG 2.^[12]

Hauptmann (captain) Sayn-Wittgenstein was moved to the Eastern Front in February 1943 after he had been appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of the IV./Nachtjagdgeschwader 5 (IV./NJG 5—4th Squadron of the 5th Night Fighter Wing) on 1 December 1942. Here Unteroffizier Herbert Kümmritz joined Sayn-Wittgenstein's crew as his radio and wireless operator (Bordfunker). Kümmritz at this time already had six months of operation experience on board a Messerschmitt Bf 110 serving with the II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (II./NJG 3—2nd Squadron of the 3rd Night Fighter Wing) stationed at Stade. Kümmeritz had studied high frequency technology at the Telefunken Company in Berlin before World War II. Prior to Kümmeritz, Sayn-Wittgenstein had rejected all his previous radio operators after only a few missions.^[13] In March and April 1943, Kammhuber ordered IV./NJG 5 to relocate to Rennes, France in defense of the German U-boat bases.^[14]

Stationed at

Sayn-Wittgenstein claimed three more victories on 1 August 1943 (victories 44–46) and three more on the night of 3 August 1943 (victories 48–50). He was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of the II./NJG 3 on 15 August 1943. Sayn-Wittgenstein became the 290th recipient of the

On 1 December 1943, Sayn-Wittgenstein was ordered to take over command of the II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 (II./NJG 2—2nd Group of the 2nd Night Fighter Wing). In consequence, he was replaced by Hauptmann Paul Szameitat as commander II./NJG 3.^[18] On 1 January 1944, Sayn-Wittgenstein was appointed Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of NJG 2 he had already reached 68 aerial victories. He claimed six four-engined bombers shot down on the same night (victories 69–74).^[10] In late 1943, his wireless operator Kümmeritz went on study leave and was replaced by Feldwebel (warrant officer) Friedrich Ostheimer, who flew with Sayn-Wittgenstein from October 1943 until January 1944.^[19] He was succeeded by Major Paul Semrau as command of the II./NJG 2.^[20]

On the night of 20 January 1944 Sayn-Wittgenstein claimed three enemy aircraft shot down in the Berlin area (victories 76–78). He almost collided with the third burning Lancaster which went into a dive and came very close to his own Ju 88. The Ju 88 went out of control and Sayn-Wittgenstein regained control of his just-flyable aircraft. His radio operator on this mission, Feldwebel Friedrich Ostheimer, established contact with the airfield at Erfurt. Since the aircraft began stalling after the wheels and flaps went down the crew decided to belly-land the aircraft. They discovered that about 2 meters (6.6 ft) of the wing had been cut off by the Lancaster's propeller.^[21][22]

Death

The next day, 21 January 1944, Sayn-Wittgenstein, wireless operator Ostheimer and board mechanic Unteroffizier Kurt Matzuleit took off on a Zahme Sau (Tame Boar), a combination of ground controlled and airborne radar, night fighter intercept mission flying the Ju 88 R4+XM (Werknummer 750 467—factory number), which normally was assigned to the Technical Officer of NJG 2. At 22:00 contact with the first of five Lancasters was established and shot down which was observed to explode at 22:05. Between 22:10 and 22:15 the second Lancaster was shot down. Observers reported the third Lancaster exploded at approximately 22:30, followed shortly by number four, which hit the ground at 22:40. During the fifth and final attack, the four-engined bomber was burning when their Ju 88 came under attack, presumably from British fighter escorts. In the attack, their left wing caught fire. Sayn-Wittgenstein ordered his crew to jump,^[23] and Ostheimer and Matzuleit parachuted to safety from the damaged aircraft.^[24]

The next day, Sayn-Wittgenstein's body was found near the wreckage of the Ju 88 in a forest area belonging to the municipality of

On 25 January 1944, Sayn-Wittgenstein's death was announced in the Wehrmachtbericht, an information bulletin issued by the headquarters of the Wehrmacht.^[25] He was buried on 29 January 1944 in the Geschwader cemetery at the Deelen Air Base. His remains were re-interred in 1948. He is now resting next to Prinz Egmont zur Lippe-Weißenfeld at the Ysselsteyn German war cemetery in the Netherlands.^[26]

Who shot down Sayn-Wittgenstein?

The question of who shot down Sayn-Wittgenstein is unanswered. Friedrich Ostheimer remained convinced that they were shot down by a long range intruder

Night fighter pilot Wilhelm Johnen commented on the arrival of Sayn-Wittgenstein at his unit: "... A madman, I thought, as I took my leave. Once outside I got into conversation with the Prince's crew. Among other things they told me that their princely coachman had recently made his radio operator stand to attention in the plane and confined him to his quarters for three days because he (the radio operator) had lost his screen [radar contact with the enemy] during a mission."^[31][32]

Herbert Kümmeritz recalled that Sayn-Wittgenstein often used his seniority and rank to ensure that he would get the best initial contact with the incoming bombers. He would often wait on the ground until the best contact was established. If another fighter had already engaged the enemy before Wittgenstein arrived, the prince would announce on the radio "Hier Wittgenstein—geh weg!" (Wittgenstein here, clear off!)^[33]

Wolfgang Falck felt that Sayn-Wittgenstein was not officer-material. Falck described him as: "...not the type to be a leader of a unit. He was not a teacher, educator or instructor. But he was an outstanding personality, magnificent fighter and great operational pilot. He had an astonishing sixth sense—an intuition that permitted him to see and even feel where other aircraft were. It was like a personal radar system. He was an excellent air-to-air shot."^[34]

His mother, Princess Walburga, commented that: "... he was boundlessly disillusioned and boundlessly disappointed. In 1943 he contemplated the thought of shooting Hitler. It was only out of sense of honor and duty that Heinrich went on fighting, carried along by the ambition to overtake Major

Sayn-Wittgenstein was credited with 83 nocturnal aerial victories, claimed in 320 combat missions, including 150 with bomber arm. His 83 aerial victories include 33 shot down on the Eastern Front.^[10][37] Spick also list him with 83 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number of aerial victories.^[38] Foreman, Mathews and Parry, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, list 79 nocturnal victory claims, numerically ranging from 1 to 75, 81, 82, and 79.^[39] Mathews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, also listing Sayn-Wittgenstein with 79 claims, plus one further unconfirmed claim. This figure includes 33 aerial victories on the Eastern Front.^[40]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ HJ-44". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15

• Wound Badge in Black^[7]
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Bomber Pilots in Gold^[7]
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Night Fighter Pilots in Gold^[7]
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (15 September 1941)^[10]
• Combined Pilots-Observation Badge^[7]
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (5 June 1940)^[84]
  • 1st Class (26 June 1940)^[84]
• German Cross in Gold on 21 August 1942 as Oberleutnant in the 6./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2^[85]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Knight's Cross on 2 October 1942 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of the 9./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2^{[86][Note 7]}
  • 290th Oak Leaves on 31 August 1943 and Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 100^{[88][Note 8]}
  • 44th Swords on 23 January 1944 (posthumously) as Major and Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2^[87][89]

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading