Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein

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.[6]

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 Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, his unit moved to Eichwalde in East Prussia. In support of Heeresgruppe Nord (Army Group North), KG 1 flew its first missions against Liepāja and then Jelgava and Riga, targeting the heavily occupied enemy airfields.[7]

In August 1941, Sayn-Wittgenstein transferred to the night fighter force. By this time, he had flown 150 combat missions and was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz), Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) and the Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Bomber crews in Gold (Frontflugspange für Kampfflieger in Gold).[7][8]

A map of part of the Kammhuber Line. The 'belt' and night fighter 'boxes' are shown.

Following the 1939 aerial Battle of the Heligoland Bight, bombing missions by the RAF shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign.[9] By mid-1940, Generalmajor (Brigadier General) Josef Kammhuber had established a night air defense system dubbed the Kammhuber Line. It consisted of a series of control sectors equipped with radars and searchlights and an associated night fighter. Each sector, named a Himmelbett (canopy bed), would direct the night fighter into visual range with target bombers. In 1941, the Luftwaffe started equipping night fighters with airborne radar such as the Lichtenstein radar. This airborne radar did not come into general use until early 1942.[10]

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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[11] The award was presented by General Josef Kammhuber, after which they both inspected the personnel of 9./NJG 2.[13]

A Ju 88R-1 night fighter with the FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C radar installation similar to the aircraft / equipment combination used by Sayn-Wittgenstein

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.[14] In March and April 1943, Kammhuber ordered IV./NJG 5 to relocate to Rennes, France in defense of the German U-boat bases.[15]

Stationed at Gilze-Rijen the order was issued to convert to the Bf 110 night fighter. Sayn-Wittgenstein flew the Bf 110 for one short flight only, but on the night of 24 June 1943, the aircraft had technical problems and was considered unserviceable. Kümmeritz and Sayn-Wittgenstein took off in their usual Ju 88 C and shot down four Avro Lancaster bombers (victories 32–35). Sayn-Wittgenstein never flew another Bf 110 again, preferring his Ju 88 to the Bf 110.[11][15] The group was relocated to the Eastern Front again and redesignated as I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 100 (I./NJG 100—1st Squadron of the 100th Night Fighter Wing) on 1 August 1943. While stationed at Insterburg, East Prussia, Sayn-Wittgenstein shot down seven aircraft on one day, six of them within 47 minutes (victories 36–41), in the area north-east of Oryol on 20 July 1943, making him an "ace-in-a-day".[11][12]

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 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) after 54 aerial victories on 31 August 1943. The award was presented at the Führerhauptquartier in East Prussia on 22 September 1943.[16] For these achievements he also received a letter from the commanding general of the 4. Jagd-Division (4th Fighter Division) Generalleutnant (lieutenant general) Joachim-Friedrich Huth.[17]

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). He was appointed Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of NJG 2 on 1 January 1944; he had already reached 68 aerial victories. He claimed six four-engined bombers shot down on the same night (victories 69–74).[11] 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.[18]

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.[19][20]

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,[21] and Ostheimer and Matzuleit parachuted to safety from the damaged aircraft.[22]

German War Cemetery Ysselsteyn - Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn

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 Lübars by Stendal. His parachute was discovered unopened and it was deduced that he may have hit his head on the vertical stabilizer of his aircraft when trying to escape. The death certificate listed "closed fracture of the skull and facial bone" as his cause of death. He was posthumously awarded the 44th Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) on 23 January 1944.[22] Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein had flown 320 combat missions, 150 of which as a bomber pilot or observer. At the time of his death he was the leading night fighter pilot with 83 aerial victories, with 33 of them claimed on the Eastern and 50 on the Western Front.[11]

On 25 January 1944, Sayn-Wittgenstein's death was announced in the Wehrmachtbericht, an information bulletin issued by the headquarters of the Wehrmacht.[23] 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.[24]

The question of who shot down Sayn-Wittgenstein is unanswered. Friedrich Ostheimer remained convinced that they were shot down by a long range intruder de Havilland Mosquito night fighter. However, no Mosquito pilot claimed an aerial victory that night. A closer analysis reveals that three Mosquitos, two Serrate-equipped aircraft from No. 141 Squadron RAF and one from No. 239 Squadron RAF, participated in the attacks on Magdeburg. Only one Mosquito had enemy contact: No. 141 Squadron's Mosquito F.II, DZ303, piloted by Pilot Officer Desmond Snape with Flying Officer L. Fowler as his radar operator reported radar contact at 23:15 south of Brandenburg. After three to four minutes of pursuit they encountered a Ju 88 with its position lights on. They attacked the Ju 88 and believed to have damaged it behind its cockpit, but they did not claim a victory. This encounter, according to the author Peter Hinchliffe and Martin Bowman, exactly matches the time and area in which Sayn-Wittgenstein was killed.[25][26]

The wreck location at Stendal, and the site of Ostheimer's parachute landing at Schönhausen, which both lie on the bombers' approach route to Magdeburg, are more than 30 miles (48 kilometres) from the area where Snape and Fowler reported their contact. It is also likely that Sayn-Wittgenstein was shot down only a few minutes after his last victory at 22:40, while Snape and Fowler claimed their Ju 88 damaged (not destroyed) over half an hour later. Sayn-Wittgenstein was in the bomber stream, where Mosquito fighters did not venture because the bombers would fire on any twin-engined aircraft, and he would not have had his navigation lights illuminated. Historians Alfred Price and Martin Middlebrook have both suggested that Sayn-Wittgenstein was shot down by a bomber. Three RAF bomber crews returning from the raid filed claims for German night fighters shot down. Two claimed Ju 88s in the vicinity of Magdeburg and one claimed a Bf 110. These claims appear to be in line with German records which show the Luftwaffe lost two Ju 88s, one Bf 110 and one Heinkel He 219 that night. The He 219 was that of Hauptmann Manfred Meurer, credited with 65 victories, who apparently collided with his final victim, a Lancaster. The wrecks of the two aircraft were found locked together and there were no survivors from either crew.[27] One of the bomber crews claiming a Ju 88 shot down near Magdeburg was a Pathfinder Lancaster crew from No. 156 Squadron RAF. Their tail gunner, Flight Lieutenant T.R. Thomson from Edinburgh, fired on a Ju 88 at close range during its second approach and saw it go down. Ostheimer's account states that Sayn-Wittgenstein was attacking a Lancaster at the time and was shot down on his second approach.[28]

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.[11][35] Foreman, Matthews 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.[36] Matthews 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.[37]

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 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km²). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.[38]

• Wound Badge in Black[8]
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Bomber Pilots in Gold[8]
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Night Fighter Pilots in Gold[8]
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (15 September 1941)[11]
• Combined Pilots-Observation Badge[8]
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (5 June 1940)[72]
  • 1st Class (26 June 1940)[72]
• German Cross in Gold on 21 August 1942 as Oberleutnant in the 6./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2[73]
• 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[74][Note 7]
  • 290th Oak Leaves on 31 August 1943 and Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 100[76][Note 8]
  • 44th Swords on 23 January 1944 (posthumously) as Major and Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2[75][77]