Egmont to Lippe-Weißenfeld

Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld, 1942

Egmont Rüdiger Maria Alfred Leopold Bonaventura Prince of Lippe-Weissenfeld (* 14. July 1918 in Salzburg ; † 12. March 1944 in St. Hubert in Belgium ) was a German officer of the Air Force with the rank of Major and night fighter pilot in World War II .

Life

origin

Egmont zur Lippe-Weißenfeld was a member of the Lippe family , more precisely the Lippe-Weißenfeld line . His parents were Alfred Rudolf Maria Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld (1881–1960) and Countess Anna von Goëss (1895–1972). He was the only son and had three younger sisters. The family lived in Alt Wartenburg Castle in Upper Austria .

military service

Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld was an enthusiastic glider pilot from a young age and was a member of the Austrian Aero Club from an early age . Shortly before joining the army, he had taken basic flight courses.

In 1936, at the age of 18, he joined the Austrian Armed Forces , initially in the infantry . When Austria was annexed in 1938, he switched to the German Air Force, received the pilot's badge and was promoted to lieutenant in 1939 .

Before he moved to the night fighters in the 4th / Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1) in Gütersloh in August 1940 and became group commander there , he worked in the destroyer squadron 76 (ZG 76). His first kill, already ordered to Leeuwarden in the Netherlands , he scored in November 1940. He then served under his friend Helmut Lent ; In 1941 he was promoted to first lieutenant . In April 1942 he was awarded the Knight's Cross for 21 kills . As early as November 1941, he was squadron captain of the newly established 5th squadron of the II. Group of the Night Fighter Squadron 2 (NJG 2) under Helmut Lent as a group commander with an air base in Leeuwarden and later in Gilze Rijen . From October 1942 he was group commander of the 1st group at Nachtjagdgeschwaders 3 (NJG 3) based in Vechta . From May 1943 to the beginning of 1944 he was group commander of the III. Group at the Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 in Rheine . He was replaced by Martin Drewes as group commander. In 1943 he was promoted to captain .

After 45 kills, he was awarded the Knight's Cross Oak Leaves in August 1943; Adolf Hitler made this award personally in Wolfsschanze . In 1944 he was promoted to major . In February 1944 he took over command of night fighter squadron 5 from Günther Radusch .

On March 12, 1944, he and two other crew members were killed in the thick fog when his Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 crashed near St. Hubert in Belgium .

German war cemetery Ysselsteyn

Together with Werner Hoffmann and Hermann Greiner , he had achieved a total of 51 night aerial victories in 167 enemy flights. This makes him 21st of the 69th pilots of the night fighter in terms of the number of kills. He achieved 32 victories (in NJG 1 and NJG 2) with a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and 29 victories (in NJG 3 and NJG 5) with a Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 . In addition to the Vickers Wellington , the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley , the Handley Page Hampden , the Handley Page Halifax and an Avro Manchester were on his hit list.

He was childless, unmarried and was buried next to Heinrich zu Sayn-Wittgenstein in Ysselsteyn (near Venray) , Netherlands. He was nicknamed the Prince of the Night .

Awards (selection)

Pilot badge (Wehrmacht) on October 5, 1938
Front flight clasp for hunters in gold
Iron Cross Class II: December 17, 1940
Iron Cross 1st Class: January 17, 1941
German cross in gold: January 25, 1942 as a first lieutenant in the 5th / Night Fighter Squadron 2
Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves : August 2, 1943
Trophy of honor for special achievement in aerial warfare : March 15, 1943

literature

Martin Bowman: Night Hunt, Defenders of the Reich 1940-1943 . Pen and Sword, 2016. ISBN 978-1-4738-4984-6 . P. 43 ff.
Claire Rose Knott: Princes of Darkness - The lives of Luftwaffe night fighter aces Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weissenfeld. Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing 2008. ISBN 978-1-903223-95-6 .

Individual evidence

^ Ernst Obermaier: The Air Force Knight's Cross bearers 1939–1945 . tape I , fighter pilot. Dieter Hoffmann Verlag, Mainz 1966, ISBN 3-87341-065-6 , p. 63 .
^ ^A ^b Hans Friedrich von Ehrenkrook : Genealogical manual of the nobility . Baltic Sea, CA Starke., 2011, p. 55 ( google.de [accessed on January 22, 2019]).
^ ^A ^b ^c Georg Brütting : The book of German flight history: The great time of German aviation until 1945 . Drei Brunnen Verlag, 1979, ISBN 978-3-87174-001-5 , p. 474 ( google.de [accessed on January 22, 2019]).
↑ ^a ^b ^c Mike Spick: Aces of the Reich: The Making of a Luftwaffe Pilot . Frontline Books, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4738-7753-5 , pp. 215 ( google.de [accessed January 19, 2019]).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Mike Spick: Aces of the Reich: The Making of a Luftwaffe Pilot . Frontline Books, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4738-7753-5 , pp. 216 ( google.de [accessed on January 19, 2019]).
↑ Georg Brütting: The book of German flight history: The great time of German aviation until 1945 . Drei Brunnen Verlag, 1979, ISBN 978-3-87174-001-5 , p. 458 ( google.de [accessed on January 22, 2019]).
^ Hans Vogt, Herbert Brenne: Krefeld in the air war, 1939-1945 . L. Röhrscheid Verlag, 1986, ISBN 3-9801610-2-1 , p. 150 ( google.de [accessed on January 19, 2019]).
^ ^A ^b John Foreman, Simon W. Parry, Johannes Matthews: Luftwaffe Night Fighter Combat Claims, 1939–1945 . Red Kite / Air Research, 2003, ISBN 978-0-9538061-4-0 ( google.de [accessed January 23, 2019]).
↑ Klaus D. Patzwall ; Veit Scherzer : The German Cross 1941–1945. History and owner volume II. Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt 2001. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8 .
^ Ernst Obermaier: The Knight's Cross bearers of the Luftwaffe fighter pilots 1939–1945. Publisher Dieter Hoffmann. Mainz 1989. ISBN 3-87341-065-6 . P. 71.

personal data
SURNAME	Lippe-Weißenfeld, Egmont to
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Lippe-Biesterfeld-Weißenfeld, Egmont Prinz zur
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German professional officer
DATE OF BIRTH	July 14, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH	Salzburg
DATE OF DEATH	March 12, 1944
Place of death	St. Hubert , Belgium

[1] Ernst Obermaier: The Air Force Knight's Cross bearers 1939–1945 . tape I , fighter pilot. Dieter Hoffmann Verlag, Mainz 1966, ISBN 3-87341-065-6 , p. 63 .

[:2-2] A ^b Hans Friedrich von Ehrenkrook : Genealogical manual of the nobility . Baltic Sea, CA Starke., 2011, p. 55 ( google.de [accessed on January 22, 2019]).

[:3-3] A ^b ^c Georg Brütting : The book of German flight history: The great time of German aviation until 1945 . Drei Brunnen Verlag, 1979, ISBN 978-3-87174-001-5 , p. 474 ( google.de [accessed on January 22, 2019]).

[:0-4] Mike Spick: Aces of the Reich: The Making of a Luftwaffe Pilot . Frontline Books, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4738-7753-5 , pp. 215 ( google.de [accessed January 19, 2019]).

[:1-5] Mike Spick: Aces of the Reich: The Making of a Luftwaffe Pilot . Frontline Books, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4738-7753-5 , pp. 216 ( google.de [accessed on January 19, 2019]).

[6] Georg Brütting: The book of German flight history: The great time of German aviation until 1945 . Drei Brunnen Verlag, 1979, ISBN 978-3-87174-001-5 , p. 458 ( google.de [accessed on January 22, 2019]).

[7] Hans Vogt, Herbert Brenne: Krefeld in the air war, 1939-1945 . L. Röhrscheid Verlag, 1986, ISBN 3-9801610-2-1 , p. 150 ( google.de [accessed on January 19, 2019]).

[:4-8] A ^b John Foreman, Simon W. Parry, Johannes Matthews: Luftwaffe Night Fighter Combat Claims, 1939–1945 . Red Kite / Air Research, 2003, ISBN 978-0-9538061-4-0 ( google.de [accessed January 23, 2019]).

[9] Klaus D. Patzwall ; Veit Scherzer : The German Cross 1941–1945. History and owner volume II. Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt 2001. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8 .

[10] Ernst Obermaier: The Knight's Cross bearers of the Luftwaffe fighter pilots 1939–1945. Publisher Dieter Hoffmann. Mainz 1989. ISBN 3-87341-065-6 . P. 71.