Wilhelm Herget

Wilhelm Herget (born June 30, 1910 in Stuttgart , † March 27, 1974 ibid) was a pilot in the German Air Force during the Second World War . He achieved a total of 73 aerial victories in over 700 combat missions; 58 of them as night fighter. He scored most of his victories on the Western Front fighting the Royal Air Force bomber command .

Live and act

Herget was born the son of a printer . After graduating from high school, he learned the printing trade, passed his master's examination and entered the air force.

Herget served in the Sturmabteilung (SA) as a squad leader and at the same time as a pilot in the military reserve in a reconnaissance group. From August 1939 he was used in the 6th squadron of Destroyer Squadron 76 (ZG 76). There he flew a Messerschmitt Bf 110 . He flew his first combat missions in 1939 during the attack on Poland . From May 1940 then in the western campaign and in the Battle of Britain . From May 1941 he served briefly with the Junck Special Command in Iraq and then returned to the Western Front. In November 1941, after 14 victories in the air, he was promoted to first lieutenant and transferred to Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1). He achieved his first night air victory on April 6, 1942.

On October 1, 1942, Herget was promoted to captain and became the commander of the 1st group of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4, a position he held until December 1944. On October 1, 1943, after 43 victories in the air, he was promoted to major . His last night aerial victory, the 72nd, he achieved on the night of June 13, 1944 against a British Avro Lancaster .

In January 1945 he was retrained to the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter . He was then entrusted with testing this fighter, including the Me 262A-1a / U4 with a 50 mm MK 214 A cannon . Herget flew his last combat missions with the Jagdverband 44 (JV 44), which was equipped with the Me 262 jet fighter. In this unit he won his last aerial victory over a Republic P-47 of the USAAF on April 27, 1945 . He got into American captivity from which he was released in 1947.

After the war Herget worked in publishing and founded the Wilhelm Herget publishing house . This brought u in the 50s. a. Screen , the first German television program guide, out. Herget died on March 27, 1974 in Stuttgart.

Cause of death

There is controversy about the death of Wilhelm Herget. Matthews and Foreman, authors of Air Force Aces - Biographies and Victory Claims, write that he committed suicide after a business failure. According to the family and the publisher's official press release, he died of a stroke.

Awards

• Golden front flight clasp for night fighters
• Iron Cross 2nd Class, awarded in June 1940, after 3 victories in the air
• Iron Cross 1st Class,
• German Cross in Gold, awarded on February 7, 1942
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross , awarded on June 20, 1943, after 31 victories in the air
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (as 451st soldier), awarded on April 11, 1944, after 63 victories in the air

bibliography

• Theo Boiten: Nachtjagd: the night fighter versus bomber war over the Third Reich, 1939–45. Crowood Press, London 1997, ISBN 978-1-86126-086-4 .
• Martin Bowman: De Havilland Mosquito. The Crowood Press, Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK 2005 [1997], ISBN 978-1-86126-736-8 .
• Martin Bowman: The Reich Intruders: RAF Light Bomber Raids in World War II. Pen and Sword Books, Barnsley, South Yorkshire 2006, ISBN 978-1-78340-965-5 .
• Martin Bowman: Last of the Lancasters. Pen and Sword Books, Barnsley, South Yorkshire 2014, ISBN 978-1-78383-174-6 .
• Martin Bowman: The Night Air War. Pen and Sword Books, Barnsley, South Yorkshire 2015, ISBN 978-1-4738-6426-9 .
• Martin Bowman: Night Hunt, Defenders of the Reich 1940-1943. Pen and Sword Books, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, 2016, ISBN 978-1-4738-4986-0 .
• William R. Chorley: Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War: Aircraft and crew losses: 1943. Midland Counties Publications, 1996, ISBN 978-0-90459-790-5 .
• Walther-Peer Fellgiebel: The bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 - Holders of the highest award of the Second World War of all parts of the Wehrmacht. Podzun-Pallas, Friedberg 2000 [1986], ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6 .
• John Foreman, Johannes Matthews, Simon W. Parry: Air Force Night Fighter Combat Claims, 1939–1945. Red Kite, Walton on Thames 2004, ISBN 978-0-9538061-4-0 .
• Robert Forsyth: Jagdverband 44: Squadron of Experts. Osprey Publishing, Oxford, UK 2008, ISBN 978-1-84603-294-3 .
• Peter Hinchliffe: Air War by Night 1939–1945. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 978-3-613-01861-7 .
• Andrew Johannes Matthews, John Foreman: Luftwaffe Aces - Biographies and Victory Claims. Volume 2: G-L. Red Kite, Walton on Thames 2015, ISBN 978-1-906592-19-6 .
• Ernst Obermaier: The knight's cross bearers of the Luftwaffe fighter pilots 1939-1945. Verlag Dieter Hoffmann, Mainz 1989, ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7 .
• 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 .
• Veit Scherzer: Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 The holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents in the Federal Archives. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 .
• Peter Stockert: The oak leaf bearers 1939–1945. Volume 5, Friedrichshaller Rundblick, Bad Friedrichshall 2007, OCLC 76072662.
• Franz Thomas: The oak leaves 1939-1945. Volume 1: A-K. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1997, ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6 .