Heinz-Horst Hißbach

Heinz-Horst Hißbach (30 January 1916 – 14 April 1945) was a Luftwaffe night fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. Hißbach claimed 27 aerial victories, 22 of them at night.

Career Hißbach was born on 30 January 1916 in Dessau.

Night fighter career 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, RAF attacks shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign. 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.

On 1 November 1944, Hißbach succeeded Major Paul Semrau as Gruppenkommandeur of II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 (NJG 2—2nd Night Fighter Wing).

In the night of 14/15 April 1945, Hißbach and his crew of Hubert Varzecha and Max Mayer were killed in action when they were shot down by anti-aircraft artillery. The three were strafing a US resupply column, destroying eight vehicles, in the area of Gelnhausen when their aircraft was hit and exploded. Posthumously, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross that day.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims According Spick, Hißbach was credited with 34 nocturnal aerial victories, claimed in approximately 200 combat missions. Foreman, Parry and Mathews, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 30 victory claims. Mathews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, stating that Hißbach claimed more than 29 aerial victories, plus two further unconfirmed claims.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ DF-DG". The Luftwaffe grid map 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 . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area in size.

Chronicle of aerial victories Claim Date Time Type Location Serial No./Squadron No. – I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 – 1? 25/26 July 1942 Wellington southwest of Crete Wellington HF944/No. 108 Squadron RAF – 14. Staffel of Kampfgeschwader 40 – 1? 30 November 1942 14:05 Whitley – 5. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 – ? 14 October 1943 B-17 2 21 January 1944 22:52? Lancaster 3 21 January 1944 23:00 Lancaster 4 29 January 1944 03:20 Lancaster 5 29 January 1944 03:35 Lancaster 6 21 February 1944 04:09 four-engined bomber Stuttgart 7 25 February 1944 21:51 four-engined bomber vicinity of Schönbach 8 15 March 1944 23:26 four-engined bomber south of Stuttgart 9 24 March 1944 22:22 four-engined bomber from of Kassel 10 24 March 1944 22:50 four-engined bomber from of Berlin 11 31 March 1944 00:49? four-engined bomber vicinity of Rheine 12? 31 March 1944 00:50 four-engined bomber southwest of Buer 13 31 March 1944 00:50 four-engined bomber southwest of the Thuringian Forest 14 28 April 1944 03:06 Halifax Saint-Dizier 15 23 May 1944 01:18 Lancaster east of Uden 16 10 June 1944 00:38 Lancaster vicinity of Étrépagny 17 25 June 1944 00:38 Lancaster north of Abbeville 18 1 July 1944 01:25 Lancaster Blois-Vendôme 19 1 July 1944 01:38 Lancaster northwest of Châteaudun 20 5 July 1944 01:55 Lancaster south of Abbeville 21 8 July 1944 01:45 Lancaster Dieppe 22 19 July 1944 01:12 four-engined bomber Jouarre 23 19 July 1944 01:58 four-engined bomber Épernay 24 29 July 1944 00:46 four-engined bomber PQ DF-DGvicinity of Montargis-Sens 25 29 July 1944 01:23 four-engined bomber Chaumont Lancaster PB245/No. 619 Squadron RAF 26 29 July 1944 01:58 four-engined bomber west of Stuttgart 27 26 August 1944 01:24 four-engined bomber Darmstadt 28 19 September 1944 23:05 Lancaster west-northwest of Mönchengladbach – II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 – 29 3/4 March 1945 four-engined bomber over England 30 3/4 March 1945 four-engined bomber over England

Awards Flugzeugführerabzeichen Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 19 June 1944 as Hauptmann and pilot German Cross in Gold on 1 January 1945 as Hauptmann in the 5./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 15 April 1945 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2