Heinz Strüning

Heinz Strüning (13 January 1912 – 24 December 1944) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a night fighter ace credited with 56 nocturnal aerial victories claimed in 280 combat missions.

All of his victories were claimed over the Western Front in Defense of the Reich missions against the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command. He was shot down and killed in action on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1944.

Early life and career Strüning was born on 13 January 1912 in Neviges, at the time in the Rhine Province of the German Empire. He was the son of electrician Karl Strüning. Following graduation from the Realgymnasium—a secondary school built on the mid-level Realschule—in Langenberg he began his vocational education as a merchant. In March 1935, he joined the Luftwaffe and was trained as a pilot.

Holding the rank of Unteroffizier, he was posted to 5. Staffel (5th squadron) of Zerstörergeschwader 26 "Horst Wessel" (ZG 26—26th Destroyer Wing), named after the Nazi martyr Horst Wessel, on 2 August 1939.

World War II World War II in Europe began on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland. Flying with ZG 26, he flew several patrol missions on the Western Front during the Phoney War period. On 9 April 1940, the Wehrmacht launched Operation Weserübung, the German assault on Denmark and Norway. Two days later, Strüning was reassigned to the Zerstörrerstaffel of Kampfgeschwader 30 (KG 30—30th Bomber Wing). Until 9 June, he flew escort missions in support of the German troops at Narvik. For his service in Norway, he was awarded the Iron Cross second Class on 15 July 1940. On 1 August 1940, Strüning was promoted to Feldwebel (sergeant).

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, Royal Air Force (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.

In July 1940, elements of (Z)KG 30 were trained and converted to flying night fighter missions. These elements then became the 4. Staffel in the II. Gruppe (2nd group) of the newly created Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing). On 11 September, II. Gruppe of NJG 1 was reassigned and became the I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 (NJG 2—2nd Night Fighter Wing), subsequently Strünning became a pilot of 1./NJG 2. Kammhuber had created I./NJG 2 with the idea of utilizing the Junkers Ju 88 C-2 and Dornier Do 17 Z as an offensive weapon, flying long range intruder missions into British airspace, attacking RAF airfields. Until October 1941, I. Gruppe operated from the Gilze-Rijen Air Base.

With this unit, Strüning flew 66 intruder missions over England at night, and claimed his first aerial victory on the night of 23 November 1940 over a Vickers Wellington bomber west of Scheveningen. Two days later, he received the Iron Cross first Class . For his service in Norway, he was presented the Narvik Shield on 30 January 1941. On the evening of 15 February 1941, Strüning claimed a Lockheed Hudson east of Great Yarmouth and a Wellington east-northeast of Southend-on-Sea. Following his fifth aerial victory, he received the Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 12 June 1941. On 1 July 1941, Strüning was promoted to Oberfeldwebel (Master Sergeant). He claimed his ninth and last intruder aerial victory on 13 October 1941 over a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in the vicinity of Upwood over England.

In the timeframe 24 October 1940, the date of I. Gruppes first aerial victory, to 12 October 1941, the intruder Gruppe claimed approximately 100 RAF aircraft destroyed, additionally further aircraft were damaged as well as RAF ground targets attacked. This came at the expense of 26 aircraft lost. In October 1941, Hitler ordered the intruder operations stopped as he was skeptical of the results. The unit was then ordered to Catania, Sicily in the Mediterranean theater of operations. Strüning however stayed at Gilze-Rijen and was transferred to the Ergänzungsjagdgruppe, a supplementary unit of NJG 2.

In November 1941, he was transferred to 7./NJG 2. With this unit, Strüning gained 15 victories until mid-September 1942. He received the German Cross in Gold in July 1942, after his 19th claim. In mid September 1942 he was promoted to Leutnant and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in October 1942. Strüning is then transferred to 2./NJG 1 in May 1943.

Staffelkapitän and death

Strüning was promoted to Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) on 1 August 1943. On 15 August, he was then appointed Staffelkapitän of 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing). On 23 August 1943, Strüning claimed a Lancaster shot down east of Eindhoven.

Strüning coordinated the introduction of the new Heinkel He 219 "Uhu". With this aircraft, Strüning downed three bombers on the night of 31 August 1943, a Halifax west of Mönchengladbach. On 22 June 1944, he shot down three RAF bombers. Strüning was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 20 July 1944.

On 7 October, Helmut Lent, the Geschwaderkommodore of NJG 3, died of wounds sustained in a flying accident the day before. Lent's state funeral was held in the Reich Chancellery, Berlin, on Wednesday 11 October 1944. Strüning, together with Oberstleutnant Hans-Joachim Jabs, Major Rudolf Schoenert, Oberstleutnant Günther Radusch, Hauptmann Karl Hadeball and Hauptmann Paul Zorner, formed the guard of honor. On 15 November, Strüning again participated in a guard of honor. He and Leutnant Karl Schnörrer, Oberst Gordon Gollob, Major Georg Christl, Major Rudolf Schoenert, Major Josef Fözö formed the guard of honor at Walter Nowotny funeral at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna. Nowotny had been killed in action on 8 November 1944. The eulogy was delivered by Generaloberst Otto Deßloch.

At about 6 pm on 24 December 1944 his Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 (Werknummer 740 162—factory number) G9+CT was shot down by 10-kill ace F/L R.D. Doleman and F/L D.C. Bunch of No. 157 Squadron RAF in a de Havilland Mosquito Intruder while he tried to attack a Lancaster bomber over Cologne. He bailed out but struck the tail of his plane and fell to his death. His body was found two months after his death. Strüning was buried at the Ostfriedhof (eastern cemetery) in Westönnen in field X, grave 14.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Strüning was credited with 56 aerial victories. Foreman, Parry and Mathews, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 56 nocturnal victory claims. Mathews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, listing Strüning with 56 aerial victories claimed in 280 combat missions.

Chronicle of aerial victories Claim Date Time Type Location Serial No./Squadron No. – 1. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 – 1 23 November 1940 18:40 Wellington west of Scheveningen 2 15 February 1941 09:15 Hudson east of Great Yarmouth 3 15 February 1941 19:58 Wellington east-northeast of Southend-on-Sea 4 7 May 1941 02:08 Wellington Peterborough Wellington R3227/No. 11 Operational Training Unit RAF 5 9 May 1941 23:30 Wellington over the North Sea 6 5 July 1941 01:57 Wellington vicinity of Bircham Newton 7 19 August 1941 01:20 Blenheim vicinity of Grantham 8 19 August 1941 02:00 Blenheim vicinity of Grantham 9 13 October 1941 22:20 B-17 vicinity of Upwood – Ergänzungsjagdgruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 – 10 26 January 1942 22:35 Whitley 11 29 April 1942 01:15 Boston southeast of Noordschans 12 9 May 1942 01:02 Stirling 13 20 May 1942 00:56 Stirling Stirling DJ977/No. 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF 14 31 May 1942 00:27 Boston Manchester L7429/No.49 Conversion Flight RAF 15 2 June 1942 03:10 B-24 16 2 June 1942 03:25 Wellington Stirling R9318/No. 15 Squadron RAF 17 6 June 1942 03:35 Stirling 18 20 June 1942 03:27 Wellington 19 26 June 1942 01:13 B-24 – 8. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 – 20 22 July 1942 01:45 Halifax south of Utrecht 21 26 July 1942 02:30 Wellington northeast of Amersfoort 22 30 July 1942 03:55 Wellington 23 10 September 1942 22:50 Wellington northeast of Helmond 24 16 September 1942 23:34 Wellington Stirling DF550/No. 142 Squadron RAF – 2. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – 25 14 May 1943 01:49 Halifax north of Breskens 26 14 May 1943 02:26 Halifax west of Walcheren Halifax W7935/No. 102 Squadron RAF 27 24 May 1943 02:14 Stirling south of Utrecht Stirling BK783/No. 75 Squadron RAF 28 26 May 1943 02:33 Wellington Loosduinen Wellington HE228/No. 192 Squadron RAF 29 28 May 1943 01:54 Mosquito southeast of Gouda 30 17 June 1943 02:06 Halifax northwest of Euddorp 31 22 June 1943 02:02 Lancaster Lancaster ED885/No. 156 Squadron RAF 32 23 June 1943 02:39 Halifax east of Utrecht Halifax DT700/No. 77 Squadron RAF 33 25 June 1943 02:49 Lancaster west of Schouwen Lancaster LM327/No. 97 Squadron RAF 34 25 June 1943 02:56 Halifax west-northwest of Schouwen Halifax JD250/No. 51 Squadron RAF 35 25 June 1943 03:02 Stirling west of Schouwen Stirling BK628/No. 90 Squadron RAF – 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – 36 14 July 1943 01:40 Halifax Venlo railway station Halifax BB323/No. 419 Squadron RCAF 37 23 August 1943 01:43 Lancaster east of Eindhoven Lancaster ED701/No. 103 Squadron 38 31 August 1943 03:20 Halifax west of Mönchengladbach Halifax LK894/No. 434 (Bluenose) Squadron RCAF 39 31 August 1943 03:45 Halifax west of Mönchengladbach Stirling EH938/No. 75 Squadron RAF 40 31 August 1943 03:45 Halifax west-southwest of Mönchengladbach Halifax HR739/No. 158 Squadron RAF 41 1 September 1943 01:05 Halifax Brandenburg 42 25 March 1944 00:30 four-engined bomber 230° from Dortmund Lancaster LM471/No. 576 Squadron RAF 43 11 May 1944 00:15 Lancaster northeast of Bruges Halifax LV985/No. 427 Squadron RCAF 44 13 May 1944 00:48 Halifax south-southeast of Brussels Halifax MZ629/No. 431 (Iroquois) Squadron RCAF 45 22 May 1944 01:32 Lancaster north of Fessenhout Lancaster LL951/No. 460 Squadron RAAF 46 23 May 1944 01:14 Lancaster vicinity of Giessen 47 25 May 1944 00:47 Halifax vicinity of Leopoldsburg Halifax HX352/No. 429 Squadron RCAF 48 25 May 1944 01:15 Viermot Off Ostend 49 3 June 1944 00:36 Halifax Schouwen Island 50 6 June 1944 02:30 Mosquito Noord Brabant Mosquito NS950/No. 515 Squadron 51 17 June 1944 01:07 four-engined bomber beacon "Gorilla" 52 17 June 1944 01:13 four-engined bomber beacon "Gorilla" 53 22 June 1944 01:13 Lancaster Venlo 54 22 June 1944 01:17 B-17 vicinity of Maastricht B-17 SR382/No. 214 Squadron RAF 55 22 June 1944 02:30 four-engined bomber beacon "Hamster" 56 19 July 1944 01:55 Mosquito west of Berlin Mosquito MM136/No. 571 Squadron RAF

Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (15 July 1940) 1st Class (25 November 1940) Narvik Shield (30 January 1941) Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 12 June 1941 as Feldwebel in a Nachtjagdgeschwader German Cross in Gold on 10 July 1942 as Oberfeldwebel in the Ergänzungsstaffel/Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 Wound Badge in Black (10 September 1943) Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Night Fighter in Gold with Pennant (31 May 1944) Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Knight's Cross on 29 October 1942 as Leutnant of the Reserves and pilot in the 3./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 528th Oak Leaves on 20 July 1944 as Hauptmann of the Reserves and Staffelkapitän of the 3./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1

Dates of rank 1 August 1940: Feldwebel (Technical Sergeant) 1 July 1941: Oberfeldwebel (Master Sergeant) 1 August 1942: Leutnant (Second Lieutenant) 1 August 1943: Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant) 1 April 1944: Hauptmann (Captain)