Leopold Fellerer

Leopold "Poldi" Fellerer (7 June 1919 – 16 July 1968) 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.

Early life and career Fellerer, the son of a Beamter, was born on 7 June 1919 in Vienna, Austria. In 1937, he applied for service in the Austrian Air Force but was rejected and joined the Army where he served with Infanterieregiment 3. Following the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938, Fellerer applied for service in the Luftwaffe and was again rejected. As a member of Infanterieregiment 131, an infantry regiment of the 44th Infantry Division, he participated in the annexation of Sudetenland.

In November 1938, following two further applications, he was accepted for flight training. He was selected to become a bomber pilot and completed his training at a Kampffliegerschule (Combat pilot school). In April 1940, Fellerer was promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant) and posted to the Kampffliegerschule-Ergänzungsgruppe, a supplementary training unit for bomber pilots.

World War II 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 Royal Air Force (RAF) 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.

Night fighting Fellerer was posted to II. Gruppe (2nd group) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing) as Technical Officer. He claimed his first victory on 11 February 1941, a Handley Page Hampden bomber X3001 of No. 49 Squadron north of Alkmaar. He was transferred to 4. Staffel of NJG 1 in June 1941. On 16 June, his Messerschmitt Bf 110 D-0 "G9+DM" was hit by the defensive gunfire from the RAF Vickers Wellington W5447 from No. 218 Squadron. The combat took place over the North Sea west of Den Helder. Fellerer and his radio operator Oberfeldwebel Heinz Hätscher returned to Bergen airfield.

On 10 October 1942, Fellerer was made Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 3. Staffel of NJG 1. Due to a redesignation, this squadron became the 5. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 5 (NJG 5—5th Night Fighter Wing) on 1 December 1942. Promoted to Hauptmann, Fellerer became Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of II. Gruppe of NJG 5 in February 1944. During this period, Fellerer raised his score to 18 victories.

In January 1944, Fellerer claimed two United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) heavy bombers in daylight- a Consolidated B-24 Liberator on 4 January, and a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress on 11 January. On the night of 20/21 January 1944 he claimed five Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers. He was then awarded the German Cross in Gold on 5 February 1944.

After 34 victories Hauptmann Fellerer was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 8 April 1944. On 10 May 1944, II. Gruppe of NJG 5 became the III. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 6 (NJG 6—6th Night Fighter Wing), which continued to lead.

During August–October 1944, Fellerer and III./NJG 6 also flew operations to counter supply operations from Italy to the Polish Home Army uprising in Warsaw. He claimed two Douglas DC-3s and two Liberators during this time, his final aerial victory coming in October 1944.

In 450 missions Leopold Fellerer claimed 41 aerial victories, 39 of them at night. 32 were four engine heavy bombers.

Later life

During the 1950s, he served with the Austrian Air Force, becoming Commander of the Langenlebarn Airbase in Tulln on the Danube, retiring as an Oberstleutnant. Leopold Fellerer died on 15 July 1968 in an air crash, his Cessna L-19 coming down near Krems.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims Foreman, Parry and Mathews, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 40 nocturnal victory claims. Mathews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, listing Fellerer with 36 claims, including one four-engined bomber by day, plus four further unconfirmed claims.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 75884". 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. – 5. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – 1 11 February 1941 03:50 Hampden north of Alkmaar – 4. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – 2 12 October 1941 22:17 Halifax south of Wons – 5. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 – 3 7 November 1941 22:35 Stirling over sea, southwest of Bergen 4 27 February 1942 21:38 Whitley north-northeast of Aurich 5 29 March 1942 01:02 Stirling PQ 75884, over sea 6 8 May 1942 04:51 Hudson southwest of Den Helder Hudson V8981/No. 320 (Netherlands) Squadron RAF 7 9 June 1942 02:15 Wellington northeast of Petten 8 9 June 1942 02:19 Wellington northwest of Callantsoog 9 30 June 1942 03:02 Halifax south of Hoorn 10 29 August 1942 00:30 Stirling Aichelbach 11 9 September 1942 00:34 Wellington Nackenheim 12? 9 December 1942 21:52 Whitley 13 3 October 1943 22:57 Lancaster south of Kassel 14 22 October 1943 21:07 Lancaster north of Kassel 15? 26 November 1943 Lancaster 16? 26 November 1943 Lancaster 17? 2 December 1943 Lancaster 18 2 December 1943 19:36 Lancaster Wesendorf 19 2 December 1943 20:15 Lancaster Berlin – Stab II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 5 – 20 6 January 1944 03:27 B-24 21 11 January 1944 13:00 B-17 Quakenbrück-Meppen 22 14 January 1944 19:20 Lancaster 23 14 January 1944 19:45 Lancaster 24♠ 20 January 1944 19:40 Halifax Halifax LW337 25♠ 20 January 1944 19:50 Halifax 26♠ 20 January 1944 19:58 Halifax 27♠ 20 January 1944 20:05 Halifax 28♠ 20 January 1944 20:11 Lancaster 29 29 January 1944 03:01 Halifax 30 29 January 1944 03:15 Halifax 31 15 February 1944 20:46 Halifax Lake Schwerin 32 28 April 1944 01:30 Halifax Mulhouse 33 28 April 1944 02:20 Halifax Borensen – Stab III. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 6 – 34 4 July 1944 01:50 Halifax northeast of Kaposvár 35 7 July 1944 01:45 Lancaster east of Marburg 36 7 July 1944 02:05 Wellington north of Laibach 37 21 July 1944 23:42 Boston west of Brod 38 20 August 1944 23:50 B-24 north of Laibach 39 19 September 1944 20:26 DC-3 40 20 October 1944 22:21 B-24 Szombathely

Awards Aviator badge Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 16 November 1942 as Oberleutnant and pilot German Cross in Gold on 5 February 1944 as Hauptmann in the 5./Nachtjagdgeschwader 5 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 8 April 1944 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 5