Paul Szameitat

Paul Szameitat (19 December 1919 – 2 January 1944) was a German 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. Szameitat claimed 29 victories, 28 at night.

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 18 October 1943, Szameitat was shot down in his Dornier Do 217 N-1 night fighter by the defensive gunfire of an Avro Lancaster bomber from No. 101 Squadron. Hit in both engines, he and his crew bailed out near Barsinghausen.

On 14 December 1943, Szameitat was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe (1st group) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (NJG 3—3rd Night Fighter Wing), replacing Hauptmann Walter Mylius.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims According to Spick, Szameitat was credited with 29 aerial victories, including one heavy bomber during a daytime mission, claimed in an unknown number combat missions. Obermaier also lists him with 29 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number combat missions. Foreman, Parry and Mathews, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 29 victory claims. Mathews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, listing Szameitat with 25 claims, plus two further unconfirmed claims.

Chronicle of aerial victories Claim Date Time Type Location Serial No./Squadron No. – 6. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 – 1 26 February 1942 22:15 Wellington Tønder 2 29 April 1942 02:30 Wellington north of Flensburg 3? 30 April 1942 02:31 Manchester east of Rantum 4? 26 June 1942 02:11 Halifax Cuxhaven 5? 3 July 1942 02:53 Wellington 6 17 January 1943 19:33 Stirling northwest of Westerland 7 17 January 1943 21:49 Lancaster northwest of Westerland 8 17 January 1943 22:18 Lancaster west of Fanø – 5. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 – 9 30 March 1943 00:36 Halifax Süderschmedeby Halifax HR654/408 (Goose) Squadron 10 5 April 1943 00:22 Lancaster Hindenburgdamm Halifax BB336/408 (Goose) Squadron 11 29 April 1943 03:51 Lancaster northwest of Kolding Lancaster ED733/No. 103 Squadron RAF 12 4 July 1943 01:28 Stirling northwest of Terschelling Stirling BF579/No. 15 Squadron RAF 13 24 August 1943 02:03 Lancaster east of Kampen 14 22 September 1943 23:02 Stirling southwest of Hanover 15 8 October 1943 16:17 B-24 south of Vilsen 16 9 October 1943 01:25 Lancaster southwest of Stade 17 18 October 1943 20:30 Lancaster south of Hanover Lancaster W4276/No. 207 Squadron RAF 18 18 October 1943 20:34 Lancaster south of Hanover 19 2 December 1943 19:35 Lancaster northeast of Hanover 20 2 December 1943 19:45 Lancaster east of Celle 21 2 December 1943 20:01 Lancaster vicinity of Stendal 22?{ 4 December 1943 Lancaster 23 4 December 1943 03:18 Lancaster north of Hanover 24 4 December 1943 03:25 Lancaster Hamm-Wesendorf 25 4 December 1943 03:36 Lancaster north of Braunschweig 26 4 December 1943 03:41 Lancaster vicinity of Hanover – 2. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 – 27 20 December 1943 20:30 Halifax south of Bonn 28 24 December 1943 03:06 Lancaster Lansenheim 29 29 December 1943 21:23 Halifax west of Güstrow

Awards Flugzeugführerabzeichen Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 5 June 1943 as Oberleutnant and pilot German Cross in Gold on 12 December 1943 as Hauptmann in the 5./Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 6 April 1944 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 3