Werner Husemann

Werner Husemann (10 November 1919 – 2 February 2014) was a German Luftwaffe night fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. Husemann claimed to have shot down 34 enemy aircraft, and was credited with 30 aerial victories.

Career Husemann was born on 10 November 1919 in Schötmar then in the Free State of Lippe within the Weimar Republic. He enlisted in the Luftwaffe in 1941 and served with a weather reconnaissance squadron.

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.

In late 1942, Husemann transferred to the Stab (staff) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (the 1st Night Fighter Wing). He claimed his first aerial victorie on the night of 17/18 August 1942. His victories increased to 17 by the end of 1943, including three British Avro Lancaster bombers shot down on the night of 25/26 June 1943. He was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron commander) of the 7th squadron of NJG 1 on 1 October 1943. Husemann was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 24 October 1943, and the Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe on 1 November 1943.

Group commander On 4 January 1944, Husemann became commander of the I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (NJG 3—3rd Night Fighter Wing), succeeding Hauptmann Paul Szameitat who had been killed. Husemann was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 30 September 1944 after being credited with 30 aerial victories. By the war's end he had 34 aerial victories in over 250 night combat missions. His last 13 victories were claimed with Oberfeldwebel Hans-Georg Schierholz as his wireless/radio operator.

On 14 November 1944, Husemann, flying a Junkers Ju 88 G6 attacked a Short Stirling bomber near Ringkøbing. During the attack, the Ju 88 was hit by the defensive fire of the Stirling's tail gunner. Too low to bail out, Husemann made a forced landing in the fields of Tværmosegaard, a farm northeast of Herning.

Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to Spick, Husemann was credited with 32 aerial victories claimed in over 250 combat missions. The authors Heaton and Lewis state that he was credited with 34 aerial victories. Obermaier lists him with 30 nocturnal aerial victories claimed in over 250 combat missions. Foreman, Parry and Mathews, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 32 nocturnal victory claims Mathews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, listing Husemann with 31 claims.

In some instances, aerial victories were claimed and logged in a Planquadrat (PQ—grid reference). The Luftwaffe grid map map was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about .

Chronicle of aerial victories Claim Date Time Type Location Serial No./Squadron No. – Stab of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – 1 17 December 1942 20:53 Stirling northeast of ZwollePQ 4341 Stirling BF396/No. 75 Squadron RAF 2 27 April 1943 03:37 Stirling west of Hilversum Stirling BF383/No. 90 Squadron RAF 3 12 June 1943 02:55 Wellington 4 13 June 1943 02:20 Lancaster Tubbergen Lancaster ED816/No. 97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron RAF 5 24 June 1943 03:17 Halifax north-northwest of Amsterdam Halifax BB379/No. 138 Squadron RAF 6 26 June 1943 01:13 Halifax east of Zevenaar Stirling BK768/No. 75 Squadron RAF 7? 26 June 1943 01:17 Stirling west-northwest of Waterwijk Stirling EH898/No. 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF 8 26 June 1943 02:19 Lancaster south of Haarlem Lancaster R5572/No. 106 Squadron RAF 9 29 June 1943 03:07 Lancaster north of Hoorn Lancaster ED569/No. 207 Squadron RAF 10 24 August 1943 00:50 Halifax Biesenthal Lancaster ED328/No. 101 Squadron RAF 11 28 August 1943 03:15 Wellington northwest of Nuremberg Stirling EF448/No. 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF 12 4 September 1943 00:50 Wellington vicinity of Strasbourg 13 7 September 1943 00:45 Halifax south of Munich Halifax JD166/No. 10 Squadron RAF – 7. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – 14 22 October 1943 21:30 Lancaster northwest of Minden Lancaster DS778/408 (Goose) Squadron – Stab I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 – 15 25 March 1944 00:39 four-engined bomber west of Münster 16 10 April 1944 03:40? four-engined bomber Hersfeld 17 10 April 1944 03:45? four-engined bomber vicinity of Hersfeld 18 23 April 1944 23:56 four-engined bomber Lolland Island 19 23 May 1944 00:25 four-engined bomber Assen/Emmen Lancaster ND963/No. 83 Squadron RAF 20 16 June 1944 00:59 four-engined bomber south of Thérouanne 21 24 June 1944 01:15 four-engined bomber Saint-Omer/Ypres 22 6 July 1944 00:35 four-engined bomber Strait of Dover 23 21 July 1944 01:34 four-engined bomber northwest of Venlo Lancaster ND915/No. 75 Squadron RAF 24 29 July 1944 01:47 four-engined bomber Bitsche/Pirmasens Lancaster KB759/No. 428 Squadron RCAF 25 13 August 1944 00:47 four-engined bomber Sulingen/Wagenfeld Lancaster LM598/No. 101 Squadron RAF 26 17 August 1944 00:40 four-engined bomber 330° – 350° from beacon "Q" Lancaster PB239/No. 405 Squadron RCAF 27 30 August 1944 00:48 Lancaster PQ LH Lancaster ED588/No. 50 Squadron RAF 28 30 August 1944 01:19 Lancaster PQ OK-PK Lancaster HK594/No. 75 Squadron RAF 29 14 February 1945 20:41 Halifax Zealand Island Halifax MY793/No. 10 Squadron 30 14 February 1945 21:17 Halifax Møn Island 31 4 March 1945 20:29 Lancaster east of Aahus 32 4 March 1945 23:32 Lancaster Bourtange moor

Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 1 November 1943 as Oberleutnant and pilot German Cross in Gold on 24 October 1943 as Oberleutnant in the 7./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 30 September 1944 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 3