Wilhelm Herget

Wilhelm Herget (30 June 1910 – 27 March 1974) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a night fighter ace credited with 73—15 daytime and 58 nighttime—enemy aircraft shot down in over 700 combat missions. The majority of his victories were claimed over the Western Front in Defense of the Reich missions against the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command.

Born in Stuttgart, Herget grew up in the grew up in the German Empire, Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany. Following graduation from school and a vocational education in printing, he joined the military service in the Luftwaffe. Herget flew his first combat missions in the 1939 Invasion of Poland and in 1940, in the Battle of France and Britain. In May 1941, he participated in the Anglo-Iraqi War. In November 1941, Herget transferred to the night fighter force, initially serving with Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing). In September 1942, Herget became group commander of I. Gruppe (1st group) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 (NJG 4—4th Night Fighter Wing), a position he held until December 1944. Following his 63rd aerial victory, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 11 April 1944. The Knight's Cross , and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. Herget flew his last combat missions with Jagdverband 44 (JV 44—44th Fighter Detachment), a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter unit, in 1945. After the war, he worked in publishing. Herget died on 27 March 1974 in Stuttgart.

Early life and career Herget was born on 30 June 1910 in Stuttgart in the Kingdom of Württemberg of the German Empire, the son of a printer. After graduation from school, he learned the trade of printing and completed his Meister (master craftsman) training. Herget also served in the Sturmabteilung (SA) as Rottenführer (section leader). In parallel, he served in the military reserve force with an Aufklärungsgruppe (aerial reconnaissance group). In August 1939, Herget was posted to 6. Staffel (6th squadron) of Zerstörergeschwader 76 (ZG 76—76th Destroyer Wing) flying a Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter.

World War II On Friday 1 September 1939, German forces invaded Poland starting World War II in Europe. Herget flew his first combat mission with ZG 76 during the invasion and was promoted to Leutnant der Reserve (second lieutenant of the reserves) on 25 October 1939. In May 1940, he fought in the Battle of France and later that year in the Battle of Britain. Herget, due to his short built, had to fly a customized Bf 110 with wooden blocks attached to the rudder pedals in order to reach them. He claimed three Supermarine Spitfire fighters shot down in May 1940 and a Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighter in June and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class . On 30 August 1940, Herget claimed a Hawker Hurricane and a Spitfire on the next day. On 1 September, he claimed three further Spitfires and another on 2 September. In May 1941, Herget was transferred to Sonderkommando Junck, also referred to as Fliegerführer Irak, a Luftwaffe task force under the command of Oberst (Colonel) Werner Junck which participated in the Anglo-Iraqi War.

Night fighter career Herget was promoted to Oberleutnant der Reserve (first lieutenant of the reserves) on 1 November 1941 and transferred to the night fighter force. There he was posted to 7. Staffel (7th squadron) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (NJG 3—3rd Night Fighter Wing). On 15 January 1942, 7./NJG 3 was redesignated and became the 4. Staffel (4th squadron) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing). Herget was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 7 February 1942. Herget claimed his first nocturnal victory on the night of 5/6 April 1942.

On 1 May 1942, Herget was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 9. Staffel (9th squadron) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 (NJG 4—4th Night Fighter Wing) and promoted to Hauptmann der Reserve (captain of the reserves) on 1 October 1942. On 1 September 1942, he had been appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of the newly reformed I. Gruppe of NJG 4 and served in this position until December 1944. Herget received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 20 June 1943 for 31 aerial victories and the destruction of five ground targets. The presentation was made by General der Flieger (lieutenant general) Josef Kammhuber.

Herget was promoted to Major der Reserve (major of the reserves) on 1 October 1943. On the night of 20/21 December 1943, Herget was credited with the destruction of five Halifax and three Lancaster bombers within 45 minutes, making him an "ace-in-a-day". Following his 63rd aerial victory, Herget was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 11 April 1944, the 451st soldier to receive this distinction. The presentation was made by Adolf Hitler at the Berghof, Hitler's residence in the Obersalzberg of the Bavarian Alps, on 5 May 1944. Also present at the ceremony were Anton Hafner, Otto Kittel, Günther Schack, Emil Lang, Alfred Grislawski, Erich Rudorffer, Martin Möbus, Hans-Karl Stepp, Rudolf Schoenert, Günther Radusch, Otto Pollmann and Fritz Breithaupt, who all received the Oak Leaves on this date.

On 15 June 1944 he was shot down by British ace Branse Burbridge. Herget and his crew bailed out and the Junkers Ju 88 G-1 (Werknummer—factory number 710833) crashed south-west of Nivelles. The crash site was initially excavated in the summer of 2008. According to Boiten and Obermaier, Herget claimed his last aerial victory as a night fighter, a de Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber, on the night 14/15 June 1944. This claim is not documented by Foreman, Mathews and Parry, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945.

Messerschmitt Me 262 and Jagdverband 44

In January 1945, Herget underwent conversion training and learned to fly the then new Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. He then served with Sonderkommission Kleinrath, a specialized task force named after Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) Kurt Kleinrath. This task force of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM—Ministry of Aviation) main objective was to optimize test-flying and delivery schedules of newly manufactured aircraft. In this function, Herget was involved in improving production of the Me 262 and was subsequently exposed to the slave labor system employed by the various Messerschmitt factories and subcontractors. Herget pointed out that aircraft manufacturing based on slave labor was counterproductive. News of his analysis reached Reichsmarschall (Marshal of the Reich) Hermann Göring who forbade him to visit another factory.

On 5 April 1945, Herget began testing a prototype variant of the Me 262 at Lechfeld, the Messerschmitt test airfield. The Me 262A-1a/U4 which Herget tested was equipped with an adapted MK 214 long barreled cannon. It was believed that this weapon could bring down enemy bombers from outside their defensive firing range. The weapon system suffered from technical problems and was prone to jamming. On 16 April, Herget flew the Me 262A-1a/U4 in an unsuccessful combat mission against a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) bomber formation. The weapon failed and no shot was fired. The Me 262 was then flown to Munich-Riem by Herget where it was placed under the control of Adolf Galland's Jagdverband 44 (JV 44—44th Fighter Detachment).

Herget's last missions of World War II were flown with JV 44. On 27 April, Herget, accompanied by Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) Heinrich Bär and Unteroffizier Franz Köster, engaged USSAF fighters near the Munich-Riem airfield and claimed his only aerial victory flying the Me 262, a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, and last of the war. During the final days of the World War II in Europe, Galland who had been injured in combat on 26 April, attempted to surrender JV 44 to American forces from his hospital bed. On 1 May 1945, Galland instructed Herget to fly to Oberschleißheim, which had already fallen into US hands, and negotiate the terms of surrender. At dawn, Herget and Hauptmann Hugo Kessler, Galland's aide, flew to Oberschleißheim in a Fieseler Fi 156 "Storch". The Americans then drove the two Germans to the command post of the US 45th Infantry Division in the vicinity of Feldmoching. There they met with General Pearson Menoher, Chief-of-Staff of the XV Corps, General Jesse D. Auton, commander of the 65th Fighter Wing, and Colonel Dorr E. Newton, commander of XII Tactical Air Command. Herget handed over a letter from Galland which advocated the idea of surrendering a fully operational jet fighter unit to the Americans.

Later life Herget died on 27 March 1974 at the age of in Stuttgart, West Germany. According to Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, he had committed suicide following a failed business undertaking.

Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Herget was credited with 73 aerial victories. Obermaier also lists him with 73—15 daytime and 58 nighttime—aerial victories, claimed in over 700 combat missions. His 15 daytime claims includes one aerial victory flying the Me 262 jet fighter. Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 2417". 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(total) Claim(nocturnal) Date Time Type Location Serial No./Squadron No. – 6. Staffel of Zerstörergeschwader 76 – 1 25 May 1940 16:50 Spitfire 2 29 May 1940 14:00 Spitfire west of Dunkirk 3 18 June 1940 07:05 Hawk 75 southeast of Cherbourg 4 30 August 1940 12:30 Hurricane 5 30 August 1940 12:45 Hurricane 6 31 August 1940 09:50 Spitfire 7 1 September 1940 14:45 Spitfire Tunbridge 8 1 September 1940 14:50 Spitfire Tunbridge 9 1 September 1940 15:00 Spitfire Tunbridge 10 2 September 1940 17:30 Spitfire London 11 4 September 1940 14:20 Spitfire Tunbridge 12 11 September 1940 17:00 Hurricane east of the Isle of Wight 13 4 July 1941 05:05 Handley PQ 2417 14 30 July 1941 17:00 Blenheim off Texel No. 139 Squadron RAF – 4. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – 15 1 6 April 1942 02:10 Hereford west of Roly-Neuville Hampden AT156/No. 49 Squadron RAF – Stab II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 – 16 2 6/7 May 1942 Halifax southwest of Saint-Hubert – 9. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 – 17 3 20 May 1942 01:09 Halifax northwest of Saint-Hubert Halifax W7660/No. 76 Squadron RAF 18 4 17 June 1942 02:14 Stirling west of Limont-Fontaine Stirling R9324/No. 7 Squadron RAF 19 5 25 August 1942 02:15 Wellington southwest of Marly 20 6 28 August 1942 23:04 Halifax Dinant Halifax BB204/No. 103 Squadron RAF 21 7 28 August 1942 23:22 Hampden northwest of Philippeville 22 8 2 September 1942 03:30 Halifax south of Diksmuide Halifax W1244/No. 76 Squadron RAF 23 9 20 September 1942 01:15 Wellington north of Reims 24 10 20 September 1942 03:28 Lancaster west of Berlaimont Lancaster R5554/No. 44 Squadron RAF – Stab I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 – 25 11 22 November 1942 20:46 Wellington north of Laon Wellington BK206/No. 115 Squadron RAF 26 12 21 December 1942 23:30 Lancaster west of Steenbuyne Lancaster W4234/No. 57 Squadron RAF 27 13 11 April 1943 03:23 Wellington Nivelles Wellington HE652/No. 426 (Thunderbird) Squadron RCAF 28 14 11 April 1943 03:55 Wellington south of Le Havre Wellington BK459/No. 166 Squadron RAF 29 15 17 April 1943 04:06 Halifax Rance Halifax HR663/No. 102 Squadron RAF 30 16 17 April 1943 04:23 Lancaster Villers-Deux-Églises Lancaster ED800/No. 50 Squadron RAF – 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – 31 17 15 June 1943 01:55 Lancaster north of Oijen Lancaster LM329/No. 9 Squadron RAF 32 18 22 June 1943 01:27 Lancaster south of Asten Lancaster EE198/No. 619 Squadron RAF 33 19 22 June 1943 01:38 Wellington west-southwest of Venlo Wellington HE924/No. 166 Squadron RAF 34 20 22 June 1943 02:15 Lancaster Leitler-Heide Lancaster W4939/No. 460 Squadron RAAF 35 21 23 June 1943 02:01 Halifax northwest of Vechel Halifax JB855/No. 78 Squadron RAF 36 22 29 June 1943 01:30 Lancaster southwest of Roermond Lancaster ED363/No. 467 Squadron RAAF – Stab I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 – 37 23 4 July 1943 02:23 Wellington Solre-sur-Sambre Wellington HZ478/No. 196 Squadron RAF 38 24 14 July 1943 02:35 Wellington northwest of Givet 39 25 14 July 1943 02:40 Halifax northeast of Givet 40 26 24 August 1943 01:23 Lancaster southeast of Thomsdorf 41 27 28 August 1943 01:50 Halifax Nuremberg 42 28 1 September 1943 00:56 Halifax southwest of Trebbin 43 29 1 September 1943 01:11 Lancaster northeast of Trebbin 44 30 4 October 1943 20:49 Halifax Givet 45 31 4 October 1943 21:30 Halifax west-northwest of Neufchâteau 46 32 4 October 1943 22:08 B-17 Friedberg B-17 42-3091/95th Bombardment Group 47 33 26 November 1943 03:35 Halifax east of St. Vith Halifax LW326/No. 35 Squadron RAF 48 34 26 November 1943 19:40 Lancaster east-southeast of Trier 49 35 26 November 1943 20:06 Lancaster northeast of Frankfurt am Main Lancaster JB458/No. 103 Squadron RAF 50 36 26 November 1943 20:08 Lancaster northeast of Frankfurt am Main Lancaster DV289/No. 101 Squadron RAF 51 37 2 December 1943 20:29 Stirling Berlin 52 38 2 December 1943 20:55 Stirling Berlin 53 39♠ 20 December 1943 19:27 Halifax Münstermaifeld 54 40♠ 20 December 1943 19:35 Halifax Wiesenheim 55 41♠ 20 December 1943 19:37 Halifax Flörsheim am Main 56 42♠ 20 December 1943 19:43 four-engined bomber west-southwest of Frankfurt am Main 57 43♠ 20 December 1943 19:47 Lancaster northeast of Hanau 58 44♠ 20 December 1943 19:57 Halifax Hanau 59 45♠ 20 December 1943 20:00 Lancaster Rossdorf 60 46♠ 20 December 1943 20:15 Lancaster west of Schwalbach am Taunus Lancaster DS817/No. 514 Squadron RAF 61 47 2 January 1944 05:46 Lancaster Grandrieux Lancaster DV308/No. 207 Squadron RAF 62 48 27 January 1944 23:10 Lancaster Sautour Lancaster JB724/No. 83 Squadron RAF 63 49 26 March 1944 22:55 four-engined bomber Dinant 64 50 26 March 1944 23:00 four-engined bomber north of Philippeville 65 51 22 April 1944 23:50 four-engined bomber Soissons 66 52 23 April 1944 00:57 Lancaster south-southeast of Namur 67 53 28 April 1944 02:50 Lancaster northwest of Dunkirk 68 54 28 May 1944 03:17 unknown Ostend-Bruges Lancaster ND925/No. 103 Squadron RAF 69 55 8 June 1944 03:05 Lancaster northwest of Fécamp 70 56 8 June 1944 03:14 Stirling northwest of Fécamp 71 57 13 June 1944 01:36 Lancaster Saint-Sauflieu/Amiens 72 58 13 June 1944 01:45 Lancaster Saint-Just – Jagdverband 44 – 73 27 April 1945 P-47 near Munich-Riem

Awards German Cross in Gold on 7 February 1942 as Oberleutnant in the III./Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Knight's Cross on 20 June 1943 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 451st Oak Leaves on 11 April 1944 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 4