Wolfgang Thimmig

Wolfgang Thimmig (4 October 1912 – 6 November 1976) was a German Luftwaffe night fighter during World War II. By the end of the war he had achieved 24 aerial victories, reached the rank of Oberstleutnant, and was Geschwaderkommodore for NJG 2, having previously been the Kommodore for NJG 4.

In 1956, Thimmig joined the newly formed Bundesluftwaffe and was the Military Attache of the Federal Republic of Germany in Sweden between 1959 and 1963. In addition to that, he was the Nigerian Air Force's Chief of the Air Staff from 1965 to 1966. He was the second Commander of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), and given the task of continuing the creation of an air force for Nigeria under a 1963 agreement between Nigeria and Germany. Thimmig and the German Air Force Assistance Group (GAFAG) withdrew from Nigeria in January 1966, when their mission of creating the air force was completed.

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 23 nocturnal victory claims. Matthews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, listing Thimmig with 23 claims, all of which claimed in Defense of the Reich.

Chronicle of aerial victories Claim Date Time Type Location Serial No./Squadron No. – 2. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – 1 18 June 1941 02:41 Whitley north of Best, north-northeast of Eindhoven 2 11 July 1941 02:40 Wellington Arendonk 3 16 July 1941? 02:31 Wellington south-southeast of Hamont-Achel 4 18 July 1941 02:41 Whitley 5 17 August 1941 01:41 Hampden Winterswijk? 6 17 August 1941 02:30 Whitley west of Venlo 7 31 August 194 23:39 Hampden west of Mönchengladbach 8 31 May 1942 02:06 Halifax northwest of Maarheeze railway station – Stab III. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – 9 27 August 1942 23:25 Wellington Epe railway station 10 27 August 1942 23:54 Halifax south of Haaksbergen 11 3 February 1943 20:10 Stirling east of Hengelo 12 1 May 1943 02:43 Halifax east of Stadtlohn 13 1 May 1943 03:20 Lancaster southeast of Zwolle 14 5 May 1943 00:34 Halifax south of Gronau 15 5 May 1943 00:50 Halifax northwest of Schüttorf 16 24 May 1943 01:08 Wellington southwest of Enschede 17 24 May 1943 01:25 Wellington east of Haaksbergen 18 24 May 1943 01:34 Halifax west of Almelo – Stab III. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 101 – 19 21 April 1944 23:05 Lancaster west of Kirchheim – Stab of Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 – 20 21 April 1944 00:38 four-engined bomber south of Paris 21 8 July 1944 02:47 B-26 northwest of Amiens 22 8 July 1944 02:55 B-26 Senarpont 23 8 July 1944 02:59 B-26 Baie de la Seine

Awards Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 28 September 1942 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur German Cross in Gold on 12 July 1944 as Hauptmann in the III./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1