Günther Bahr

Günther Bahr (18 July 1921 – 29 April 2009) was a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot and night fighter flying ace during World War II. He claimed 36 victories at night, plus one further daytime aerial victory, all of which were four-engine bombers, achieved in over 90 combat missions. He counted 37 victories over all. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Bahr died in April 2009 at the age of 87.[Note 1]

Günther Bahr
Born18 July 1921
Neu Legden, East Prussia
Died29 April 2009(2009-04-29) (aged 87)
Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Allegiance Nazi Germany (to 1945)
 West Germany
Service/branch Luftwaffe
Years of service1940–45
1962–75
RankOberfeldwebel (Wehrmacht)
Major (Bundeswehr)
UnitZG 1, NJG 1, NJG 4, NJG 6
Battles/wars
See battles

World War II

AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Other workBundeswehr

Career

Bahr was born on 18 July 1921 in Neu-Legden, a small settlement northeast of Königsberg, East Prussia, present-day part of Dobroje in the Kaliningrad Oblast.[1] On 19 December 1941, he was posted to 6. Staffel (6th squadron) of Schnellkampfgeschwader 210 (SKG 210—210th Fast-Bomber Wing) which was fighting on the Eastern Front. In January 1942, SKG 210 became Zerstörergeschwader 1 (ZG 1—1st Destroyer Wing). In consequence, Bahr served with 6. Staffel of ZG 1.[2]

Night fighting
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.[3] 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.[4]

In late March 1942, Bahr began training as a night fighter pilot and was then transferred to the I. Gruppe (1st group) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing).[1] On the night of 23/24 August 1943, the RAF targeted Berlin with 727 Avro Lancaster, Handley Page Halifax, Short Stirling and de Havilland Mosquito bombers, losing 57 aircraft in the attack.[5] Defending against this mission, Bahr claimed his first nocturnal aerial victories over a Halifax and Stirling bomber.[6] On 14 October, during the second Raid on Schweinfurt, he claimed a daytime aerial victory over a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber shot down 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Schweinfurt.[7] Bomber Command targeted Hanover on the night of 18/19 October.[8] That night, Bahr claimed the destruction of a Lancaster bomber 35 kilometers (22 miles) west of Hamelin.[9] On 3/4 November, Bomber Command's main target was Düsseldorf, hit by 577 bombers and 12 Mosquitos. That night, the RAF lost 18 bombers with further 37 damaged.[10] Bahr filed claim for a Halifax bomber shot down 25 kilometers (16 miles) west of Düsseldorf.[11]

On the night of 20/21 December 1943, the RAF targeted Frankfurt am Main. Defending against this attack, Bahr claimed three Halifax bombers, two of which may have been from No. 10 Squadron.[12] On the night of 21/22 February 1945, Bahr became an "ace-in-a-day". That night, the RAF had targeted Duisburg, Worms and the Mittelland Canal. Bahr, flying a Messerschmitt Bf 110 G with his crew, radio operator Feldwebel Arno Rehmer and air gunner Unteroffizier Kurt Riediger, were vectored to the bomber stream heading for Worms and shot down seven bombers.[13] That night, the RAF lost 34 aircraft, 26 of which were credited to Bahr, Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, Heinz Rökker and Johannes Hager.[14] Bahr was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 28 March 1945.[2]

With the German Air Force

Following World War II, Bahr rejoined military service with the German Air Force, at the time referred to as the Bundesluftwaffe, in 1962. As a Major (major), he retired in 1975. Bahr died in April 2009.[6]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Bahr was credited with 36 nocturnal aerial victories claimed in approximately 90 noturnal combat missions, plus one further daytime claim.[15] Foreman, Matthews and Parry, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, list 36 nocturnal victory claims, numerically ranging from 2 to 37.[16] Matthews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, listing Bahr with 35 claims, plus two further unconfirmed claims.[17]

Awards

Notes
  1. For a list of Luftwaffe night fighter aces see List of German World War II night fighter aces
  2. Matthews and Foreman in Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims list this claim as unconfirmed.[2]

References

Citations
  1. Obermaier 1989, p. 84.
  2. Matthews & Foreman 2014, p. 30.
  3. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 9.
  4. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 27.
  5. Richards 1994, pp. 268–269.
  6. Johnson 2014, Appendix 2—The Enemy.
  7. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 122.
  8. Bowman 2016a, p. 213.
  9. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 123.
  10. Bowman 2016a, p. 218.
  11. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 126.
  12. Bowman 2016a, p. 231.
  13. Bowman 2016b, pp. 197–198.
  14. Hinchliffe 1998, p. 308.
  15. Spick 1996, p. 245.
  16. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, pp. 105–243.
  17. Matthews & Foreman 2014, pp. 30–31.
  18. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 105.
  19. Accident description for Lancaster DV159 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 22 December 2020.
  20. Accident description for Lancaster JB226 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 22 December 2020.
  21. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 133.
  22. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 134.
  23. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 146.
  24. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 149.
  25. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 152.
  26. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 170.
  27. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 171.
  28. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 172.
  29. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 206.
  30. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 211.
  31. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 216.
  32. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 229.
  33. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 230.
  34. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 231.
  35. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 232.
  36. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 236.
  37. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 237.
  38. Foreman, Parry & Matthews 2004, p. 243.
  39. Patzwall 2008, p. 44.
  40. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 22.
  41. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 121.
  42. Scherzer 2007, p. 200.

Bibliography
  • Bowman, Martin (2016a). Nachtjagd, Defenders of the Reich 1940–1943. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-4738-4986-0.
  • Bowman, Martin (2016b). German Night Fighters Versus Bomber Command 1943–1945. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-4738-4979-2.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
  • Foreman, John; Parry, Simon; Matthews, Johannes (2004). Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939–1945. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-0-9538061-4-0.
  • Hinchliffe, Peter (1998). Luftkrieg bei Nacht 1939–1945 [Air War at Night 1939–1945] (in German). Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-613-01861-7.
  • Jacobs, Peter (2017). Night Duel Over Germany: Bomber Command's Battle Over the Reich During WWII. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-4738-9713-7.
  • Johnson, Mark (2014). Caribbean Volunteers at War: The Forgotten Story of the RAF's 'Tuskegee Airmen'. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-4738-3487-3.
  • Matthews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2014). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 1 A–F. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-18-9.
  • Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1939 – 1945] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D. (2008). Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg [The Honor Goblet for Outstanding Achievement in the Air War] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-08-3.
  • Richards, Denis (1994). The Hardest Victory:RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War. London, UK: Coronet Books. ISBN 978-0-340-61720-5.
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  • Spick, Mike (1996). Luftwaffe Fighter Aces. New York: Ivy Books. ISBN 978-0-8041-1696-1.
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