KITS 07/2023

Oblt. Martin Becker, 2./NJG 6, Florennes, Belgium, May 1944

With 85 kills Martin Becker was the tenth most

successful night fighter pilot of the Luftwaffe. He

was special for achieving multiple kills of British

four-engine bombers during a single mission,

scoring nine (!) four-engine bombers on March 14,

1945, although three of them were achieved by his

radio operator Ofw. Karl-Ludwig Johanssen, after

Becker’s forward firing cannons either jammed

or were out of ammo. A native of Wiesbaden,

where Becker was born on April 12, 1916, he

joined the army in 1936 and was trained as an

aerial observer. In this role he flew in the Battle

of France, but shortly after he started his pilot

training at the Merseburg flight school. Becker

received basic and advanced training for night

fighters and was assigned to 11./NJG 4, which

was transformed into 2./NJG 6 on April 1, 1943.

Johanssen served as Becker’s radio operator

from March 1944 and became one of the few ROs

to be awarded the Knight’s Cross. Becker scored

his first victory on September 23, 1943, by the

following month he was already Staffelkapitän of

2./NJG 6 and by December 21 he had achieved ace

status. His Bf 109G-4 of unknown serial number

bore the spray paint of RLM 76, the silhouette

of the aircraft was darkened by irregular spots

of RLM 75. His aircraft was armed MG 151/20

cannons.

WNr. 720260, Oblt. Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, CO of IV./NJG 1, Sint Truiden, Belgium, April 1944

Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, the most successful

night fighter ace of all times, recipient of the Knight

Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds,

flew from the beginning of his military aviation

career as a night fighter. In total he shot down 121

enemy aircraft, predominantly four-engine British

bombers. During the whole war he was wounded

only once and none of his crew members was

ever wounded in combat. Schnaufer survived the

war and at the end of hostilities he decided to

concentrate on the family wine business. He died on

June 15, 1950, two days after the car crash in which

he collided with a truck in Cestas near Bordeaux

in France. Schnaufer, nicknamed “The Night Ghost

of St. Trond”, flew this Bf 110G-4 during the spring

months of 1944 when he assumed command of

IV. Gruppe Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. The aircraft

original camouflage of RLM 74 and RLM 75 on

the upper surfaces partially showed through the

overcoat of RLM 76. The lower and side surfaces

remained in the original coat of RLM 76, the

starboard wing undersurfaces were painted black.

The bottom position weapons were deleted on this

aircraft.

WNr. 110 087, 4./NJG 3, Kjevik, Norway, 1945

The 4./NJG 3 unit was formed in March 1945, out of

Nachtjagdstaffel Norwegen, a unit that operated

independently from Norway. The purpose of

the unit was to intercept allied aircraft over

Scandinavia. Besides the Bf110G, the unit also

flew the Ju88G and He219. Its last function was

on May 8, 1945, evacuating German unit officers

from the surrounding areas. Aircraft B4+KA

July 2023

probably did not take part in this final action,

because the end of the war found the aircraft

still at Kjevik, in Norway. The aircraft carried

FuG 220 SN-2b with vertical dipoles, and with

an older type of mounting. Originally, the aircraft

carried a camouflage scheme of RLM 74 and RLM

75 fields on upper surfaces, and RLM 76 on the

undersurfaces, but the uppersurfaces were later

oversprayed with RLM 76 (aparto of the nose) and

darkened by “snakes” of RLM 71. Starboard wing

undesurfaces and engine cowl were oversprayed

in black. This aircraft is recorded as crewed by

Fw. Kurt Keilig (pilot), Fw. Kurt Schroter (radio

operator) and Uffz. Karl Stamminger (mechanic).

INFO Eduard

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