List of German World War II night fighter aces

A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat.[1] German day and night fighter pilots claimed roughly 70,000 aerial victories during World War II, 25,000 over British or American and 45,000 over Soviet flown aircraft. 103 German fighter pilots shot down more than 100 enemy aircraft for a total of roughly 15,400 aerial victories. Roughly a further 360 pilots claimed between 40 and 100 aerial victories for round about 21,000 victories. Another 500 fighter pilots claimed between 20 and 40 victories for a total of 15,000 victories. According to Obermeier, it is relatively certain, that 2,500 German fighter pilots attained ace status, having achieved at least 5 aerial victories.[2] 453 German day and Zerstörer (destroyer) pilots received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. 85 night fighter pilots, including 14 crew members, were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.[3] The list is sorted by the number of aerial victories claimed at night.

A German Bf 110G-4 night fighter at the RAF Museum in London.

Due to the worsening war situation for Germany and Luftwaffe policies, night fighter aces remained in frontline roles until they were killed or wounded in combat or no longer capable of flying due to exhaustion.[4]

German night fighter aces

  This along with the * (asterisk), indicates that the pilot was either killed in action, missing in action or killed in a flying accident.
  This and the / (slash) indicates information discrepancies listed by Obermaier, Scutts, Sprick, Matthews and Foreman.

Name	Rank	Night victories claimed	Day victories claimed	Total wartime victories claimed	Unit	Notes
Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer[5]	Major	121[6]/119[7]	0	121	NJG 1, NJG 4	Nicknamed "The Spook of St. Trond",
Helmut Lent*[5]	Oberst	102	8	110[6]/112[8]	ZG 76, NJG 1, NJG 2, NJG 3	killed in flying accident 7 October 1944
Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein*[5]	Major	83[6]/79[9]	0	83	NJG 2	killed in action 21 January 1944	—
Werner Streib[5]	Oberst	67	1	68	ZG 1, NJG 1	—	—
Manfred Meurer*[5]	Hauptmann	65	0	65	NJG 1, NJG 5	killed in action 21 January 1944	—
Günther Radusch[5]	Oberst	64	1	65	ZG 1, NJG 1, NJG 3, NJG 2	—	—
Rudolf Schoenert[5]	Major	64[10]	0	64	NJG 1, NJG 2, NJG 3, NJG 100, NJGr 10, NJG 5	—	—
Heinz Rökker[5]	Hauptmann	63	1	64	NJG 2	—	—
Paul Zorner[5]	Major	59	0	59	NJG 2, NJG 3, NJG 100, NJG 5	—	—
Martin Becker[5]	Hauptmann	58	0	58	NJG 4, NJG 6	—	—
Gerhard Raht[5]	Hauptmann	58	0	58	NJG 3, NJG 2	—	—
Wilhelm Herget[5]	Major	57	16	73	ZG 76, NJG 3, NJG 1, NJG 4, JV 44	—	—
Kurt Welter[5]	Oberleutnant	56	7	63	JG 301, Kdo Welter, NJG 11	—	—
Gustav Francsi[5]	Oberleutnant	56	0	56	NJG 100	—	—
Josef Kraft[5]	Hauptmann	56	0	56	NJG 4, NJG 5, NJG 6, NJG 1	—	—
Heinz Strüning*[5]	Hauptmann	56	0	56	ZG 26, NJG 2, NJG 1	killed in action 25 December 1944
Hans-Dieter Frank*[5]	Hauptmann	55	0	55	ZG 1, NJG 1	killed in action 27 September 1943	—
Heinz Vinke*[5]	Oberfeldwebel	54	0	54	NJG 1	killed in action 26 February 1944
August Geiger*[5]	Hauptmann	53	0	53	NJG 1	killed in action 29 September 1943	—
Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld*[5]	Major	51	0	51	ZG 76, NJG 1, NJG 2, NJG 5	Killed in flying accident 22 March 1944
Werner Hoffmann[5]	Major	50	1	51	ZG 52, ZG 2, NJG 3, NJG 5	—	—
Reinhard Kollak[5]	Stabsfeldwebel	49	0	49	NJG 1, NJG 4	—	—
Hermann Greiner[5]	Hauptmann	47	4	51	NJG 1	—	—
Herbert Lütje[5]	Oberstleutnant	47	3	50	NJG 1, NJG 6	—
Johannes Hager[11]	Hauptmann	47	1	48	NJG 1	—	—
Paul Gildner*[12]	Oberleutnant	46	2	48	ZG 1, NJG 1	killed in action 24 February 1943	—
Hans-Heinz Augenstein*[13]	Hauptmann	46	0	46	NJG 1	killed in action 7 December 1944	—
Paul Semrau*[14]	Major	46[15]	0	46	NJG 2	killed in action 8 February 1945
Ernst-Georg Drünkler[16]	Hauptmann	45	2	47	ZG 2, NJG 1, NJG 5	—	—
Rudolf Frank[17]	Leutnant	45	0	45	NJG 3	—	—
Alois Lechner*[18]	Major	45	0	45	NJG 2, NJG 100	missing in action 23 February 1944	—
Ludwig Becker*[12]	Hauptmann	44	0	46	NJG 1, NJG 2	killed in action 26 February 1943	—
Reinhold Knacke*[19]	Hauptmann	44	0	44	ZG 1, NJG 1	killed in action 3 February 1943
Walter Borchers*[20]	Oberstleutnant	43	16	59	NJG 5	killed in action 6 March 1945	—
Martin Drewes[14]	Major	43	6	49	ZG 76, NJG 1	—	—
Werner Baake[21]	Hauptmann	41	0	41	NJG 1	—	—
Dietrich Schmidt[22]	Hauptmann	40	0	40	NJG 1	—	—
Leopold Fellerer[23]	Hauptmann	39	2	41	NJG 1, NJG 5, NJG 6	—	—
Ludwig Meister[24]	Hauptmann	38	1	39	NJG 1, NJG 4	—	—
Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin[25]	Major	37	2	39	NJG 1, NJG 102	—	—
Walter Ehle[26]	Major	35	4	39	ZG 1, NJG 1	—	—
Wilhelm Beier[27]	Oberleutnant	38	0	38	NJG 2, NJG 1, NJG 3	—	—
Helmut Bergmann*[28]	Hauptmann	36	0	36	NJG 4, NJG 1	killed in action 6 August 1944	—
Günther Bertram	Oberleutnant	35	0	35	NJG 100	—	—
Günther Bahr[29]	Oberfeldwebel	34	3	37	SKG 210, NJG 4, NJG 6	—	—
Heinz-Horst Hißbach*[30]	Hauptmann	34	0	34	NJG 2	killed in action 14 April 1945	—
Werner Husemann[31]	Major	34	0	34	NJG 1, NJG 3	—	—
Wilhelm Johnen[32]	Hauptmann	34	0	34	NJG 1, NJG 5, NJG 6	—	—
Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow[33]	Hauptmann	34	0	34	NJG 1	—	—
Heinz-Martin Hadeball[34]	Hauptmann	33	0	33	NJG 1, NJG 4, NJG 6, NJGr 10	—	—
Josef Kociok[35]	Oberfeldwebel	33	0	33	ZG 76, SKG 210, 10(NJ)/ZG 1	killed in action 26 September 1943	—
Karl-Heinz Scherfling*[36]	Oberfeldwebel	33	0	33	NJG 1	killed in action 21 July 1944	—
Paul-Hubert Rauh[37]	Major	31	0	31	NJG 1, NJG 4	—	—
Gerhard Friedrich*[38]	Major	30	0	30	NJG 4, NJG 6	killed in action 16 March 1945	—
Heinz Ferger	Hauptmann	30	0	30	NJG 2, NJG 3	—	—
Hans Leickhardt	Major	30	0	30	NJG 3, NJG 1, NJG 5	missing in action 5 March 1945	—
Friedrich-Karl Müller[39]	Major	30	0	30	JG 300, NJGr 10	—	—
Paul Szameitat*[40]	Hauptmann	28	1	29	NJG 1, NJG 5, NJG 3	killed in action 2 January 1944	—
Hans-Joachim Jabs[41]	Oberstleutnant	28	22	50	ZG 76, NJG 1	—
Rudolf Sigmund*[42]	Hauptmann	27	2	28	NJG 1	killed in action 4 October 1943	—
Heinz Grimm*[43]	Leutnant	26	1	27	NJG 1	Died of wounds 13 October 1943	—
Alfons Köster*[44]	Hauptmann	25	1	26	NJG 1, NJG 2, NJG 3	killed in action 6 January 1945	—
Helmuth Schulte[45]	Hauptmann	25	0	25	NJG 5, NJG 6	—	—
Lothar Linke*[46]	Oberleutnant	24	3	27	ZG 76, NJG 1, NJG 2	killed in action 14 May 1943	—
Peter Spoden	Hauptmann	24	1	25	NJG 5, NJG 6	—	—
Wolfgang Thimmig	Oberstleutnant	23[47]	0	24	NJG 1, NJG 2, NJG 4	—	—
Wolfgang Schneeweis*[48]	Hauptmann	17	0	17	NJG 200	missing in action 28/29 July 1943	—
Helmut Woltersdorf*	Oberleutnant	16	8	24	ZG 141, ZG 76, NJG 1	killed in action 2 June 1942	—
Hans Hahn*[11]	Leutnant	13	0	13	NJG 2	killed in flying accident 11 October 1941	—

References

Citations

1. Spick 1996, pp. 3–4.
2. Obermaier 1989, p. 241.
3. Obermaier 1989, p. 14.
4. Spick 1996, p. 6.
5. Scutts 1998, p. 88.
6. Spick 1996, p. 242.
7. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 1519.
8. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 1505.
9. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 1517.
10. Spick 1996, p. 243.
11. Obermaier 1989, p. 127.
12. Obermaier 1989, p. 56.
13. Obermaier 1989, p. 82.
14. Obermaier 1989, p. 77.
15. Spick 1996, p. 244.
16. Obermaier 1989, p. 103.
17. Obermaier 1989, p. 68.
18. Obermaier 1989, p. 155.
19. Obermaier 1989, p. 55.
20. Obermaier 1989, p. 92.
21. Obermaier 1989, p. 83.
22. Obermaier 1989, p. 197.
23. Obermaier 1989, p. 110.
24. Obermaier 1989, p. 167.
25. Obermaier 1989, p. 91.
26. Obermaier 1989, p. 106.
27. Obermaier 1989, p. 86.
28. Obermaier 1989, p. 87.
29. Obermaier 1989, p. 84.
30. Obermaier 1989, p. 133.
31. Obermaier 1989, p. 138.
32. Obermaier 1989, p. 141.
33. Obermaier 1989, p. 170.
34. Obermaier 1989, p. 126.
35. Obermaier 1989, p. 147.
36. Obermaier 1989, p. 194.
37. Obermaier 1989, p. 184.
38. Obermaier 1989, p. 114.
39. Obermaier 1989, p. 171.
40. Obermaier 1989, p. 213.
41. Obermaier 1989, p. 62.
42. Obermaier 1989, p. 206.
43. Obermaier 1989, p. 121.
44. Obermaier 1989, p. 149.
45. Obermaier 1989, p. 202.
46. Obermaier 1989, p. 159.
47. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 1525.
48. Obermaier 1989, p. 199.

Bibliography

• Matthews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 4 S–Z. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-21-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1941 – 1945] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Scutts, Jerry (1998). German Night Fighter Aces of World War 2. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-696-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Spick, Mike (1996). Luftwaffe Fighter Aces. New York: Ivy Books. ISBN 978-0-8041-1696-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)