Reinhold Eckardt

Reinhold Eckardt (26 March 1918 – 30 July 1942) was a night fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Eckardt died on 30 July 1942 after his parachute caught the end of his plane after he bailed out. During his career he was credited with 22 aerial victories, 3 during the day and 19 at night.

Reinhold Eckardt
Born26 March 1918
Bamberg
Died30 July 1942(1942-07-30) (aged 24)
Kampenhout, Belgium
Buried
Lommel German war cemetery
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service/branchBalkenkreuz (Iron Cross) Luftwaffe
Years of service1939–1942
RankOberleutnant (first lientenant)
UnitZG 76; NJG 1; NJG 3
Commands held7./NJG 3
Battles/warsWorld War II

Invasion of Poland

AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Career

Eckardt was born on 26 March 1918 in Bamberg, at the time in the Kingdom of Bavaria as part of the German Empire. Following flight training,[Note 1] he was posted to 2. Staffel (2nd squadron) of Zerstörergeschwader 76 (ZG 76—76th Destroyer Wing) flying the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter.[2]

Over Denmark, Eckardt claimed a Lockheed Hudson shot down and two fighter aircraft during the Battle of Britain.[3] During this period, Eckardt escorted his wingman, Oberfeldwebel Neureiter, 650 kilometers (400 miles) back to Trondheim. Neureiter's Bf 110 had been hit in one engine. Eckardt escorted him until Neureiter made a forced landing in Norway.[4]

Night fighter career
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, Royal Air Force (RAF) attacks shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign.[5] 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.[6]

The night-fighter force began to expand rapidly, with existing units being divided to form the nucleus of new units. By October 1940 Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing) comprised three Gruppen, while Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 (NJG 2—2nd Night Fighter Wing) and Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (NJG 3—3rd Night Fighter Wing), were still forming.[7] During this period, Eckardt was posted to 6. Staffel of NJG 1 commanded by Oberleutnant Helmut Lent.[8] Conversion training took place at Ingolstadt in south-western Germany. The squadron was then based at Deelen Airfield, located 12.5 kilometres (8 mi) north of Arnhem in the Netherlands.[9]

On 9 January 1941, Eckardt claimed the first aerial victory by a pilot of 6. Staffel when he shot down the RAF Armstrong Whitworth Whitley T4203 bomber from No. 78 Squadron near German-Dutch border. The bomber was on a mission to the synthetic oil factory at Gelsenkirchen.[10][11] On 27/28 June, Eckardt claimed four heavy bombers shot down.[12] One of the bombers was the RAF Whitley Z6647 from No. 77 Squadron during a Helle Nachtjagd (illuminated night fighting) mission near Hamburg.[13]

Squadron leader and death

On 1 November 1941, a newly formed III. Gruppe (3rd group) of NJG 3 under the command of Hauptmann Heinz Nacke was formed from II. Gruppe of ZG 76.[14] On 1 December, Eckard was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 4. Staffel of NJG 1 which on 15 March 1942 became the 7. Staffel of NJG 3, a squadron of III. Gruppe of NJG 3.[2]

On 2 June, Eckardt shot down the Vickers Wellington bomber Z1311 from the Royal Australian Air Force No. 460 Squadron. The bomber was on thousand-bomber raid on Essen. Over Hainaut, German-occupied Belgium, Z1311 came under attack, crashing near Binche, killing all aboard including Maurice Fitzgerald, a former rugby player.[15][16][17]

On the night of 29/30 July, RAF Bomber Command attacked Saarbrücken. Defending against this attack, Eckard claimed a Short Stirling, a Handley Page Halifax and an Avro Lancaster bomber shot down. Attacking another Lancaster bomber, his Bf 110 E-2 (Werknummer 4494—factory number) was hit by the defensive gunfire, damaging one engine. Forced to bail out, his parachute was caught on the tail assembly of the aircraft, and he fell to his death.[2][18]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier, Eckardt was credited with twenty-two aerial victories, nineteen nocturnal and three daytime claims, plus further seventeen aircraft destroyed on the ground.[2] Aders also lists him with twenty-two aerial victories, nineteen nocturnal and three as a Zerstörer pilot.[19] Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for twenty aerial victory claims, including three as a Zerstörer pilot and seventeen as a night fighter pilot, plus two further unconfirmed claims.[8]

Chronicle of aerial victories
  This and the ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945 and Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims.
Claim
(total)		 Claim
(nocturnal)		 Date Time Type Location Serial No./Squadron No.
– 2. Staffel of Zerstörergeschwader 76 –[8]
1 21 July 1940 13:45 Hudson west of Hestholmen
2 15 August 1940
—
 fighter aircraft
3 15 August 1940
—
 fighter aircraft
– 6. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 –[8]
4 1 9 January 1941 23:18 Whitley Erlekem, south of Nijmegen[20] Whitley T4203/No. 78 Squadron RAF[21]
5 2 9 May 1941 02:13 Blenheim 25 km (16 mi) west of Sankt Peter-Ording[22]
6 3 11 May 1941 02:48 Whitley 6 km (3.7 mi) south of Husum[22] Whitley P5048/No. 10 Squadron RAF[23]
– Stab II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 –[8]
7 4 24 June 1941 02:32 Halifax Buxtehude[24]
8 5 28 June 1941 01:36 Whitley Zuiderzee[24] Whitley P5055/No. 10 Squadron RAF[25]
9 6 28 June 1941 01:42 Wellington Hamburg[24] Whitley Z6630/No. 77 Squadron RAF[26]
10 7 28 June 1941 01:52 Whitley 10 km (6.2 mi) southeast of Stade[24] Whitley Z6647/No. 77 Squadron RAF[27]
11 8 28 June 1941 02:22 Wellington Port of Hamburg[24] Wellington W5386/No. 142 Squadron RAF[28]
12 9 30 June 1941 02:55 Hampden south of Uetersen[24]
13 10 16 September 1941 00:33 Wellington Hamburg/Bad Bramstedt[29] Wellington X3205/No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF[30]
14 11 16 September 1941 00:40 Wellington Hamburg/Bad Bramstedt[29] Wellington X9759/No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF[31]
– 7. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 –[8]
15?[Note 2] 12 18 April 1942 03:18 Wellington southwest of Stade[32]
16?[Note 2] 13 28 April 1942 23:37 Stirling northwest of Ahrensburg[33]
17 14 7 May 1942 02:53 Wellington 8 km (5.0 mi) west of Tralau[34]
18 15 2 June 1942 02:09 Wellington[35] Wellington Z1311/No. 460 Squadron RAAF[15]
19 16 2 June 1942 02:31 Wellington[35] Wellington W5618/No. 21 Operational Training Unit RAF[36]
20 17 30 July 1942 01:15 Stirling 7 km (4.3 mi) west-northwest of Rocroi[37]
21 18 30 July 1942 02:51 Halifax 200 m (660 ft) south of Brabant[37]
22 19 30 July 1942 03:06 Lancaster Braine-le-Comte[37] Lancaster R5728/No. 50 Squadron RAF[38]

Awards

Notes
  1. Flight training in the Luftwaffe progressed through the levels A1, A2 and B1, B2, referred to as A/B flight training. A training included theoretical and practical training in aerobatics, navigation, long-distance flights and dead-stick landings. The B courses included high-altitude flights, instrument flights, night landings and training to handle the aircraft in difficult situations. For pilots destined to fly multi-engine aircraft, the training was completed with the Luftwaffe Advanced Pilot's Certificate (Erweiterter Luftwaffen-Flugzeugführerschein), also known as the C-Certificate.[1]
  2. According to Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims this claim is unconfirmed.[8]

References

Citations
  1. Bergström, Antipov & Sundin 2003, p. 17.
  2. Obermaier 1989, p. 105.
  3. Ziefle 2013, p. 207.
  4. Weal 2012, p. 29.
  5. Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 9.
  6. Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 27.
  7. Hinchliffe 2003, p. 84.
  8. Mathews & Foreman 2014, p. 259.
  9. Hinchliffe 2003, p. 85–87.
  10. Hinchliffe 2003, p. 91.
  11. Bowman 2011, p. 98.
  12. Aders 1978, p. 37.
  13. Bowman 2016, p. 39.
  14. Aders 1978, pp. 224, 228.
  15. Wellington Z1311.
  16. Chorley 1994, p. 113.
  17. Bond 2014, p. 78.
  18. Forczyk 2013, p. 54.
  19. Aders 1978, p. 233.
  20. Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 16.
  21. Whitley T4203.
  22. Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 20.
  23. Whitley P5048.
  24. Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 23.
  25. Whitley P5055.
  26. Whitley Z6630.
  27. Whitley Z6647.
  28. Wellington W5386.
  29. Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 31.
  30. Wellington X3205.
  31. Wellington X9759.
  32. Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 38.
  33. Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 39.
  34. Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 40.
  35. Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 43.
  36. Wellington W5618.
  37. Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 52.
  38. Lancaster R5728.
  39. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 168.
  40. Scherzer 2007, p. 286.
  41. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 97.

Bibliography
  • Aders, Gebhard (1978). History of the German Night Fighter Force, 1917–1945. London: Janes. ISBN 978-0-354-01247-8.
  • Bergström, Christer; Antipov, Vlad; Sundin, Claes (2003). Graf & Grislawski – A Pair of Aces. Hamilton MT: Eagle Editions. ISBN 978-0-9721060-4-7.
  • Bond, Steve (2014). Wimpy: A Detailed History of the Vickers Wellington in service, 1938-1953. London: Grub Street Publishing. ISBN 978-1-90980-814-0.
  • Bowman, Martin (2011). Bomber Command: Reflections of War. Bransley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Aviation. ISBN 978-1-84884-492-6.
  • Bowman, Martin (2016). Nachtjagd, Defenders of the Reich 1940–1943. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-4738-4986-0.
  • Chorley, W. R (1994). Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War: Aircraft and crew losses: 1942. Midland Counties Publications. ISBN 978-0-9045-9789-9.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer [in German] (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; Mathews, Johannes (2004). Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939–1945. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-0-9538061-4-0.
  • Forczyk, Robert (2013). Bf 110 vs Lancaster: 1942–45. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78096-317-4.
  • Hinchliffe, Peter (2003). "The Lent Papers" Helmut Lent. Bristol, UK: Cerberus Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84145-105-3.
  • Mathews, 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.
  • 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 Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  • Weal, John (2012) [1999]. Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstörer Aces of World War 2. Aircraft of the Aces. Vol. 25. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78200-527-8.
  • Ziefle, Michael (2013). Messerschmitt Bf 110: Die Rehabilitierung eines Flugzeuges [Messerschmitt Bf 110: The Rehabilitation of an Airplane] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3-8482-8879-3.
  • Accident description for Lancaster R5728 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 1 August 2023.
  • Accident description for Wellington W5386 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 1 August 2023.
  • Accident description for Wellington W5618 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 1 August 2023.
  • Accident description for Wellington X3205 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 1 August 2023.
  • Accident description for Wellington X9759 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 1 August 2023.
  • Accident description for Wellington Z1311 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 1 August 2023.
  • Accident description for Whitley P5048 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 1 August 2023.
  • Accident description for Whitley P5055 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 1 August 2023.
  • Accident description for Whitley T4203 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 1 August 2023.
  • Accident description for Whitley Z6630 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 1 August 2023.
  • Accident description for Whitley Z6647 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 1 August 2023.
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