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Wilhelm Beier

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Wilhelm Beier
Born18 November 1913
Homberg
Died12 July 1977(1977-07-12) (aged 63)
Moers
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service / branchLuftwaffe
Years of service?–1945
RankOberleutnant
UnitNJG 2
NJG 1
Battles / warsWorld War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Wilhelm Beier (18 November 1913 – 12 July 1977) was a Luftwaffe night fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Depending on source, Beier claimed 38 nocturnal aerial victories, including 14 of which flying intruder missions, intercepting bombers on their return flight to England.[1]

Career

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Beier was born on 18 November 1913 in Homberg, present-day part of Duisburg, at the time in the Rhine Province within the German Empire.[2]

Night fighter career

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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 Defense 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]

On 10 April 1941, Beier claimed his second aerial victory, a Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber shot down near Chelmsford on an intruder mission over England.[5]

Beier was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 10 October 1941 for 14 nocturnal aerial victories. The presentation was made by Kammhuber, at the time commanding general of XII. Fliegerkorps (12th Air Corps), at Gilze-Rijen Airfield.[6] On the night of 29/30 May 1943, the RAF attacked Wuppertal with 719 bombers. Defending against this attack, Beier claimed the Handley Page Halifax bomber HR793 from No. XXXV (Madras Presidency) Squadron shot down which crashed near Limbricht.[7]

Summary of career

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Aerial victory claims

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According to Aders, Beier was credited with 36 nocturnal aerial victories.[8] Spick also lists him with 36 aerial victories while Obermaier lists him with 38 aerial victories. Both Obermaier and Spick state that Beier flew about 250 combat missions.[2][9] Foreman, Parry and Mathews, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 37 nocturnal victory claims, numerically ranging from 1 to 31, and 33 to 38.[10] Mathews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, also listing Beier with 37 claims.[11]

Chronicle of aerial victories

  This and the ? (question mark) indicates discrepancies between Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945 and Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims.

Claim Date Time Type Location Serial No./Squadron No.
– 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 –[11]
1 7 December 1940 06:36 Hurricane 5 km (3.1 mi) east of Spilsby[12]
2 10 April 1941 02:35 Whitley Chelmsford[13]
3 8 May 1941 02:50 Wellington Wells-next-the-Sea[14]
4 11 May 1941 03:46 Blenheim 50 km (31 mi) east of Scarborough[14]
5 4 June 1941 01:35 Blenheim 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Lowestoft[15]
6 13 June 1941 00:44 Defiant vicinity of Thornby[15]
7 6 July 1941 03:08 Wellington 110 km (68 mi) north-northwest of Texel[16]
8 6 July 1941 03:36 Blenheim 100 km (62 mi) west of Texel[16]
9 6 July 1941 23:54 Whitley 60 km (37 mi) northeast of Bacton[16]
10 6 July 1941 23:58 Whitley 60 km (37 mi) northeast of Bacton[16]
11 18 July 1941 03:02 Blenheim 120 km (75 mi) northeast of Great Yarmouth[17]
12 8 August 1941 03:20 Blenheim East Dereham[18]
13 8 August 1941 03:44 Halifax 200 km (120 mi) east of Withernsea[18]
14 8 August 1941 03:48 Wellington 200 km (120 mi) east of Flamborough Head[18]
– Ergänzungsgruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 –[11]
15 23 April 1942 01:15 Boston[19]
16 31 May 1942 02:07 Wellington[20]
17 31 May 1942 02:25 Wellington[20]
18 23 June 1942 03:01 Stirling[21]
– 9. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 –[11]
19 27 July 1942 01:32 Havoc 24 km (15 mi) northeast of Eindhoven[22]
20 29 July 1942 03:20 Wellington 20 km (12 mi) north of Enschede[23] Wellington X3710/No. 156 Squadron RAF[24]
21 28 August 1942 00:25 Boston 40 km (25 mi) west of IJmuiden[25]
22 29 August 1942 03:16 Manchester northeast of Moerbeke[26]
23 3 September 1942 03:08 Stirling 40 km (25 mi) west of Den Haag[26]
24 7 September 1942 04:49 Manchester[27]
25 7 September 1942 05:03 Halifax[27]
26 7 September 1942 05:11 Wellington[27]
27 11 September 1942 01:19 Wellington 50 km (31 mi) west of Katwijk-an-See[27]
28 17 September 1942 01:12 Boston[28]
29 17 September 1942 01:13 Boston[28]
30 17 September 1942 01:37 Stirling[28]
– 8. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 –[11]
31 30 September 1942 00:19 Beaufighter[29]
– 10. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 –[11]
32?[Note 1] 15 October 1942 22:13 B-24 50 km (31 mi) west of Den Haag[29]
33 15 October 1942 22:16 Stirling 70 km (43 mi) west of Den Haag[29]
34 15 October 1942 22:19 Stirling 50 km (31 mi) west of Den Haag[30]
35 15 October 1942 22:52 Manchester 50 km (31 mi) west of Leiden[30] Lancaster W4130/No. 57 Squadron RAF[31]
36 13 May 1943 02:30 Halifax 16 km (9.9 mi) north-northwest of Amsterdam[32]
37 30 May 1943 00:27 Halifax 20 km (12 mi) north-northwest of Maastricht[33] Halifax HR793/No. XXXV (Madras Presidency) Squadron[34]

Awards

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Notes

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  1. ^ This claim is listed as Beier's 32nd aerial victory in Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, while this claim is listed as his 33rd claim in Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945 confirm this claim.[29][11]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Spick 1996, p. 131.
  2. ^ a b Obermaier 1989, p. 86.
  3. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 9.
  4. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 27.
  5. ^ Bowman 2016, p. 32.
  6. ^ Forsyth 2019, p. 35.
  7. ^ Bowman 2016, p. 153.
  8. ^ Aders 1978, p. 234.
  9. ^ Spick 1996, p. 245.
  10. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, pp. 12–83.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Mathews & Foreman 2014, p. 76.
  12. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 12.
  13. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 18.
  14. ^ a b Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 20.
  15. ^ a b Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 21.
  16. ^ a b c d Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 24.
  17. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 26.
  18. ^ a b c Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 28.
  19. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 38.
  20. ^ a b Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 42.
  21. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 46.
  22. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 51.
  23. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 52.
  24. ^ Wellington X3710.
  25. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 56.
  26. ^ a b Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 57.
  27. ^ a b c d Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 58.
  28. ^ a b c Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 59.
  29. ^ a b c d Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 60.
  30. ^ a b Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 61.
  31. ^ Lancaster W4130.
  32. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 79.
  33. ^ Foreman, Parry & Mathews 2004, p. 83.
  34. ^ Halifax HR793.
  35. ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 128.
  36. ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 212.
  37. ^ Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 34.
  38. ^ Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 2, p. 94.

Bibliography

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  • Aders, Gebhard (1978). History of the German Night Fighter Force, 1917–1945. London: Janes. ISBN 978-0-354-01247-8.
  • Bowman, Martin (2016). Nachtjagd, Defenders of the Reich 1940–1943. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-4738-4986-0.
  • 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.
  • Forsyth, Robert (2019). Ju 88 Aces of World War 2. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-2921-4.
  • 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.
  • Spick, Mike (1996). Luftwaffe Fighter Aces. New York: Ivy Books. ISBN 978-0-8041-1696-1.
  • Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 2, 1. Januar 1942 bis 31. Dezember 1943 [The Wehrmacht Reports 1939–1945 Volume 2, 1 January 1942 to 31 December 1943] (in German). München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2.
  • Accident description for Halifax HR793 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 27 November 2023.
  • Accident description for Lancaster W4130 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 27 November 2023.
  • Accident description for Wellington X3710 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 27 November 2023.
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