Lothar Linke


Lothar Linke was a German Luftwaffe night fighter pilot and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. Linke claimed 27 aerial victories, 24 of them at night. On 14 May 1943 Linke and his crew were forced to bail out after engine failure of their Messerschmitt Bf 110. He struck the tail end of the plane and was killed. On 19 September 1943, he was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross.

Early life and career

Linke was born on 23 October 1909 in Liegnitz, present-day Legnica, at the time in the Province of Silesia of the German Empire. He was the son of a train driver who had died in 1924. Linke attended the Volksschule in Liegnitz from 1916 to 1919 and the Oberrealschule from 1919 to 1927, also in Liegnitz. From April 1927 to April 1928, he then attended a private school in Liegnitz. Linke joined the military service on 1 March 1934, serving with the 3. Eskadron of the Fahr-Abteilung in Rendsburg.
Linke transferred to the Luftwaffe and on 24 July 1939 was posted to 3. Staffel of Zerstörergeschwader 76. At the time, the Staffel was commanded by Hauptmann Josef Gutmann and was subordinated to I. Gruppe of ZG 76 headed by Hauptmann Günther Reinicke. Based in Olmütz, present-day Olomouc in the Czech Republic, the Gruppe was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter. Linke was promoted to Feldwebel of the Reserves on 25 August 1939.

World War II

World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. On 19 April 1940, Linke contributed to the destruction of the Bristol Blenheim bomber P4906 from No. 107 Squadron. The bomber was on a mission to Stavanger, Norway and was shot down. On 29 May during the Battle of Dunkirk, he claimed two Hawker Hurricane fighters shot down. Linke was promoted to Oberfeldwebel of the Reserves on 1 July 1940.

Night fighter career

Following the 1939 aerial Battle of the Heligoland Bight, Royal Air Force attacks shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign. By mid-1940, Generalmajor 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 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.
With the expansion of the night fighter force, a newly formed II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 was created from I. Gruppe of ZG 76 on 7 September 1940. In consequence, Linke became a night fighter pilot with II. Gruppe of NJG 1, serving with 6. Staffel. On 18 January 1941, Linke's commanding officer, Oberleutnant Helmut Lent, nominated Linke for a promotion to Leutnant. The nomination was supported by the Gruppenkommandeur of II. Gruppe, Hauptmann Walter Ehle, and the Geschwaderkommodore of NJG 1, Major Wolfgang Falck. On 1 March 1941, the nomination was approved by the Luftwaffe Personnel Office and Linke became an officer.
Linke claimed his first nocturnal aerial victory on the night of 11/12 May 1941 over a Vickers Wellington bomber. On 1 November 1941, II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 was expanded from 4. Staffel of NJG 2, the Staffel had its origin from 1. Staffel of Zerstörergeschwader 2, and transfers from 4. and 6. Staffel of NJG 1. In consequence, Linke's Staffel became the 5. Staffel of NJG 2.
On 25/26 June 1942 during the third thousand-bomber raid which targeted Bremen, Linke claimed a Short Stirling bomber shot down. In the night of 26/27 July, he shot down Avro Lancaster bomber R5748 from No. 106 Squadron. On 13/14 September, he was credited with shooting down Wellington HD991 from No. 22 Operational Training Unit. On 1 October, II. Gruppe of NJG 2 became IV. Gruppe of NJG 1 at Leeuwarden. By end 1942, Ruhl was credited with eleven nocturnal aerial victories.

Squadron leader and death

Linke was appointed Staffelkapitän of the 12. Staffel of NJG 1 on 27 February 1943. He succeeded Hauptmann Ludwig Becker who had been killed in action the day before. The Staffel was subordinated to IV. Gruppe of NJG 1 commanded by then Major Lent. On 12 April 1943, Linke was awarded the German Cross in Gold. On 20/21 April, Linke shot down de Havilland Mosquito from DZ386 from No. 139 Squadron.
On the night of 4/5 May, RAF Bomber Command dispatched 596 aircraft on an attack against Dortmund, losing 31 aircraft. Linke claimed two Handley Page Halifax, one Lancaster and one Wellington bomber shot down. On the night of 12/13 May, Bomber Command sent 238 Lancaster, 142 Halifax, 112 Wellington, 70 Stirling and ten Mosquito bombers on a raid against Duisburg-Ruhrort, one of the bombing of Duisburg in World War II missions. The RAF lost 34 aircraft on this mission. That night, Linke claimed three aerial victories, two Lancaster and one Halifax bomber, his last claims.
On 14 May during the Battle of the Ruhr, Linke was killed in a flying accident when his Bf 110 G-4 suffered engine failure. He and his radio operator Oberfeldwebel Walter Czybulka bailed out. While Czybulka landed with some injuries, Linke collided with the tail section of his aircraft and was killed. His aircraft had received combat damage from Halifax BB252 from No. 10 Squadron. Posthumously, Linke was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 19 September 1943. Linke is buried at the German War Cemetery Ysselsteyn at Venray.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Linke was credited with 27 aerial victories claimed in over 100 combat missions. This number includes 24 aerial victories claimed during nocturnal combat missions and three during daytime operations. Boiten also lists him with 27 aerial victories, 24 by night and three by day. Foreman, Parry and Mathews, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 25 nocturnal victory claims, not documenting those aerial victories claimed as a Zerstörer pilot. Mathews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces – Biographies and Victory Claims, listing Linke with 27 claims, including two as a Zerstörer pilot.

Awards