Günther Bahr

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Template other Günther Wolfgang Bahr (18 July 1921 – 29 April 2009) was a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot and night fighter flying ace during World War II. He claimed 36 victories at night, plus one further daytime aerial victory, all of which were four-engine bombers, achieved in over 90 combat missions. He counted 37 victories over all. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Bahr died in April 2009 at the age of 87.

Career

Bahr was born on 18 July 1921 in Neu-Legden, a small settlement northeast of Königsberg, East Prussia, present-day part of Dobroje in the Guryevsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast.Template:Sfn On 19 December 1941, he was posted to 6. Staffel (6th squadron) of Schnellkampfgeschwader 210 (SKG 210—210th Fast-Bomber Wing) which was fighting on the Eastern Front. In January 1942, SKG 210 became Zerstörergeschwader 1 (ZG 1—1st Destroyer Wing). In consequence, Bahr served with 6. Staffel of ZG 1.Template:Sfn

Night fighting

File:Kammhuber Line Map - Agent Tegal.png

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, bombing missions by the Royal Air Force (RAF) shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

In late March 1942, Bahr began training as a night fighter pilot and was then transferred to the I. Gruppe (1st group) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing).Template:Sfn On the night of 23/24 August 1943, the RAF targeted Berlin with 727 Avro Lancaster, Handley Page Halifax, Short Stirling and de Havilland Mosquito bombers, losing 57 aircraft in the attack.Template:Sfn Defending against this mission, Bahr claimed his first nocturnal aerial victories over a Halifax and Stirling bomber.Template:Sfn On 14 October, during the second Raid on Schweinfurt, he claimed a daytime aerial victory over a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber shot down southeast of Schweinfurt.Template:Sfn Bomber Command targeted Hanover on the night of 18/19 October.Template:Sfn That night, Bahr claimed the destruction of a Lancaster bomber west of Hamelin.Template:Sfn On 3/4 November, Bomber Command's main target was Düsseldorf, hit by 577 bombers and 12 Mosquitos. That night, the RAF lost 18 bombers with further 37 damaged.Template:Sfn Bahr filed claim for a Halifax bomber shot down west of Düsseldorf.Template:Sfn

On the night of 20/21 December 1943, the RAF targeted Frankfurt am Main. Defending against this attack, Bahr claimed three Halifax bombers, two of which may have been from No. 10 Squadron.Template:Sfn On the night of 21/22 February 1945, Bahr became an "ace-in-a-day". That night, the RAF had targeted Duisburg, Worms and the Mittelland Canal. Bahr, flying a Messerschmitt Bf 110 G with his crew, radio operator Feldwebel Arno Rehmer and air gunner Unteroffizier Kurt Riediger, were vectored to the bomber stream heading for Worms and shot down seven bombers.Template:Sfn That night, the RAF lost 34 aircraft, 26 of which were credited to Bahr, Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, Heinz Rökker and Johannes Hager.Template:Sfn Bahr was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 28 March 1945.Template:Sfn

With the German Air Force

Following World War II, Bahr rejoined military service with the German Air Force, at the time referred to as the Bundesluftwaffe, in 1962. As a Major (major), he retired in 1975. Bahr died in April 2009.Template:Sfn

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Bahr was credited with 36 nocturnal aerial victories claimed in approximately 90 nocturnal combat missions, plus one further daytime claim.Template:Sfn Foreman, Mathews and Parry, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, list 36 nocturnal victory claims, numerically ranging from 2 to 37.Template:Sfn Mathews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, listing Bahr with 35 claims, plus two further unconfirmed claims.Template:Sfn

Chronicle of aerial victories
REDIRECT Template:Legend inline REDIRECT Template:Legend inline REDIRECT Template:Legend inline REDIRECT Template:Legend inline
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Serial No./Squadron No.
– 6. Staffel of Zerstörergeschwader 1 –Template:Sfn
—	4 March 1942	—	R-5
– 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 6 –Template:Sfn
2?Template:Refn	24 August 1943	00:40	Halifax	BerlinTemplate:Sfn
3	24 August 1943	00:47	Stirling	north of BerlinTemplate:Sfn
4!	14 October 1943	14:57	B-17	southeast of SchweinfurtTemplate:Sfn
5	18 October 1943	20:43	Lancaster	west of HamelinTemplate:Sfn	Lancaster DV159/No. 100 Squadron RAF
6	3 November 1943	19:55	Halifax	west of DüsseldorfTemplate:Sfn
7	17 November 1943	20:16	Lancaster	south-southwest of HochspeyerTemplate:Sfn	Lancaster JB226/No. 405 Squadron RCAF
8	20 December 1943	19:24	Halifax	south-southeast of MayernTemplate:Sfn
9	20 December 1943	19:38	Halifax	southwest of KoblenzTemplate:Sfn
10	20 December 1943	20:00	Halifax	RuppachTemplate:Sfn
11	30 January 1944	20:14	Lancaster	WarwitzTemplate:Sfn
12	30 January 1944	20:25	Lancaster	west of OranienburgTemplate:Sfn
13	20 February 1944	03:20	Lancaster	south-southwest of StendalTemplate:Sfn
14	25 February 1944	21:28	Lancaster	southeast of NeufchâteauTemplate:Sfn
15	27 April 1944	02:45	Lancaster	northwest of KirchenhallTemplate:Sfn
16	28 April 1944	01:37	Halifax	northwest of FriedrichshafenTemplate:Sfn
17	28 April 1944	02:51	Lancaster	northwest of FriedrichshafenTemplate:Sfn
– 1. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 6 –Template:Sfn
18	29 July 1944	02:08	Lancaster	from StuttgartTemplate:Sfn	Lancaster ND872/No. 207 Squadron RAF
19	26 August 1944	01:15	Lancaster	west of Rüsselsheim am MainTemplate:Sfn
20	12 September 1944	22:46	B-17	northwest of MannheimTemplate:Sfn
– 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 6 –Template:Sfn
21	8 January 1945	22:27	Lancaster	west of MunichTemplate:Sfn
22	8 January 1945	22:30	Lancaster	west of MunichTemplate:Sfn
23	8 January 1945	22:36	B-24	MunichTemplate:Sfn
24	8 January 1945	22:38	B-24	west-northwest of MunichTemplate:Sfn
25	28 January 1945	23:32	Lancaster	StuttgartTemplate:Sfn
26	28 January 1945	23:39	Lancaster	west of StuttgartTemplate:Sfn
27	28 January 1945	23:46	Lancaster	LudwigsburgTemplate:Sfn
28	28 January 1945	23:59	Lancaster	east of MannheimTemplate:Sfn
29♠	21 February 1945	20:34	Halifax	southwest of WormsTemplate:Sfn
30♠	21 February 1945	20:37	Halifax	southwest of WormsTemplate:Sfn
31♠	21 February 1945	20:39	Halifax	southwest of WormsTemplate:Sfn
32♠	21 February 1945	20:42	Halifax	southwest of WormsTemplate:Sfn
33♠	21 February 1945	20:44	Halifax	southwest of WormsTemplate:Sfn
34♠	21 February 1945	20:46	Halifax	southwest of WormsTemplate:Sfn
35♠	21 February 1945	20:50	Halifax	southwest of WormsTemplate:Sfn
36	23 February 1945	20:09	Lancaster	vicinity of PforzheimTemplate:Sfn
37	16 March 1945	21:31	Lancaster	southwest of NurembergTemplate:Sfn

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
• Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 15 May 1944 as Feldwebel and pilotTemplate:Sfn
• German Cross in Gold on 13 June 1944 as Oberfeldwebel in the 3./Nachtjagdgeschwader 6Template:Sfn
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 28 March 1945 Oberfeldwebel and pilot in the I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 6Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn