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Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer (16 February 1922 – 15 July 1950) was a German Luftwaffe night fighter pilot and is the highest scoring night fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during combat.〔Spick 1996, pp. 3–4.〕 All of his 121 victories were claimed during World War II at night, mostly against British four-engine bombers,〔For a list of Luftwaffe night fighter aces see ''List of German World War II night fighter aces''〕 for which he was awarded the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds ((ドイツ語:Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten)) on 16 October 1944, Germany's highest military decoration at the time. He was nicknamed "The Spook of St. Trond", from the location of his unit's base in occupied Belgium. Born in Calw, Schnaufer grew up in the Weimar Republic and Third Reich as the first of four children of Alfred Schnaufer and his wife Martha. The family owned and operated a winery business. Schnaufer, a good student and already a glider pilot at school, began military service in the Wehrmacht by joining the Luftwaffe in 1939. After training at various pilot and fighter-pilot schools, he was posted to ''Nachtjagdgeschwader'' 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing), operating on the Western Front, in November 1941. He flew his first combat sorties in support of Operation Cerberus, the breakout of the German ships , , and from Brest. Schnaufer participated in the Defence of the Reich campaign from 1942 onwards, in which he would achieve most of his success. He claimed his first aerial victory on the night of 1/2 June 1942. As the war progressed, he accumulated further victories and he later became a squadron leader and group commander. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 31 December 1943 for reaching 42 aerial victories. Schnaufer achieved his 100th aerial victory on 9 October 1944 and was awarded the Diamonds to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords on 16 October. He was appointed ''Geschwaderkommodore'' (wing commander) of ''Nachtjagdgeschwader'' 4 (NJG 4) on 4 November 1944. By the end of hostilities, Schnaufer's night fighter crew held the unique distinction that every member—radio operator and air gunner—was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Schnaufer was taken prisoner of war by British forces in May 1945. After his release a year later, he returned to his home town and took over the family wine business. He sustained injuries in a road accident on 13 July 1950 during a wine-purchasing visit to France, and died in a Bordeaux hospital two days later. ==Early life== Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer was born on 16 February 1922 in Calw, located in the Free People's State of Württemberg of the German Reich, during the Weimar Republic era.〔Schumann 2000, p. 4.〕 He was the first of four children of mechanical engineer (''Diplom-Ingenieur'') and merchant Alfred Schnaufer and his wife Martha, née Frey. The other three children were his brother Manfred, his sister Waltraut and his brother Eckart. His father owned and operated the family business, the winery ''Schnaufer-Schlossbergkellerei'' (lit. "Schnaufer's Castle Mountain Winery"), in the Lederstraße, Calw. The winery had been founded by both his father and his grandfather, Hermann Schnaufer, in 1919, shortly after World War I. Following the death of his grandfather in 1928 the winery was run by his father alone. When his father unexpectedly died in 1940, his mother ran the business until the children took over the winery after World War II. The company then expanded the business and in addition to the winery offered wine imports, sparkling wines, and a distillery for wine and liqueur. The distribution channel worked with agents and sales offices throughout Germany.〔 Schnaufer, at the age of six, went to the local ''Volksschule'' (primary school) at Calw. After completing his fourth grade, he received two years of schooling at the ''Oberschule'', also in Calw. At an early age he expressed his wish to join an organisation of military character and joined the ''Deutsches Jungvolk'' (German Youth) in 1933.〔Hinchliffe 1999, p. 18.〕 After completing his sixth grade at school he took and passed the entry examination at the Backnang National Political Institutes of Education (''Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt''—Napola), a secondary boarding school founded under the recently established Nazi state. The goal of the Napola schools was to raise a new generation for the political, military and administrative leadership of the Third Reich. Schnaufer was considered a very good student, finishing top of his class every year. Aged seventeen he graduated with his ''Abitur'' (diploma) in November 1939 with distinction. At the Napola school he also received the Reich Youth Sports Badge (''Reichsjugendsportabzeichen''), the base-certificate of the German Life Saving Association (''Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft''), the bronze Hitler Youth-Performance Badge (''HJ-Leistungsabzeichen''), and completed his B-license to fly glider aircraft.〔 In 1939 Schnaufer was one of two students posted to the Napola in Potsdam. The Flying Platoon (''Fliegerzug'') stationed in Potsdam centralised all the destined flyers from all the Napolas. Here he learned to fly glider aircraft, at first short hops on the DFS SG 38 Schulgleiter, and later on the two-seater Göppingen Gö 4 which was towed by a Klemm Kl 25.〔Hinchliffe 1999, pp. 20–21.〕 During his stay at Potsdam, the film producer Karl Ritter was making the Ufa film ''Cadets'' in Potsdam. The Napola had detached two companies to work on the film, among them Schnaufer. It remains unclear exactly what role he played in this film.〔Hinchliffe 1999, p. 21.〕 Following his graduation from school, Schnaufer passed his entry exams for officer cadets of the Luftwaffe. He joined the Luftwaffe on 15 November 1939 and underwent his basic military training at the ''Fliegerausbildungsregiment'' 42 (42nd Flight Training Regiment) at Salzwedel.〔 Schnaufer was appointed as ''Fahnenjunker'' (cadet) on 1 April 1940.〔Schumann 2000, p. 2.〕 He then received his flight training at the ''Flugzeugführerschule'' A/B 3 (FFS A/B 3—flight school for the pilot license) at Guben, now the Cottbus-Drewitz Airport.〔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 C-Certificate.〕 He completed his A/B flight training on 20 August 1940. He was trained to fly the Focke-Wulf Fw 44, Fw 56 and Fw 58, and the Heinkel He 72, HD 41 and He 51, the Bücker Bü 131, the Klemm Kl 35, the Arado Ar 66 and Ar 96, the Gotha Go 145 and the Junkers W 34 and A 35.〔 Schnaufer then attended the advanced ''Flugzeugführerschule'' C 3 (FFS C 3—advanced flight school) at Alt Lönnewitz near Torgau and the blind flying school ''Blindflugschule'' 2 (BFS 2—2nd blind flying school) at Neuburg an der Donau from August 1940 to May 1941. This qualified him to fly multi-engine aircraft. During this assignment he was promoted to ''Fähnrich'' (cadet sergeant) on 1 September 1940, to ''Oberfähnrich'' (rank equivalent to Company Sergeant Major) on 1 February 1941 and to the officer rank of ''Leutnant'' (second lieutenant) on 1 April 1941.〔 He was then posted for ten weeks to the ''Zerstörerschule'' (destroyer school) at Wunstorf near Hanover. At Wunstorf, Schnaufer and the radio operator (''Bordfunker'') Friedrich Rumpelhardt were assigned as an aircrew team on 3 July 1941. Schnaufer's previous radio operator had proved unable to cope with aerobatics, and Schnaufer thoroughly tested Rumpelhardt's ability to cope with aerobatics before they teamed up. Here the two decided to volunteer to fly night fighters to defend against the increasing Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command offensive against Germany.〔Hinchliffe 1999, pp. 28–30.〕 Following their training at Wunstorf, the two were sent to the ''Nachtjagdschule'' 1 (1st night fighter school) at Schleißheim near Munich, formerly the ''Zerstörerschule'' 1 (ZS 1—1st destroyer school), to learn the rudiments of night-fighting.〔 The night fighter training was carried out on the Ar 96, the Fw 58 and the Messerschmitt Bf 110. Training at night focused on night takeoffs and landings, cooperation with searchlights, radio-beacon direction finding and cross country flights.〔Hinchliffe 1999, p. 38.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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