Paul Szameitat (19 December 1919 – 2 January 1944) was a German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

night fighter A night fighter (later known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor post-Second World War) is a largely historical term for a fighter aircraft, fighter or interceptor aircraft adapted or designed for effective use at night, during pe ...

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

and recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Szameitat claimed 29 victories, 28 at night.For a list of Luftwaffe night fighter aces see ''

List of German World War II night fighter aces A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. German day and night fighter pilots claimed roughly 70,000 aerial victories during World War II, 25,000 over British ...

''.

Night fighter career

Following the 1939 aerial Battle of the Heligoland Bight, RAF attacks shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the

Defence of the Reich The Defence of the Reich () is the name given to the military strategy, strategic defensive aerial campaign fought by the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany over German-occupied Europe and Germany during World War II against the Allied Strategic bombing ...

campaign. By mid-1940, ''

Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...

'' (Brigadier General)

Josef Kammhuber Josef Kammhuber (August 19, 1896 – January 25, 1986) was a career officer who served in the Imperial German Army, the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany and the post-World War II German Air Force. During World War II, he was the first general of night ...

had established a night

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

system dubbed the

Kammhuber Line The Kammhuber Line was the name given by the Allies to the German night-fighter air-defence system established in western Europe in July 1940 by Colonel Josef Kammhuber. It consisted of a series of control sectors equipped with radars and se ...

. It consisted of a series of control sectors equipped with

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

s and

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...

s 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. On 18 October 1943, Szameitat was shot down in his

Dornier Do 217 The Dornier Do 217 was a bomber used by the German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. It was a more powerful development of the Dornier Do 17, known as the ''Fliegender Bleistift'' (German: "flying pencil"). Designed in 1937-38 as a heavy bomber ...

N-1 night fighter by the defensive gunfire of an

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to ...

bomber from No. 101 Squadron. Hit in both engines, he and his crew bailed out near

Barsinghausen Barsinghausen () is a town in the Hanover (district), district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the Deister chain of hills approx. 20 km west of Hanover. Barsinghausen belongs to the historic landscape Calenberg Land and ...

. On 14 December 1943, Szameitat was appointed ''

Gruppenkommandeur ''Gruppenkommandeur'' is a Luftwaffe position (not rank), that is the equivalent of a commander of a group or wing in other air forces. A ''Gruppenkommandeur'' usually has the rank of Major or ''Oberstleutnant'' (Lieutenant Colonel), and comman ...

'' (group commander) of I. '' Gruppe'' (1st group) of ''Nachtjagdgeschwader'' 3 (NJG 3—3rd Night Fighter Wing), replacing ''Hauptmann'' Walter Mylius.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Szameitat was credited with 29 aerial victories, including one

heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy ...

during a daytime mission, claimed in an unknown number combat missions. Obermaier also lists him with 29 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number combat missions. Foreman, Parry and Mathews, authors of ''Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945'', researched the

German Federal Archives The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv (BArch) (, lit. "Federal Archive") are the national archives of Germany. They were established at the current location in Koblenz in 1952. They are subordinated to the Federal Commissioner for Culture ...

and found records for 29 victory claims. Mathews and Foreman also published ''Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims'', listing Szameitat with 25 claims, plus two further unconfirmed claims. {, class="wikitable plainrowheaders collapsible" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none; text-align:right; width: 100%;" , - ! colspan="7" , Chronicle of aerial victories , - , colspan="7" style="text-align: left;" , , - !scope="col", Claim !scope="col" style="width:150px", Date !scope="col", Time !scope="col", Type !scope="col", Location !scope="col", Serial No./Squadron No. , - ! colspan="6" , – 6. ''Staffel'' of ''Nachtjagdgeschwader'' 3 – , - , 1 , 26 February 1942 , 22:15 ,

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Tønder Tønder (; ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,477 (as of 1 January 2025), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality. History The first mention of Tønder might have been in th ...

, , - , 2 , 29 April 1942 , 02:30 , Wellington , north of

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

, , - , style="background:#faecc8" , 3? , 30 April 1942 , 02:31 ,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, east of

Rantum Rantum (; Sölring Frisian: Raantem) is a village and a former municipality on the island of Sylt in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Since 1 January 2009, it has been an ''Ortsteil'' (part) of the municipality S ...

, , - , style="background:#faecc8" , 4? , 26 June 1942 , 02:11 , Halifax ,

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is a town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a footprint o ...

, , - , style="background:#faecc8" , 5? , 3 July 1942 , 02:53 , Wellington , , , - , 6 , 17 January 1943 , 19:33 ,

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

, northwest of Westerland , , - , 7 , 17 January 1943 , 21:49 ,

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

, northwest of Westerland , , - , 8 , 17 January 1943 , 22:18 , Lancaster , west of

Fanø Fanø () is a Danish island in the North Sea off the coast of southwestern Denmark, and is the very northernmost of the Danish Wadden Sea Islands. Fanø Municipality () is the '' kommune'' that covers the island and its seat is the town of Nor ...

, , - ! colspan="6" , – 5. ''Staffel'' of ''Nachtjagdgeschwader'' 3 – , - , 9 , 30 March 1943 , 00:36 , Halifax , Süderschmedeby , Halifax ''HR654''/ 408 (Goose) Squadron , - , 10 , 5 April 1943 , 00:22 , Lancaster ,

Hindenburgdamm The Hindenburgdamm or Hindenburg Dam is an 11 km (7 mile) long causeway joining the North Frisian island of Sylt to mainland Schleswig-Holstein. Its coordinates are . It was opened on 1 June 1927 and is exclusively a railway corridor. Th ...

, Halifax ''BB336''/408 (Goose) Squadron , - , 11 , 29 April 1943 , 03:51 , Lancaster , northwest of

Kolding Kolding () is a Denmark, Danish seaport city located at the head of Kolding Fjord in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the seat of Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre and has numerous industria ...

, Lancaster ''ED733''/

No. 103 Squadron RAF No. 103 Squadron was a Royal Air Force bomber squadron during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, switching to helicopters in the late 1950s until it was disbanded for the last time in 1975. History Formation in World War I No. 103 S ...

, - , 12 , 4 July 1943 , 01:28 , Stirling , northwest of

Terschelling Terschelling (; ; Terschelling dialect: ''Schylge'') is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. It is situated between the islands of Vlieland and Ameland. ...

, Stirling ''BF579''/ No. 15 Squadron RAF , - , 13 , 24 August 1943 , 02:03 , Lancaster , east of Kampen , , - , 14 , 22 September 1943 , 23:02 , Stirling , southwest of Hanover , , - , 15 , 8 October 1943 , 16:17 ,

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

, south of Vilsen , , - , 16 , 9 October 1943 , 01:25 , Lancaster , southwest of

Stade Stade (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (, ) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the Stade (district), district () which bears its name. It is located roughly to the wes ...

, , - , 17 , 18 October 1943 , 20:30 , Lancaster , south of Hanover , Lancaster ''W4276''/ No. 207 Squadron RAF , - , 18 , 18 October 1943 , 20:34 , Lancaster , south of Hanover , , - , 19 , 2 December 1943 , 19:35 , Lancaster , northeast of

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, , - , 20 , 2 December 1943 , 19:45 , Lancaster , east of

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle (district), Celle in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller (Germany), Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about ...

, , - , 21 , 2 December 1943 , 20:01 , Lancaster , vicinity of

Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region. Geography Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located ...

, , - , style="background:#faecc8" , 22?{ , 4 December 1943 , , Lancaster , , , - , 23 , 4 December 1943 , 03:18 , Lancaster , north of Hanover , , - , 24 , 4 December 1943 , 03:25 , Lancaster ,

Hamm Hamm may refer to: Places ;Germany: * Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia, a city north-east of Dortmund * Hamm (Sieg), a municipality in the eponymous ''Verbandsgemeinde'' in the district of Altenkirchen, Rhineland-Palatinate * Hamm, Bitburg-Prüm, part ...

Wesendorf Wesendorf is a municipality in the Gifhorn (district), district of Gifhorn, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 12 km north of Gifhorn. Wesendorf is also the seat of the Samtgemeinde Wesendorf ("collective municipality"). T ...

, , - , 25 , 4 December 1943 , 03:36 , Lancaster , north of

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

, , - , 26 , 4 December 1943 , 03:41 , Lancaster , vicinity of Hanover , , - ! colspan="6" , – 2. ''Staffel'' of ''Nachtjagdgeschwader'' 3 – , - , 27 , 20 December 1943 , 20:30 , Halifax , south of

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, , - , 28 , 24 December 1943 , 03:06 , Lancaster , Lansenheim , , - , 29 , 29 December 1943 , 21:23 , Halifax , west of

Güstrow Güstrow (; ) is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is capital of the Rostock (district), Rostock district; Rostock itself is a district-free city and regiopolis. It has a population of 28,999 (2020) and is the sevent ...

Awards

* Flugzeugführerabzeichen *

Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe The Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe () was a World War II German military decoration awarded to aircrew and certain other Luftwaffe personnel in recognition of the number of operational flights flown. It was instituted by '' Reichsmarschall'' ...

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

(1939) 2nd and 1st Class *

Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe The ''Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe'' (Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe) was a Luftwaffe award established on 27 February 1940 by ''Reichsmarschall'' Hermann Göring, the ''Reich'' Minister of Aviation and Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe. It was ...

on 5 June 1943 as ''

Oberleutnant (English: First Lieutenant) is a senior lieutenant Officer (armed forces), officer rank in the German (language), German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. In Austria, ''Oberle ...

'' and pilot *

German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repeated acts of bravery or military leade ...

in Gold on 12 December 1943 as ''

Hauptmann () is an officer rank in the armies of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is usually translated as ''captain''. Background While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has, and originally had, the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literall ...

'' in the 5./''Nachtjagdgeschwader'' 3 *

on 6 April 1944 as ''Hauptmann'' and ''

'' of the I./''Nachtjagdgeschwader'' 3

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

TracesOfWar.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szameitat, Paul 1919 births 1944 deaths People from Bagrationovsky District Military personnel from East Prussia Luftwaffe pilots German World War II flying aces Luftwaffe personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Germany