Two of the Luftwaffe's finest night fighter aces also happened to be royalty. Prince Heinrich Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Prince Egmot zur Lippe-Weissenfeld were both born into prominent German and Austrian families respectively, yet both chose the life of the military and both became superb night fighter pilots. Interestingly, these men were of quite different temperments. Sayn-Wittgenstein was a perfectionist and tended to be aloof from others, while Lippe-Weissenfeld was more gregarious. Interestingly, both also preferred different aircraft as their main choice for the mission. The perfectionist would only fly Ju-88s as his choice while Lippe-Weissenfeld preferred the Bf-110. Both of them had superlative radar operators to help them find the enemy bombers. A good thing in Sayn-Wittgenstein's case as he did not have the best night vision!

Both of these men met an early death. Sayn-Wittgenstein's plane mysteriously exploded in mid-air while he was flying a light transport. This was soon after the attempt on Hitler's life when all royalty was to be removed from responsible positions within the military and the government. The Luftwaffe chose to keep him on as head of NJG 1 and it considered that his plane was sabotaged. Lippe-Weissenfeld died in early 1944 on an operational mission as he flew into the ground while entering a foggy area.

This book looks at the lives of both men, mostly from the correspondence that they wrote to relatives as well as their official records. The book is full of their letters home telling of their experiences. There is also information provided by relatives and from interviews with those who knew these men and flew with them. It is very much a fascinating look into the lives of these two men. In addition, there are hundreds of photographs of the pilots and their planes, taken by themselves and by squadron comrades. It is truly a unique look at two of Germany's most successful night fighter pilots. A book I found fascinating and one I'm sure you will as well.

October 2009

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