Paul Gildner


Paul Gildner was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a night fighter ace credited with 44 aerial victories, including two by day, claimed in approximately 160 combat missions making him one of the more successful night fighter pilots in the Luftwaffe. All of his victories were claimed over the Western Front in Defense of the Reich missions against the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command.
Born in Nimptsch, Gildner grew up in the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany. Following graduation from school and the compulsory Reichsarbeitsdienst, he joined the military service in 1933, at first with an infantry regiment before he transferred to the Luftwaffe in 1935. Trained as a pilot, Gildner served with Zerstörergeschwader 1, flying a Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter, at the start of World War II. He claimed his first aerial victory during the Battle of France. In June 1940, the Luftwaffe created its first night fighter wing, Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, and Gildner transferred to this unit. There he claimed his first nocturnal aerial victory on the night of 2/3 September 1940. On 9 July 1941, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross after his 16th aerial victory, 14 of which claimed at night. At the end of 1941, Gildner was the second leading night fighter pilot of the Luftwaffe.
Gildner was appointed squadron leader of 1. Staffel of NJG 2 in February 1943. He was killed in a crash following engine failure. Posthumously, Gildner was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 26 February 1943.

Early life and career

Gildner was born on 1 February 1914 in Nimptsch, present-day Niemcza in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship of south-western Poland, at the time in the Province of Silesia in the German Empire. Following graduation from school and a vocational education in metalworking, he completed his compulsory labour service.
In early 1933, Gildner joined the military service of the Reichswehr as a cadet with Infanterie-Regiment 7 in Schweidnitz, an infantry regiment of the 3rd Division. In 1935, he was transferred to the newly emerging Luftwaffe of the Wehrmacht. In 1937, he began flight training, and was promoted to Unteroffizier on 1 September 1937. After he completed flight training, Gilder was posted to an aerial reconnaissance unit where he served as a pilot. In the fall of 1938, he was posted to the 6. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 132 "Richthofen", named after the after World War I fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen. This squadron was subordinated to the II. Gruppe of JG 132. On 1 November 1938, II. Gruppe was detached from JG 132 and was reassigned as I. Gruppe of Zerstörergeschwader 141. I./ZG 141 was based at Jüterbog-Damm and was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 D-1. On 1 May 1939, I./ZG 141 was renamed again and became the I. Gruppe of Zerstörergeschwader 1 and was the equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter.

World War II

World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland. Flying with I./ZG 1, Gildner participated in the invasion of Poland and the Norwegian Campaign. In February 1940, I./ZG 1 was placed under the command of Hauptmann Wolfgang Falck. With the start of the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, I./ZG 1 was moved to Aalborg airfield. There, the airfield came under night attacks by the Royal Air Force Bomber Command, leading Falck to conduct his first experiments of nocturnal aerial combat.
During the Battle of France, Gildner claimed his first aerial victory on 10 May 1940 over a Bristol Blenheim bomber in the vicinity of Waalhaven. His second and last daytime aerial victory was claimed over a French Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 fighter on 5 June 1940.

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 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.
Following the Battle of France, Falck was tasked with the creation of the Luftwaffe's first night fighter wing, Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. His former unit, I./ZG 1 formed the nucleus of I. Gruppe of NJG 1 which was placed under the command of Oberleutnant Werner Streib. Now flying in the 3. Staffel of NJG 1, Gildner claimed his first aerial victory as a night fighter pilot on the night of 2/3 September 1940. The bomber, a Handley Page Hampden from the RAF No. 144 Squadron, was shot down near Sittard on its mission to bomb Ludwigshafen. The Hampden was identified as P4370, the pilot and another crewmember were taken prisoner of war and two further crewmembers were killed in action. On 18/19 September 1940, Gildner was credited with the destruction of two Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bombers. The first bomber was Whitley V P5008 from No. 58 Squadron was on a bombing mission to Hamm and crashed southeast of Groenlo. The second Whitley N1425 from No. 77 Squadron, on a mission to Soest, was shot down near Zieuwent. On 13 March 1941 Gildner accounted for Wellington Mark I C N2746 BU-M from 214 Squadron during a British attack on Hamburg. Flight Lieutenant Dickinson, DFC, and his crew with the exception of the tail gunner, perished. Gildner was photographed inspecting the wreck. Gilder achieved another success on 8 April, downing Sergeant Boyer's No. 51 Squadron RAF Whitley T4298 near Gröningen. Five of the crew including Boyer became prisoners.
On 9 July 1941, after his 16th aerial victory, 14 of which claimed at night, Gildner was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Following Falck and Streib, he was the third soldier of the night fighter force and first noncommissioned officer to receive this distinction. The presentation of the Knight's Cross was made by Kammhuber, at the time commander of the 1. Nachtjagd-Division.
Whitley V Z9306 KN-S, No. 77 Squadron RAF, formed part of the Düsseldorf raid during the night of 27/28 December 1941. Gildner shot it down over Friesland northwest of Leewarden. Four of the crew died from exposure after landing in the water. Their names, ranks and family are memorialised in the Het Bild Cemetery.
With 21 nocturnal aerial victories claimed, Gildner was the second highest scoring night fighter pilot at the end of 1941. At the time, in first place was Streib with 22 nocturnal aerial victories claimed, and in third place with 20 nocturnal victories was Helmut Lent. On 18 May 1942, Gildner was awarded the German Cross in Gold and was promoted from Oberfeldwebel to Oberleutnant, bypassing the rank of Leutnant in July. On 8/9 March 1942, Gildner shot down the Avro Manchester bomber R5779 from No. 83 Squadron on its mission to bomb Essen. The aircraft crashed near Smilde. Bristol Blenheim Z7307 from 114 Squadron was shot down by Gildner after taking off for an intruder sortie from West Raynham. Flight Sergeant W Popplestone and his crew died. Gildner likely accounted for a 106 Squadron Lancaster during the British attack on Wilhelmshaven on 8/9 July 1942. Lent, operating in the vicinity, accounted for a No. 75 Squadron RAF Wellington. Gildner's opponent was the only Lancaster lost in the raid out of 52 committed.

Squadron leader and death

On 3 February 1943, Gildner was on his way to Gilze en Rijen to take command of 3. Staffel of NJG 1 when his friend and commander of 1. Staffel of NJG 1, Oberleutnant Reinhold Knacke, was killed in action. In consequence of this event, Gildner was appointed Staffelkapitän of 1. Staffel instead. On the night of 14/15 February 1943, Gildner claimed the destruction of a Vickers Wellington and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. The Wellington was likely HE169 from No. 196 Squadron which crashed into the North Sea west of Schouwen, killing the crew. The B-17 appears to have been misidentified. In Bowman's account, the aircraft lost was Short Stirling I BF438 WP-D from No. 90 Squadron. The Stirling crashed west of Vlissingen with loss of the crew. According to Boiten, the Stirling may have been BK627 also from No. 90 Squadron.
Gildner claimed his last two aerial victories on the night of 19/20 February 1943. The claim over two Halifax bombers north of Vlieland may have been misidentified Avro Lancaster bombers from No. 156 Squadron RAF and No. 467 Squadron RAAF. Gildner died in the crash of Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 following engine failure and fire near Gilze en Rijen in the Netherlands in the night of 24/25 February 1943. His radio operator Unteroffizier Heinz Huhn managed to escape and bailed out with his parachute. Gildner was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 26 February 1943. He was the 196th member of the German armed forces to be so honored. Gildner is buried at the German War Cemetery Ysselsteyn at Venray.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

Gildner was credited with 44—two daytime and 42 nighttime—aerial victories, claimed in about 160 combat missions. Foreman, Parry and Matthews, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 41 nocturnal victory claims. Matthews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, listing Gildner with 43 claims, including two as a Zerstörer pilot, plus one further unconfirmed claim.

Awards