Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin

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Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin
Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin II.jpg
Birth name Eckart-Wilhelm Max Bogislaw Fürchtegott von Bonin
Birth date 14 November 1919(1919-11-14)
Place of birth Potsdam, Province of Brandenburg, Free State of Prussia, German Reich
Death date 11 January 1992 (aged 72)
Place of death Hamburg-Eimsbüttel, Federal Republic of Germany
Allegiance  National Socialist Germany
Service/branch Luftwaffe eagle.jpg Luftwaffe
Years of service 1937–1945
Rank Major
Battles/wars World War II
Awards German Cross in Gold
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Eckart-Wilhelm Max Bogislaw Fürchtegott von Bonin (14 November 1919 – 11 January 1992) was a German officer of the Wehrmacht, finally Major of the Luftwaffe and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He was a night fighter and flying ace (Flieger-As) with 37[1] or 39[2] aerial victories (Luftsiege) in c. 150 combat missions (Feindflüge). Two of his kills were over four-engined bombers (Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses) of the USAAF during a daytime operation on 17 August 1943, the others were claimed during nocturnal missions. On 26 November 1943, he became ace in a day shooting down five bombers of the Royal Air Force.

Life

Oak Leaves for Colonel Bronsart_von Schellendorff and Otto Benzin, Knight's Cross for Captain von Bonin, in: Caroliner Zeitung, No. 17, March 1944

Von Bonin entered military service with the Luftwaffe in November 1937 as a Fahnenjunker (Officer Candidate) and was trained as a night fighter pilot (Do 217, Bf 110 and Ju 88). On 1 August 1939, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant (RDA withheld) and later received rank seniority (RDA) from 1 September 1939.

WWII

Following the 1939 aerial Battle of the Heligoland Bight, Royal Air Force attacks shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign. By mid-1940, Major 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.

In early October 1940, von Bonin was appointed adjutant of the II. Group/NJG 1 and then on 23 October 1940 was posted to 6. Staffel (6th squadron) of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing). This squadron was part of II. Gruppe (2nd group) of NJG 1 commanded by Major Walter Ehle. In late 1941, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. On 21 May 1942, he was appointed commander of the 6th Squadron/NJG 1. In the night from 21 to 22 June 1943, he was wounded in action when his Bf 110 G-4 (G9+BP) was damaged by fire from enemy plane in the vicinity of Achel, near the Trappist monastry, and suffered engine failure while trying to land at Eindhoven stricking an obstacle on ground.[3]

On 18 or 22 November 1943, von Bonin was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of II. Gruppe of NJG 1. He succeeded Major Ehle who was killed in action. He was promoted to Hauptmann (Captain) on 1 December 1943 and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 5 February 1944 after 31 aerial victories. On 1 August 1944, he was promoted to Major. On 26 October 1944, he became Gruppenkommandeur of I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 102 (NJG 102—102nd Night Fighter Wing). In April 1945, he was transferred to the staff of the General Plenipotentiary for Jet Aircraft (Generalbevollmächtigter für Strahlflugzeuge).

Family

Eckart-Wilhelm was born in Potsdam as son of Bogislav Gerhard Wilhelm Fürchtegott von Bonin (b. 19 April 1878 in Ziebingen) and his wife (∞ 7 March 1907) Pauline Emilie Mathilde, née von Bülow (1885–1968), daughter of General der Kavallerie and Generaladjutant Karl Adolf Leopold von Bülow (1837–1907). He had four siblings:[4]

Bogislav von Bonin

Bogislav Gerhard Wilhelm Fürchtegott von Bonin, Knight of Honour (Ehrenritter) of the Johanniter-Orden, served with the Prussian Army and the Imperial German Army, finally a Major in WWI. In the summer of 1939, he was reactivated as a Major (supplementary officer) in the Luftwaffe at the Reich Aviation Ministry (RLM) and then commanded to the Berlin-Gatow Air Base Command. On 6 April 1942, having since been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel (supplementary officer), he was assigned to the Staff/Higher Air Force Training Command 77 from the Reserve of the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe. On 1 July 1944, he was promoted to Colonel (apparently without the addition of supplementary officer) and served on the staff/1. Aviation Training Division under Major General Günther Wieland. The division, which was subordinate to the “Reich” air fleet (Luftflotte), was disbanded in January 1945.

On 9 March 1945, the wounded Colonel Bogislav von Bonin was taken prisoner by the Soviets near Rexin in the Pomeranian district of Stolp and was initially considered “missing”. The family later had him declared dead because he probably died shortly afterwards or was murdered by the Soviets. The date of death was then set by the court as 18 August 1948, according to the memorial book of the German nobility (Gedenkbuch des deutschen Adels).

Awards and decorations

Gallery

  • 11 May 1941 Oberleutnant Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin, 6.Staffel, II. Gruppe, Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, inspecting his first victim.jpg
  • Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin III.jpg

References

  1. ↑ Ernst Obermaier: Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939–1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1939 – 1945], Verlag Dieter Hoffmann, Mainz 1989
  2. ↑ Mike Spick: Luftwaffe Fighter Aces, New York 1996, p. 245
  3. ↑ ACHEL 22 juni 1943
  4. ↑ Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser. Deutscher Uradel, 1928, p. 64
  5. ↑ Bonin, von, Eckart-Wilhelm (Nachtjagdgeschwader 1)
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