Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer - targeted by the RAF?

[kennethklee]

While perusing the Luftwaffe website Piloten Bunker, I found the following passage in the entry of Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer:


Quote from Piloten Bunker (www.pilotenbunker.de)>nachtjager>Schnaufer, Heinz-Wolfgang

Although air fights took place at night and only little information crossed The Canal the successful night fighter became more and more known to the British. This attention had it's summit when in spring 1945 the British Bomber Corps in fair admiration congratulated the famous night fighter ace to his 23rd birthday via the soldier broadcasting service Calais. In RAF Schnaufer was already respectfully called Nightghost of St. Trond (St.Truiden) according to his home base.

Nevertheless Royal Air Force naturally tried undiminished to switch off the dangerous enemy. Specially built up night fight squadrons consisting of experienced elite staffs were sent into Schnaufer's operation area. Among those pilots who were hunting him there were such successful British night fight aces as Branse Burbridge (16 victories) and Bob Braham (29 victories).


[The website did not provide a direct URL to this quote, only for the website in general. I hope the nomenclature above is clear enough to easily direct readers to the quote.]


I had read a similar claim in Toliver and Constable's venerable Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe, but had discounted it as hyperbole. I have difficulty believing an air force would target a specific fighter pilot, however successful he or she is. I consider this different than targeting a general or admiral (i.e., Yamamoto) or another notable global leader. However, seeing similar accounts of Schnaufer being targeted in two seemingly disparate sources made me consider this possibility, however fanciful:

1. Is there historical documentation that the RAF sent nightfighter units specifically to shoot down Schnaufer?

2. Would the RAF, USAAF, Luftwaffe, or another air force or army send combat units to find and kill a specific fighter pilot or another notable soldier?

Thanks for reading and any input.
Kenneth

[mars]

As far as I know from books such as "The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces Versus Bomber Command" by Peter Hinchliffe, RAF air crews had no knowdelge of the existence of Schnaufer, maybe some British intellegence officers knew him, but majority of the RAF officers and men did not.

[Red Baroness]

The RFC did it in WWI with MvR (so I've read, but you can't believe everything you read nowadays), but I haven't come across anything stating that they did it in WWII.

[kennethklee]

Thanks for the responses to date. Aside from the sources I cited, I am not aware of the RAF targeting Schnaufer specifically from any other references. I also vaguely recall a claim that the Russians put a 100,000 ruble bounty on Erich Hartmann. Both of these claims seems too incredible, but I can't help but wonder.

Kenneth

[Delmenhorst]

The ordinary bomber crews knew nothing of Schnaufer, but he was known to the British intelligence service. You will find quite a few remarks about him in AIR 40

[Juha]

Hello
Maybe the actions on 17/18 Aug 43 when some nightfighters of 141 Sqn ambushed some Bf 110s of IV./NJG 1 are the base of this story. Braham/Jacobs shot down Fw Kraft's (14 kills) and Fw Vinke's (20+ kills at that time) planes, White/Allen shot down Hptm Dormann's and Lt Dittmann's planes. Schnaufer had also took off but aborted because of engine failure. Now at that time Schnaufer wasn’t yet among top aces IIRC and while good unit 141Sqn wasn’t “elite formation of picked crews” even if it was the first Serrate unit.

Juha