page_title: Helmut Lent
section_title: Death
hierarchical_section_title: Helmut Lent / World War II / Death
caption_attribution_description: English: The former Garrison Cemetery (Garnisonsfriedhof) in Stade, Lower Saxony, Germany. Grave of Helmut Lent
context_page_description: Helmut Lent was a German night-fighter ace in World War II. Lent shot down 110 aircraft, 102 of them at night. Born into a devoutly religious family, he showed an early passion for glider flying; against his father's wishes, he joined the Luftwaffe in 1936. After completing his training, he was assigned to the 1. Squadron, or Staffel, of Zerstörergeschwader 76, a wing flying the Messerschmitt Bf 110 twin-engine heavy fighter. Lent claimed his first aerial victories at the outset of World War II in the invasion of Poland and over the North Sea. During the invasion of Norway he flew ground support missions before he was transferred to the newly established Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, a night-fighter wing.
  Lent claimed his first nocturnal victory on 12 May 1941 and on 30 August 1941 was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for 22 victories. His steady accumulation of aerial victories resulted in regular promotions and awards. On the night of 15 June 1944, Major Lent was the first night fighter pilot to claim 100 nocturnal aerial victories, a feat which earned him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds on 31 July 1944.
context_section_description: On 5 October 1944, Lent flew his Junkers Ju-88 G–6, coded D5+AA, from Stade to Paderborn. His crew included his long-time radio operator Oberfeldwebel Walter Kubisch, the member of a Propagandakompanie (Wehrmacht Propaganda Troops) Leutnant Werner Kark in the aerial gunner position, and Oberleutnant Hermann Klöss, second radio operator. Lent was on his way to visit the Geschwaderkommodore of the Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, Oberstleutnant Hans-Joachim Jabs, to discuss operational matters. Shortly before the arrival at Paderborn/Nordborchen, the airfield had come under attack by the United States Army Air Forces, leaving craters on the runway. An emergency makeshift runway was cleared and marked out for Lent, but an overhead electrical cable was overlooked. During the landing approach, the left engine of the plane failed, causing the wing to dip. Lent was unable to keep the plane steady and it struck high-voltage cables and crashed. All four members of the crew sustained serious injuries but were rescued alive. Kubisch and Klöss succumbed to their injuries on the same day, Kark on the next morning and Lent himself died two days later on 7 October 1944.
  Lent's state funeral was held in the Reich Chancellery, Berlin, on Wednesday 11 October 1944. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring took the salute at Lent's coffin, which was draped in the national flag of the Nazi Germany. Ahead of the coffin, carrying Lent's honours and decorations on a velvet cushion, marched Oberstleutnant Werner Streib, the Inspector of Night Fighters. Six steel-helmeted officers, all recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, escorted the coffin on its caisson and stood as guard of honour during the ceremony: Oberstleutnant Günther Radusch, Oberstleutnant Hans-Joachim Jabs, Major Rudolf Schoenert, Hauptmann Heinz Strüning, Hauptmann Karl Hadeball and Hauptmann Paul Zorner. On 12 October 1944 Lent and his crew were interred in a single grave in the military cemetery at Stade.
caption: Lent's grave at the Garrison Cemetery (Garnisonsfriedhof) in Stade
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