page_title: Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld
section_title: Wing commander and death
hierarchical_section_title: Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld / Military service / Wing commander and death
caption_attribution_description: English: Grave of Egmont Prinz zur Lippe Weissenfeld TH-1-1
context_page_description: Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld was a Luftwaffe night fighter flying ace of royal descent during World War II. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld was credited with 51 aerial victories, all of them claimed in nocturnal combat missions.
  Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld was born on 14 July 1918 in Salzburg, Austria and joined the infantry of the Austrian Bundesheer in 1936. He transferred to the emerging Luftwaffe, initially serving as a reconnaissance pilot in the Zerstörergeschwader 76, before he transferred to the night fighter force. He claimed his first aerial victory on the night of 16 to 17 November 1940. By the end of March, he had accumulated 21 aerial victories for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 16 April 1942. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves on 2 August 1943, for 45 aerial victories. He was promoted to Major and tasked with leading Nachtjagdgeschwader 5 in January 1944, before he and his crew were killed in a flight accident on 12 March 1944.
context_section_description: After a one-month hospital stay, Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld was promoted to Major and made Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 5 (NJG 5—5th Night Fighter Wing) on 20 February 1944. He and his crew, Oberfeldwebel Josef Renette and Unteroffizier Kurt Röber, were killed in a flying accident on 12 March 1944 on a routine flight from Parchim to Athies-sous-Laon. Above Belgium, they seem to have encountered a bad weather zone with low clouds and a dense snowstorm and it was assumed that the aircraft hit the high Ardennes ground after being forced to fly lower because of ice forming on the wings. The exact circumstances of this flight may never be known, the Bf 110 G-4 C9+CD (Werknummer 720 010—factory number) crashed into the Ardennes mountains near St. Hubert where the completely burned-out wreck was found the following day. The funeral service was held in the city church of Linz on 15 March 1944. Prinz Egmont zur Lippe-Weißenfeld and Prinz Heinrich zu Sayn-Wittgenstein are buried side by side at Ysselsteyn in the Netherlands.
caption: German War Cemetery Ysselsteyn - Egmont Prinz zur Lippe Weissenfeld
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone 7", "Image Orientation": "Rotated 90 CW", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "12.2", "Image DateTime": "2019:06:16 12:49:59", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "192", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1870", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "10851", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/312", "EXIF FNumber": "9/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "20", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:06:16 12:49:59", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2019:06:16 12:49:59", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "104576/12623", "EXIF ApertureValue": "54823/32325", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "79775/10439", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "399/100", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[2015, 1511, 2217, 1330]", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "950", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "950", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4032", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3024", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "28", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[4183519/1048501, 4183519/1048501, 9/5, 9/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPhone 7 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8"}