Martin Becker

Martin Becker (12 April 1916 – 8 February 2006) was a German Luftwaffe night fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) during World War II. Becker claimed 58 aerial victories. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Early life
Becker was born on 12 April 1916 at Wiesbaden in Hesse. In 1940 he was posted to a reconnaissance unit.

Career
In early 1943 Becker transferred to the Nachtjagd, being posted to 11 staffel, Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 (NJG 4—4th Night Fighter Wing). On 1 August 11./NJG 4 became 2./Nachtjagdgeschwader 6 (NJG 6—6th Night Fighter Wing).

Becker scored his first victory on the night of 22–23 September 1943. In October 1943 Becker was promoted to Staffelkapitän (squadron leader), 2./NJG 6. He shot down three bombers on the night of 20–21 December. His career thereafter featured a series of multiple victory claims. Four victories were claimed on 19–20 February 1944 and six on 22–23 March (13-18). On 30–31 March 1944, the Royal Air Force (RAF) raided Nuremberg. Becker and his crew shot down three Avro Lancaster and three Handley Page Halifax bombers in the area of Wetzlar and Fulda. Returning to base they shot down another Halifax over Luxemburg.

Becker was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 20 April 1944 for 26 victories. Three bombers were shot down on 26–27 April and 27–28 April. On the night of 28–29 July four more were claimed and on the night of 25–26 August Becker claimed a further three to take his total to 41.

Becker was made Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of IV./NJG 6 in October 1944.

On the night of 21–22 February 1945 he shot down another three bombers. Becker's crowning achievement, and a Nachtjagd record, was on 14–15 March 1945, when he claimed 8 Lancasters of 5 Group and a Halifax, alternatively one B-17 Flying Fortress III (HB802 "BU-O") from No. 214 (SD) Squadron flying an attack on Lützkendorf. The B-17 was shot down at 23.37 approximately 3 mi southeast of Baiersbronn and may have also been brought down by light flak. This tally included three shot down by crewman Lt. Karl-Ludwig Johanssen with his MG-131 rearward facing machine gun. This achievement earned both Becker and Johanssen a reference in the daily Wehrmachtbericht. Becker recorded his last (58th) victory on 16–17 March.

Hauptmann Martin Becker received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 20 March 1945.

Awards

 * Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe on 15 May 1944 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (15 June 1940)
 * 1st Class (19 July 1940)
 * German Cross in Gold on 25 May 1944 as Oberleutnant in the 2./Nachtjagdgeschwader 6
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
 * Knight's Cross on 1 April 1944 as Oberleutnant and pilot in the IV./Nachtjagdgeschwader 6
 * 792nd Oak Leaves on 20 March 1945 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the IV./Nachtjagdgeschwader 6
 * Mentioned three times in the Wehrmachtbericht (23 March 1944, 31 March 1944 and 16 March 1945)