Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
2 WORLD WAR II
2.3
both from No. 37 Squadron, captained by Flying Of- to provide them 20 minutes ying time over Fornebu,[36]
cer P.A. Wimberley and Flying Ocer O.J.T. Lewis and the pilots would have to land at Fornebu once the airrespectively, and both crashed in the shallow sea o eld had been seized.[37]
Borkum. It is likely that his third claim may have been
No. 37 Squadron Wellington 1A N2396, LF-J, piloted by
Sergeant H. Ruse, which crash-landed on the sand dunes
of Borkum.[30] Lent was refused the victory over Wimberley, as the Wellington was attacked by Lent after it
had already been badly damaged and was about to crash.
The Wellington was credited to pilot Carl-August Schumacher .[31]
His success as a ghter pilot over the North Sea had made
him a minor national hero. Exploits such as those at Heligoland made good news stories for German propaganda
machine. Consequently, he attracted fan mailmainly
from young girls and womenamong them Elisabeth Petersen. Lent replied to her letter, and he and Elisabeth
met on a blind date at the Reichshof hotel in Hamburg,
after which they enjoyed a skiing holiday in Hirschegg in
February 1940.[32]
2.3
2.4
2 WORLD WAR II
5
121 aerial victories, became aviation historys leading
night-ghter pilot.[59]
2.5
Personal life
All German ocers were required to obtain ocial permission to marry; however, this was usually a bureaucratic formality. When Lent decided to marry Elizabeth
Petersen, his admirer from Hamburg whom he had met
on a blind date, his case was more complicated. 'Elisabeth Petersen' was in fact Helene (Lena) Senokosnikova,
born in Moscow in April 1914. She had been afraid to reveal her true identity, since Russians were not popular in
the Third Reich,[60] but after a thorough investigation into
her background and racial ancestry, she received her German citizenship on 15 March 1941. They were married
on 10 September 1941 in Wellingsbttel, Hamburg.[61]
The marriage produced two daughters. Christina was
born on 6 June 1942; the second, Helma, was born on
6 October 1944, shortly after her fathers fatal crash.[62]
Both of Helmuts older brothers, Joachim and Werner,
as members of the Confessing Church (German: Bekennende Kirche), encountered trouble with the Nazi party.
The Confessing Church, led by Pastor Martin Niemller,
was a schismatic Protestant church which opposed
the Reichs eorts to Nazify Germanys Protestant
churches. It stood in outspoken opposition to National
Socialist principles, particularly those embodied in the
Aryan Paragraph. Through the Barmen Declaration,
the church condemned the national German Evangelical Church as heretical. Werner Lent, an adherent to
the Confessing church, was arrested for the rst time in
1937 after preaching an anti-Nazi sermon.[63] In June
1942, his brother Joachim was arrested by the Gestapo
after reading the so-called Mlders letter from the pulpit.
The Mlders letter was a propaganda piece conceived by
Sefton Delmer, the chief of the British black propaganda
in the Political Warfare Executive (PWE) to capitalize
on the death of Germanys ghter ace Werner Mlders;
this letter, ostensibly written by Mlders, attested to the
supreme importance of his Catholic faith in his lifeby
implication, placing faith above his allegiance to the National Socialist Party.[64]
2.6
Death
3 Legacy
On 18 July 1964, a German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr)
Army Aviation Corps (Heeresieger) installation in
Rotenburg (Wmme) (Lower Saxony) was renamed the
Lent Barracks, or Lent-Kaserne, in his honour.[69] In
2014, the German Armed Forces have decided to rename
the Lent Barracks. Although Lent was not a war criminal, he was a Nazi and is therefore no longer considered an
appropriate namesake within the German Armed Forces.
The process, which is expected to nalize in end 2015,
involves 1,500 soldiers and 250 civil employees of the
site and was initiated by the commander Oberstleutnant
Edmund Vogel in early 2015.[70]
Summary of career
4.1
REFERENCES
Awards
4.2
Wehrmachtbericht references
4.3 Promotions
5 Notes
Helmut Lents Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds on display at
the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden
[1] For a list of Luftwae night ghter aces see List of German
World War II night ghter aces
[2] See Organization of the Luftwae during World War II
for an explanation of the Luftwae structure.
[3] After 1933 the school was renamed Hermann Gring
Hochschule[7]
6 References
6.1 Citations
[1] Spick 1996, pp. 34.
6.1
Citations
[54] Aders 1978, pp. 44-45. (see photo gallery and caption)
[70] Kasernenkommandant Edmund Vogel leitet Findungsprozess einSuche nach dem neuen Namen zieht
sich noch hin [Barracks commander Edmund Vogel
initiated name nding processThe search for the
new name still drags on]. kreiszeitung.de (in German).
Retrieved 25 August 2015.
6.2
Bibliography
REFERENCES
Fraschka, Gnther (1994). Knights of the Reich. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schier Military/Aviation History. ISBN 978-0-88740-580-8.
Hagen, Hans-Peter (1998). Husaren des Himmels:
Berhmte deutsche Jagdieger und die Geschichte
ihrer Wae [Hussars of Heaven: Famous German
Fighter Pilots and the History of their Weapon] (in
German). Rastatt, Germany: Moewig. ISBN 9783-8118-1456-1.
Hinchlie, Peter (1998). Luftkrieg bei Nacht 1939
1945 [Air War at Night 19391945] (in German).
Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 9783-613-01861-7.
Hinchlie, Peter (2003). The Lent Papers Helmut
Lent. Bristol, UK: Cerberus Publishing. ISBN 9781-84145-105-3.
Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuztrger der
Luftwae. Band 1: Jagdieger 19391945 [The
Knights Cross Bearers of the Luftwae. Volume
1: Fighter Pilots 19391945] (in German) (2 ed.).
Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Homann. ISBN
978-3-87341-065-7.
Holmes, Robin (2010). The Battle of the Heligoland
Bight, 1939: The Royal Air Force and the Luftwaes
Baptism of Fire. London: Grub Street. ISBN 9781-906502-56-0.
Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das
Deutsche Kreuz 19411945 Geschichte und Inhaber
Band II [The German Cross 19411945 History and
Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt,
Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3931533-45-8.
Schaulen, Fritjof (2004). Eichenlaubtrger 1940
1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe II Ihlefeld - Primozic
[Oak Leaves Bearers 19401945 Contemporary History in Color II Ihlefeld - Primozic] (in German).
Selent, Germany: Pour le Mrite. ISBN 978-3932381-21-8.
Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuztrger 1939
1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen
Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwae, Kriegsmarine,
Waen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbndeter Streitkrfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knights Cross Bearers 19391945
The Holders of the Knights Cross of the Iron
Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waen-SS,
Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives]
(in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers MiltaerVerlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
Scutts, Jerry (1998). German Night Fighter Aces
of World War 2. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing.
ISBN 978-1-85532-696-5.
9
Spick, Mike (1996). Luftwae Fighter Aces. New
York: Ivy Books. ISBN 978-0-8041-1696-1.
Von Seemen, Gerhard (1976). Die Ritterkreuztrger
19391945 : die Ritterkreuztrger smtlicher
Wehrmachtteile, Brillanten-, Schwerter- und Eichenlaubtrger in der Reihenfolge der Verleihung :
Anhang mit Verleihungsbestimmungen und weiteren
Angaben [The Knights Cross Bearers 19391945
: The Knights Cross Bearers of All the Armed Services, Diamonds, Swords and Oak Leaves Bearers
in the Order of Presentation: Appendix with Further
Information and Presentation Requirements] (in
German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Verlag.
ISBN 978-3-7909-0051-4.
Weal, John (1999). Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstrer
Aces World War Two. London, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-753-8.
Williamson, Gordon (2006). Knights Cross with Diamonds Recipients 194145. Oxford, UK: Osprey
Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-644-7.
Die Wehrmachtberichte 19391945 Band 1, 1.
September 1939 bis 31. Dezember 1941 [The
Wehrmacht Reports 19391945 Volume 1, 1 September 1939 to 31 December 1941] (in German).
Mnchen, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-42305944-2.
Die Wehrmachtberichte 19391945 Band 2, 1. Januar 1942 bis 31. Dezember 1943 [The Wehrmacht
Reports 19391945 Volume 2, 1 January 1942 to 31
December 1943] (in German). Mnchen, Germany:
Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG.
1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2.
Die Wehrmachtberichte 19391945 Band 3, 1. Januar 1944 bis 9. Mai 1945 [The Wehrmacht Reports
19391945 Volume 3, 1 January 1944 to 9 May
1945] (in German). Mnchen, Germany: Deutscher
Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN
978-3-423-05944-2.
Frey, Gerhard; Herrmann, Hajo (2004). Helden der
Wehrmacht - Unsterbliche deutsche Soldaten [Heroes
of the Wehrmacht - Immortal German Soldiers] (in
German). Mnchen, Germany: FZ-Verlag. ISBN
978-3-924309-53-4.
External links
Helmut Lent in the German National Library catalogue
Helmut Lent @ Aces of the Luftwae
Helmut Lent @ Eichenlaubtrger (German)
10
8.1
Text
8.2
Images
8.3
Content license
11
8.3
Content license