Name Martin Drewes Commands held III./NJG 1 | Years of service 1937–45 | |
 | ||
Born 20 October 1918Salzgitter, Germany ( 1918-10-20 ) Battles/wars World War IIMediterranean TheatreAnglo-Iraqi WarDefense of the Reich Other work Civil pilot, businessman Battles and wars Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II, Anglo-Iraqi War, Defence of the Reich, World War II Unit Zerstorergeschwader 76, Nachtjagdgeschwader 3, Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 | ||
Martin Drewes (20 October 1918 – 13 October 2013) was a night fighter flying ace in the German Luftwaffe during World War II. He is credited with 52 victories of which 43 were claimed at night mainly against British four-engine bombers whilst flying variants of the Messerschmitt Bf 110.
Contents
Early life
Drewes was born on 20 October 1918 in Lobmachtersen-bei-Braunschweig, a small village near Hannover in northwestern Germany, the son of a local pharmacist. As the end of the 1930s, Drewes volunteered for the officer's school of the German Army and at the end of the course transferred to the Luftwaffe during 1939.
World War II
Drewes was first assigned to II./Zerstörergeschwader 76 (ZG 76—76th Destroyer Wing) flying the Messerschmitt Bf 110, operating defensive patrols over the North Sea. In May 1941 the Luftwaffe committed Flyer Command Iraq (Fliegerführer Irak), which comprised one squadron (Staffel) of He 111s (4./Kampfgeschwader 4), one Staffel of Zerstörer (Bf 110s of 4./ZG 76), and 12 transports including a number of Junkers Ju 90s to support the Iraqi rebels during the Anglo-Iraqi War.
The ten-day stint in the Middle East saw Drewes shoot down a British Gloster Gladiator biplane. Allied air-opposition was light and the Luftwaffe force concentrated mainly on ground support duties. By 26 May, despite cannibalizing two machines damaged in a Royal Air Force (RAF) raid on Mosul, no Bf 110 was left serviceable. Drewes and his unit were evacuated the following day. Soon after ZG 76 was converted to a night fighter unit and renamed Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (NJG 3—3rd Night Fighter Wing).
Drewes scored regular night victories over Germany, before being transferred to Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing) where he would remain until the end of the war. In 1944 he became Gruppenkommandeur III./NJG 1. His adjutant in the group at the time was Oberleutnant Walter Scheel, who later became the President of West Germany (1 July 1974 – 30 June 1979). At the end of hostilities he had flown 252 operations, and claimed a total of 52 victories (including a Spitfire, a Gladiator, seven American 4-engined bombers shot down in daylight operations, and 43 British bombers at night), most of them achieved with his crew Oberfeldwebel Georg "Schorsch" Petz and Oberfeldwebel Erich Handke. Drewes was decorated with Ritterkreuz and Eichenlaub. He was captured by British forces at the end of the war.
Postwar
In 1949, Drewes emigrated to Brazil, where he built a career as an entrepreneur and married a Brazilian woman. The long marriage ended only in 2010 by the death of his wife. He returned at least once each year on visits to Germany. He died on 13 October 2013 in Blumenau, southern Brazil, of natural causes.