Willy Lehnert

Who is Willy Lehnert?

Willy Lehnert was a German Luftwaffe bomber radio operator and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. He received this award after more than 300 combat missions. Lehnert was a member of the Hermann Hogeback bomber crew. Hogeback's crew earned the distinction of being the only crew to have all members awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by the end of the war, and Lehnert was the second, aside from Hogenback himself, of the three crew members to be awarded after Oberfeldwebel Günter Glasner on 31 December 1943.

Willy Lehnert joined the Luftwaffe in 1937. He flew his first combat mission from Sicily in March 1940. In July 1941 he was able to shoot down two of twelve attacking British fighters and so saved the Junkers Ju 88 from destruction.