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| Heinz Wolfgang Schnaufer family home in Calw 1940 |
When in 1939, young Heinz Wolfgang Schnaufer began serving in the Luftwaffe, no one imagined that man just joined the Luftwaffe came the terror of the night sky over western Europe. - 'The Night Ghost of St Trond'.
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| Heinz Wolfgang Schnaufer |
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| Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe |
Schnaufer was born in a Stuttgart on the 16th February 1922. He was to be the eldest of four children (three boys and a girl). From September 1938 Heinz was an educated by Nazi centres
NPEA - Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt (
National Political Educational Establishment) at Backnang and later in Potsdam. These training centers set themselves the target of training of the future elite of the Third Reich. As part of the training, Schnaufer was directed into the ranks of the Luftwaffe in November 1939 in order to train him to the rank of pilot-officer. In 1941, he completed his flying training. In November 1941, on completion of their flying training, they were posted to II./NJG 1 at Stade, near Hamburg, later transferring with the same unit to Saint-Trond, Belgium.
