Paul Zorner
Major    
    Paul Zorner was born on 31 March 1920 at Roben in the Leobschütz region of Schlesien. He joined the Luftwaffe in October 1938 and began his basic military training at Oschatz-Sachsen on 7 November. He attended the Luftkriegsschule 2 at Berlin/Gatow in March 1939, where he studied simultaneously to be an officer and to fly. By November he had qualified on single-engined aircraft and was sent to a C-Schule at Alt-Lönnewitz where he underwent training on twin-engine aircraft. On completion of his training at the end of February 1940, he was selected for training as an instructor. Zorner was promoted to the rank of Leutnant on 1 April. He completed an instructor’s course and was posted to the C-Schule at Zeltweg on 5 July. During his time there as an instructor he also attended Blindflugschule at Neuburg-Donau. In March 1941, Zorner was posted to KGr.z.b.v. 104. Leutnant Zorner was assigned to 4./KGr.z.b.v. 104 flying Ju 52 three-engine transport aircraft. He was to fly 162 missions in the Mediterranean theatre, including a detachment to Iraq with Sonnderkommando Junck supporting the pro-Axis Government in an attempt to oust the Allies. In August, he was operating over the Ukraine on the Eastern front. On 1 October 1941, Zorner commenced training as a night fighter pilot attending the Jagdfliegerschule at Schliessheim and the Nachtjagdschule at Manching near Ingolstadt. During this time he was promoted to the rank of Oberleutnant. On completion of his training on 1 July, he was posted to NJG 2. Zorner was assigned to 8./NJG 2 based at Gilze-Rijen flying Ju 88 C twin-engine night fighters. He flew his first night fighter mission on 17 August 1942, encountering a RAF Wellington twin-engine bomber but was unable to record a victory. From 6 December 1942, Zorner led 2./NJG 3, based at Wittmundhafen flying Bf 110 and Do 217 twin-engine night fighters. On the night of 17/18 January 1943, Zorner claimed his first victory. On 16 March, he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 3./NJG 3, based at Vechta. He had six victories to his credit at this time. He was shot down on 17 April attempting to intercept USAAF four-engine bombers by day. He successfully force-landed Bf 110 E-1 (W.Nr. 3962) “D5 + DH” near Cloppenburgh. He claimed his 10th victory on the night of 25/26 July, when he shot down a RAF Halifax four-engine bomber raiding Essen but he and his crewman again had to bale out when his Bf 110 G-4 (W.Nr. 6219) developed an engine fire. In mid-August 1943, Zorner was appointed Staffelkapitän of 8./NJG 3. He claimed three RAF Lancaster four-engine bombers raiding Berlin shot down on the night of 23/24 December to record his 17th through 19th victories. He shot down another RAF Lancaster near Luckenwalde as his 20th victim on the night of 2/3 January 1944. He claimed four RAF Lancasters raiding Leipzig shot down on the night of 19/20 February (27-30) and followed this up with five of the force raiding Schweinfurt shot down on the night 24/25 February (31-35). Three more RAF Lancasters raiding Essen were claimed on the night of 26/27 March (39-41). Zorner claimed a RAF Mosquito twin-engine bomber shot down during the night of 20/21 April. Zorner was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III./NJG 5 on 25 April 1944. On the night of 27/28 April, Zorner claimed three more RAFLancasters shot down from the force of 322 bombers raiding the armament factories of Friedrichshaven (44-46). Oberleutnant Zorner was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 9 June for 48 victories. He shot down four RAF four-engine bombers of the 432 bombers targetting railway installations at Acheres, Dreux, Orleans and Versailles in support of the Normandy invasion on the night of 10/11 June (49-52) and then a further three RAF Halifaxes targetting V-1 launch sites in the Pas-de-Calais area on the night of 24/25 July (56-58). Hauptmann Zorner was awarded the Eichenlaub (Nr 588) on 17 September for 58 victories. On 22 October 1944, Zorner was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./NJG 100 based at Nowy-Dwor on the Austria/Czechoslovakia border. The Gruppe was equipped with Ju 88 twin-engine night-fighters. In February 1945, II./NJG 100 was relocated to Wien-Seyring. Major Zorner claimed his 59th, and last, victory on the night of 5/6 March 1945, when he shot down an Allied B-24 four-engine bomber near Graz. Zorner surrendered, with the rest of his Gruppe, to US troops in the Karlsbad area on 10 May 1945. However, Zorner was handed over to Russians on 17 May. He finally returned to Germany, after many years of Russian incarceration, on 30 December 1949. Following recuperation from his ordeal at the hands of the Russians, Zorner undertook practical training at a local machine company and studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University at Stuttgart. On completion of his training he entered the field of refrigeration engineering. In January 1956, he joined the Bundesluftwaffe. He was not considered fit to fly and returned to civilian life in May 1957. He was employed in the Cryogenics field initially then the reconstruction and maintenance service within the chemical industry. Zorner retired in 1981 as chief engineer of one of the Hoechst factories producing plastics near Frankfurt. He now lives in Homburg.
    Paul Zorner was credited with 59 victories in 272 missions, including 110 night-fighter missions. All his victories were recorded at night.
 

No	Date	Time	Unit	A/c Type	Location / Comments
1	17.1.1943	21:55	2./NJG 3	Halifax	45km NW Juist
2	11.2.1943	20:44	2./NJG 3	Lancaster	40km WNW Borkum
3	19.2.1943	20:34	2./NJG 3	Boston	12km N Nordeney / Wellington of 426 Sqn, RAF flown by Sgt J Gauthier
4	26.2.1943	20:46	2./NJG 3	Stirling	30km NNW Schirmannikoog
5	7.3.1943	20:30	2./NJG 3	Wellington	12km NE Nordeney
6	14.3.1943	3:51	2./NJG 3	Wellington	N Nordeney
7	29.6.1943	2:22	1./NJG 3	Wellington	9km NW Löwen / Wellington of 300 Sqn, RAF flown by F/Sgt Kleinschmidt
8	4.7.1943	1:09	1./NJG 3	Wellington	2km E Neerhespen
9	9.7.1943	1:53	1./NJG 3	Lancaster	Near Harzé
10	25.7.1943	3:54	1./NJG 3	Halifax	Ten Boer / Halifax “LQ-M” of 405 Sqn, RAF flown by P/O ME Tomczak
11	18.8.1943	1:53	3./NJG 3	Lancaster	Greifswald / Lancaster of 57 Sqn, RAF flown by W/C Haskill
12	18.8.1943	2:03	3./NJG 3	Lancaster	Peenemünde / Lancaster of 426 Sqn, RAF, flown by F/Lt Shuttleworth
13	23.11.1943	20:09	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	40km NW Berlin
14	2.12.1943	19:24	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	S Sulingen
15	2.12.1943	20:29	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	SW Berlin
16	20.12.1943	20:02	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	Hintermeiligen
17	24.12.1943	3:02	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	Rodsenhain
18	24.12.1943	5:43	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	Vechta-Quakenbrück
19	24.12.1943	6:02	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	2km NW Apeldoorn
20	3.1.1944	3:10	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	Luckenwalde
21	6.1.1944	-	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	NW Stettin
22	6.1.1944	-	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	NW Stettin
23	20.1.1944	-	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	N Berlin
24	20.1.1944	-	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	N Berlin
25	15.2.1944	20:22	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	3km SE Rebeitz
26	15.2.1944	21:11	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	N Neuruppin
27	20.2.1944	3:04	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	N Hannover
28	20.2.1944	3:17	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	Wesendorf
29	20.2.1944	3:26	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	Burg/Gardelegen
30	20.2.1944	3:41	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	S Briest
31	24.2.1944	22:15	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	SW Stuttgart
32	24.2.1944	22:20	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	SW Stuttgart
33	24.2.1944	22:30	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	S Stuttgart
34	25.2.1944	0:25	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	NW Stuttgart
35	25.2.1944	0:51	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	N Stuttgart
36	22.3.1944	21:43	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	Giessen area
37	22.3.1944	22:18	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	Giessen area
38	24.3.1944	22:57	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	E Leipzig
39	26.3.1944	22:30	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	N Oberhausen
40	26.3.1944	23:04	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	W St Trond
41	26.3.1944	23:12	8./NJG 3	Lancaster	SW Brussels
42	21.4.1944	3:30	III./NJG 5	Mosquito	20km SE Brussels / Mosquito (DD616) of 169 Sqn, RAF flown by F/Lt Morgan
43	23.4.1944	1:03	III./NJG 5	Halifax	SW Aachen
44	28.4.1944	1:20	Stab III./NJG 5	Lancaster	S Nancy
45	28.4.1944	1:19	Stab III./NJG 5	Lancaster	SW Strasbourg
46	28.4.1944	2:09	Stab III./NJG 5	Lancaster	NW Friedrichshafen
47	1.6.1944	2:35	Stab III./NJG 5	Lancaster	Villeguines-Anmont
48	3.6.1944	1:22	Stab III./NJG 5	Lancaster	30km WN Évreux
49	11.6.1944	1:00	Stab III./NJG 5	Halifax	W Dreux
50	11.6.1944	1:01	Stab III./NJG 5	Halifax	SE Verneuil-sur-Avre
51	11.6.1944	1:08	Stab III./NJG 5	Halifax	SE Verneuil-sur-Avre
52	11.6.1944	1:42	Stab III./NJG 5	Lancaster	SW Dreux
53	25.6.1944	0:32	Stab III./NJG 5	Viermot	E Boulogne
54	25.6.1944	0:50	Stab III./NJG 5	Viermot	NW Etaples
55	1.7.1944	1:22	Stab III./NJG 5	Lancaster	15km SW Bourges
56	25.7.1944	2:25	Stab III./NJG 5	Viermot	W Strasbourg
57	25.7.1944	2:35	Stab III./NJG 5	Viermot	NW Strasbourg
58	25.7.1944	2:54	Stab III./NJG 5	Viermot	30km NW St Dizier
59	6.3.1945	1:30	Stab II./NJG 100	B-24	SSE Graz

 
Victories : 59
Awards : Ehrenpokal (31 August 1943)
                Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (20 March 1944)
                Ritterkreuz (9 June 1944)
                Eichenlaub (17 September 1944)
Units : NJG 2, NJG 3, NJG 5, NJG 100