By the time of his death in 1944, Helmut Lent was credited with 110 ‘kills’ – all but eight were at night. Chris Goss, with help from Lent’s eldest daughter Tina, explores this remarkable aviator’s early career in the first of a two-part feature
Despite being raised by a devoutly religious family, Helmut Lent went against his father’s wishes from an early age. Helmut was born on June 13, 1918 in Pyrehne (today’s Pyrzany in Poland) where his father, Johannes, was the town’s Lutheran minister. Having followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps, Johannes had hoped his children would shadow him and become pastors too.
While two of his sons did so, Helmut proved to be a studious child, showing interest in all things military and joined the Deutsches Jungvolk in der Hitler Jugend (German Young People in the Hitler Youth) in 1933, aged 14. However, this wasn’t for political reasons. It seems all he wanted was a grounding in military-style training. He left the Jungvolk in 1935 to concentrate on his studies in the hope of joining the military.
First combat
By then, the Luftwaffe was no longer a secret organisation and, in early April 1936, he enlisted with the Luftkriegsschule 2 Berlin- Gatow (2nd Air…
