On Friday 1 September 1939, German forces
invaded Poland starting
World War II in Europe. Herget flew his first combat mission with ZG 76 during the invasion and was promoted to
Leutnant der Reserve (second lieutenant of the reserves) on 25 October 1939. In May 1940, he fought in the
Battle of France and later that year in the
Battle of Britain. Herget, due to his short built, had to fly a customized Bf 110 with wooden blocks attached to the rudder pedals in order to reach them. He claimed three
Supermarine Spitfire fighters shot down in May 1940 and a
Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighter in June and was awarded the
Iron Cross 2nd Class (). On 30 August 1940, Herget claimed a
Hawker Hurricane and a Spitfire on the next day. On 1 September, he claimed three further Spitfires and another on 2 September. In May 1941, Herget was transferred to
Sonderkommando Junck, also referred to as
Fliegerführer Irak, a
Luftwaffe task force under the command of
Oberst (Colonel)
Werner Junck which participated in the
Anglo-Iraqi War.
Night fighter career Herget was promoted to
Oberleutnant der Reserve (first lieutenant of the reserves) on 1 November 1941 and transferred to the
night fighter force. There he was posted to 7.
Staffel (7th squadron) of
Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (NJG 3—3rd Night Fighter Wing). On 15 January 1942, 7./NJG 3 was redesignated and became the 4.
Staffel (4th squadron) of
Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing). Herget was awarded the
German Cross in Gold () on 7 February 1942. Herget claimed his first nocturnal victory on the night of 5/6 April 1942. On 1 May 1942, Herget was appointed
Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 9.
Staffel (9th squadron) of
Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 (NJG 4—4th Night Fighter Wing) and promoted to
Hauptmann der Reserve (captain of the reserves) on 1 October 1942. On 1 September 1942, he had been appointed
Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of the newly reformed I.
Gruppe of NJG 4 and served in this position until December 1944. Herget received the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 20 June 1943 for 31 aerial victories and the destruction of five ground targets. The presentation was made by
General der Flieger (lieutenant general)
Josef Kammhuber. Herget was promoted to
Major der Reserve (major of the reserves) on 1 October 1943. On the night of 20/21 December 1943, Herget was credited with the destruction of five Halifax and three Lancaster bombers within 45 minutes, making him an "
ace-in-a-day". Following his 63rd aerial victory, Herget was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves () on 11 April 1944, the 451st soldier to receive this distinction. The presentation was made by
Adolf Hitler at the
Berghof, Hitler's residence in the
Obersalzberg of the
Bavarian Alps, on 5 May 1944. Also present at the ceremony were
Anton Hafner,
Otto Kittel,
Günther Schack,
Emil Lang,
Alfred Grislawski,
Erich Rudorffer,
Martin Möbus,
Hans-Karl Stepp,
Rudolf Schoenert,
Günther Radusch,
Otto Pollmann and
Fritz Breithaupt, who all received the Oak Leaves on this date. On 15 June 1944 he was shot down by British ace
Branse Burbridge. Herget and his crew bailed out and the
Junkers Ju 88 G-1 (
Werknummer—factory number 710833) crashed south-west of
Nivelles. The crash site was initially excavated in the summer of 2008. According to Boiten and Obermaier, Herget claimed his last aerial victory as a night fighter, a
de Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber, on the night 14/15 June 1944. This claim is not documented by Foreman, Mathews and Parry, authors of
Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945.
Messerschmitt Me 262 and Jagdverband 44 In January 1945, Herget underwent conversion training and learned to fly the then new
Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. He then served with
Sonderkommission Kleinrath, a specialized task force named after
Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General)
Kurt Kleinrath. This task force of the
Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM—Ministry of Aviation) main objective was to optimize test-flying and delivery schedules of newly manufactured aircraft. In this function, Herget was involved in improving production of the Me 262 and was subsequently exposed to the slave labor system employed by the various Messerschmitt factories and subcontractors. Herget pointed out that aircraft manufacturing based on slave labor was counterproductive. News of his analysis reached
Reichsmarschall (Marshal of the Reich)
Hermann Göring who forbade him to visit another factory. On 5 April 1945, Herget began testing a prototype variant of the Me 262 at
Lechfeld, the Messerschmitt test airfield. The Me 262A-1a/U4 which Herget tested was equipped with an adapted
MK 214 long barreled cannon. It was believed that this weapon could bring down enemy bombers from outside their defensive firing range. The weapon system suffered from technical problems and was prone to jamming. On 16 April, Herget flew the Me 262A-1a/U4 in an unsuccessful combat mission against a
United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) bomber formation. The weapon failed and no shot was fired. The Me 262 was then flown to
Munich-Riem by Herget where it was placed under the control of
Adolf Galland's
Jagdverband 44 (JV 44—44th Fighter Detachment). Herget's last missions of World War II were flown with JV 44. On 27 April, Herget, accompanied by
Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
Heinrich Bär and
Unteroffizier Franz Köster, engaged USSAF fighters near the Munich-Riem airfield and claimed his only aerial victory flying the Me 262, a
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, and last of the war. During the final days of the World War II in Europe, Galland who had been injured in combat on 26 April, attempted to surrender JV 44 to American forces from his hospital bed. On 1 May 1945, Galland instructed Herget to fly to
Oberschleißheim, which had already fallen into US hands, and negotiate the terms of surrender. At dawn, Herget and
Hauptmann Hugo Kessler, Galland's aide, flew to Oberschleißheim in a
Fieseler Fi 156 "Storch". The Americans then drove the two Germans to the command post of the US
45th Infantry Division in the vicinity of
Feldmoching. There they met with General
Pearson Menoher, Chief-of-Staff of the
XV Corps, General
Jesse D. Auton, commander of the
65th Fighter Wing, and Colonel Dorr E. Newton, commander of
XII Tactical Air Command. Herget handed over a letter from Galland which advocated the idea of surrendering a fully operational jet fighter unit to the Americans. ==Later life==