1943, leading the Gruppe (group) until 15 March 1944. In this position he claimed a further six nocturnal victories and four heavy USAAF bombers shot down. Wing commander He was promoted to Major and took command of NJG 5 as Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) on 15 March, succeeding Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 27 July 1944 by which time he had achieved 45 aerial victories in total. Having claimed an Avro Lancaster, Borchers was shot down and killed in action on the night of 6 March 1945 by a long-range British night fighter north of Altenburg. Flying Junkers Ju 88 G-6 "C9+GA" (Werknummer 622 319—factory number) his air gunner parachuted to safety while his radio operator Leutnant Friedrich Reul was also killed. Borchers had been nominated for the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross which he never received. His victors were Wing Commander Walter Gibb and Flying Officer Kendall of No 239 Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF), part of No. 100 Group RAF, flying a de Havilland Mosquito night fighter Summary of career Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Borchers was credited with 59 aerial victories. Foreman, Parry and Mathews, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 32 nocturnal victory claims. Mathews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, listing Borchers with additional eleven aerial victories claimed as a Zerstörer pilot. Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 4317". The Luftwaffe grid map () covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size. Awards Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class German Cross in Gold on 12 July 1943 as Oberleutnant in the 8./Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 July 1944 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of the III./Nachtjagdgeschwader 5. References Citations Bibliography Scutts, Jerry (1998). German Night Fighter Aces of World War 2. Osprey Publishing. . 1916 births 1945 deaths People from Ammerland Luftwaffe pilots People from Oldenburg (state) German World War II flying aces Luftwaffe personnel killed in World War II