Following the 1939 aerial Battle of the Heligoland Bight, bombing missions by the Royal Air Force (RAF) shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign.

It consisted of a series of control sectors equipped with radars and searchlights and an associated night fighter.

Each sector, named a Himmelbett (canopy bed), would direct the night fighter into visual range with target bombers.

[2] Oberleutnant Schmidt was initially posted to 8./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1—1st Night Fighter Wing) in September 1941, based at Twente in the Netherlands.

He claimed his first victory on the night of 24/25 March 1943, a Handley Page Halifax bomber over Enkhuizen.

He attended Heidelberg University obtaining a doctorate in Chemistry, married and fathered three children.