Eckart-Wilhelm Max Bogislaw Fürchtegott von Bonin[1] (14 November 1919 – 11 January 1992) was a German World War II night fighter pilot who served in the Luftwaffe.

His older brother, Bogislaw von Bonin served in the Army and later in the Amt Blank, a predecessor of the Federal Ministry of Defence.

Another brother, Hubertus Bogislav Oskar Adolf Fürchtegott von Bonin, became a fighter pilot and wing commander with 77 aerial victories and was also killed in the war.

[4] Following the 1939 aerial Battle of the Heligoland Bight, RAF attacks shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign.

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

The B-17 "Picklepuss" piloted by Captain Robert M. Knox from the 100th Bomb Group headed back to England when it came under attack by three Messerschmitt Bf 110 night fighters south of Aachen.

Von Bonin, accompanied by Oberleutnant Walter Barte and Leutnant Hans Witzke had taken off from Sint-Truiden—Saint-Trond in the French pronunciation—to intercept any stragglers to and from the target area.

[15] This and the ♠ (Ace of spades) indicates those aerial victories which made Von Bonin an "ace-in-a-day", a term which designates a fighter pilot who has shot down five or more airplanes in a single day.