Has anybody got any info on the intruder sorties by the RAF and the Luftwaffe? How effective was the RAF at shooting down German nightfighters (didn't they use Mossies?)? How effective were the Luftwaffe in shooting down RAF bombers while landing after raids? Was this tactic successful? Should it have been employed more? Could anything been used to counter this? Also, what aircraft were used for this dangerous work? Many thanks. Gage.
The Heinkel He 219A Uhu was said to be one of the Germans best dedicated night fighters. It was designed for night operation and was aid to be able to match a Mosquito one on one. Advanced features included remote-controlled gun turrets, a pressurized cabin, the first steerable nosewheel on an operational German aircraft, and the world's first ejection seats on an operational aircraft.
Has anybody got any info on the intruder sorties by the RAF and the Luftwaffe? How effective was the RAF at shooting down German nightfighters (didn't they use Mossies?)? How effective were the Luftwaffe in shooting down RAF bombers while landing after raids? Was this tactic successful? Should it have been employed more? Could anything been used to counter this? Also, what aircraft were used for this dangerous work? Many thanks. Gage. There are a few good books out there. I read a fantastic one not long ago, let me find the title for you. in order In the scale of things and in the scale of bomber losses not very really. It was quite an event ant till late in the war when tactics and eqiupment where better developed would it prove to be worthwhile. No not really, time on station would only be small and you would risk daylight. No the best tactic was to correctly guess the target and to get the night fighter into the bomber stream where you could then have pic of targets with little danger of effective response. As nightfighters all kinds, but the affective radar carrying machines for the British where the Beaufighters and later on Mosquitos. The Americans where pretty late to the game (as they had no reason to be involved) with the black Widow. The Germans with JU88 and me110 where the common types. The standard method of attack would be to passively track the emissions from the other aircrafts radar and then close on the tail, The attacker would then switch to his own radar for the final kill. It was quite competive with shifting frequincies and passive tracking. interesting stuff.
The standard method of attack would be to passively track the emissions from the other aircrafts radar and then close on the tail, The attacker would then switch to his own radar for the final kill. It was quite competive with shifting frequincies and passive tracking. interesting stuff. What better place for 'a game of cat and mouse' than in the dark?
He 219A Uhu Hadn't made the connection between Uhu on Aeroplanes and the Uhu (Eagle owl?) used on very late war vehicles (panthers with IR spots mounted on 251's). Was there an Infra-red element to the Aircraft version?
There are a few good books out there. I read a fantastic one not long ago, let me find the title for you. in order In the scale of things and in the scale of bomber losses not very really. It was quite an event ant till late in the war when tactics and eqiupment where better developed would it prove to be worthwhile. No not really, time on station would only be small and you would risk daylight. No the best tactic was to correctly guess the target and to get the night fighter into the bomber stream where you could then have pic of targets with little danger of effective response. As nightfighters all kinds, but the affective radar carrying machines for the British where the Beaufighters and later on Mosquitos. The Americans where pretty late to the game (as they had no reason to be involved) with the black Widow. The Germans with JU88 and me110 where the common types. The standard method of attack would be to passively track the emissions from the other aircrafts radar and then close on the tail, The attacker would then switch to his own radar for the final kill. It was quite competive with shifting frequincies and passive tracking. interesting stuff. Thanks everybody so far. Very interesting. But if there was an intruder in the circuit after a long flight of 8 or 9 hours for the RAF, it must have been very damaging to morale at the very least?
The Heinkel He 219A Uhu was said to be one of the Germans best dedicated night fighters. It was designed for night operation and was aid to be able to match a Mosquito one on one. Advanced features included remote-controlled gun turrets, a pressurized cabin, the first steerable nosewheel on an operational German aircraft, and the world's first ejection seats on an operational aircraft. Ahh, another aircraft I need to look up.
The He-219 was not that good a nightfighter, there were very few of them and from what I have read they were unreliable and the ejection seats fitted to them didn't always work. They crews prefered the JU-88G on the most part. The Mosquito's were successful in their role as the hung around the German airfields and beacons and shot down aircraft as they took off/landed. One of the most dangerous nightfighters the Germans had was the Me-262 which could do similar damage at night as it did during the day.
The Germans tried Intruder rads on the UK bomber bases and had some success but this was fairly short lived. The UK defences were pretty efficient with one of the best radar direction set ups and the best nightfighters. In a number of cases we were able to track them down and the German losses reached a level where they tended to stay at home. After all there were plenty of targets to hunt down over Europe. Allied Intruded raids were a major threat to German nightfighters. I recommend the book Night Flyer written by Lewis Brandon. He flew nightfighters in 85 squadron as part of the bomber Support Group and gives an overview as to the effort that went into hunting German Nightfighters. Nightfighters were given patrol points along the path of the main force to stop the fighters getting into the main stream. Other fighters were targeted against German nightfighter beacons and others against the German nightfighter bases themselves. The German bases were sometimes attacked by Mossie fighter bombers carrying bombs supported by nightfighters who would cover the base after the Fighter bombers had gone. To make it more difficult some mossies were fitted with Monica a tail warning radar that had been fitted in Heavy Bombers but was removed as the Germans had found out how to track the bombers by homing in on the signal. The mossies used it to decoy the German nightfighters into attacking them not the bombers. There is little doubt from the accounts that I have read that the Germans found themselves being the hunted not the hunters by late 1944
Probably the earliest example of this kind of intruder work was the feat of Karel Kuttelwascher, a Czech RAF pilot, who for a few weeks in mid 42 during the Baedekker raids, flew night missions in a Hurricane IIc, hanging around airfields where the German bombers were returning to. I can't find the reference but I think he brought down at least six in about ten missions, including three in one night - without radar. Having said that, there have been doubts expressed about his claims. Adrian
http://acesofww2.com/ Covers them all, you should be able to find the night aces amoungest the day ones. Allied Night Aces: http://math.fce.vutbr.cz/safarik/ACES/aces1/ww2-allied-night.html German Night Aces: http://math.fce.vutbr.cz/safarik/ACES/aces1/germany-night.html
http://www.harrypalmergallery.ab.ca/WWIIstories/stone.html A good site with some good info on RAF intruders and German defense tactics. (Thanks again Gnomey)
Probably the earliest example of this kind of intruder work was the feat of Karel Kuttelwascher, a Czech RAF pilot, who for a few weeks in mid 42 during the Baedekker raids, flew night missions in a Hurricane IIc, hanging around airfields where the German bombers were returning to. I can't find the reference but I think he brought down at least six in about ten missions, including three in one night - without radar. Having said that, there have been doubts expressed about his claims. Adrian [FONT="]Just finished watching a programme on UKtv History on [/FONT]Karel Kuttelwascher, which looked at his career and his personal life. Really sad story, with interviews with his daughters, and a look at his phenomenal success. His destruction of 15 aircraft in just three months (including 3 in one night!) made him the RAF's greatest night intruder ace.
During my Father's training at 16 OTU flying out of Cottesmore on night flying exercises aircraft were aloft providing security against intruders. Here is an example from his log book.
During my Father's training at 16 OTU flying out of Cottesmore on night flying exercises aircraft were aloft providing security against intruders. Here is an example from his log book On the flight of 9/4/41, could the pilot F/Lt Nettleton have been John Nettleton, later awarded the VC?
