Ju 88 G Doppel Winkel 'D5+AF ' assigned to the Kommmandeur IV./NJG 3 Major Berthold Ney below and photographed in Jever during the winter of 1944-45. Note the chevron of the Kommandeur's machine immediately to the right of Oblt. Werner Davignon in the picture above..the twin barrels of the upwards-firing fuselage-mounted MG 151/20 Schräge Musik are clearly visible..
"... I got my first victory thanks to the nose mounted guns, but from December, 1943 I achieved the majority of my victories using Schräge Musik. I preferred it to the nose guns because it gave me a better guarantee of success. There was also a much smaller risk of being spotted and fired upon by the rear gunner. Our approach from the side and below, whether guided by our radar or from the ground, allowed us a better opportunity to spot the enemy against the lightness of the sky. At that point we could get under the bomber and match our speed to his and commence our attack from below..."
(Maj. Werner Hoffmann, NJG 5)
Berthold Ney was severely injured baling out after his aircraft sustained hits from anti-aircraft fire during 'Gisela'. "Gisela" was a long-range intruder sortie directed against British bomber bases and flown on the evening of 3/3/45. RAF bombers were tracked and followed home over the North Sea following a heavy raid over Germany. Kommandeur Ney had to bale out on the return flight, broke his back in the process and was severely injured, paralysed from the waist down.
".. It was as we went to readiness during the evening of 3 March 1945 that the code word 'Gisela' finally came through. At around 23h00 a small force of some 200-300 British bombers penetrated German airspace in the region of the Münster Bight while on the ground we waited for the order to get airborne. We had on our thermal garb and had donned life jackets and stowed our life raft. Our bulky underwear and flying suits hampered our movements in the cramped cockpit of our Ju 88 G-6. Once again we were ordered down from the aircraft - the takeoff time had been put back some thirty minutes. When we were finally ordered up - right on time - we were the third crew to launch down the runway for what had been a well prepared and tensely awaited mission. We headed out over the North Sea skimming the wave tops at heights of less than fifty metres in the order to slip under the enemy's radar screen. We initially made for a radio beacon on the Dutch coast before taking up a track over the North Sea, all the while maintaining our altitude at 30-50 metres. In order to conserve fuel the throttles were set to cruise. We were looking to make landfall in the vicinity of Flamborough Head, one of the corridors leading in over the mainland. In order to preserve the effect of surprise we maintained absolute radio silence. Across a wide front virtually the entire German night fighter force, aided by some bomber units, was ploughing through the skies, heading for England to give the British a salutary reminder that the Luftwaffe was far from beaten......".
"....By now my fuel was getting low and it was time to think about swinging onto a heading for home. I made a last circuit of the aerodrome identified as Dishforth but, as the moon had slipped behind a bank of cloud, we were unable to make out any further targets..However we were still some eighty kilometres from the coast. We were under instructions to return with empty magazines in our nose weapons and had been given free rein to strafe any ground targets. The enemy didn't hesitate to shoot at anything that moved on the ground by day over Germany - road traffic, trains, people working in fields or going about their business in villages and towns. Now he would get a taste of his own medicine. A double morse identification beacon ahead of me served as target practise and was quickly destroyed. A train heading northwards, lights blazing, was singled out for a long burst. Several wagons were set alight. Copious amounts of steam issued from the many impact strikes on the loco. I emptied my last rounds into the streets of Scarborough itself before emerging out over the sea. I quickly let down over the waves and suddenly found myself in the middle of a convoy assembling off the coast. A searchlight probed the night skies, illuminating a barrage ballon that was immediately hoisted down, while Paul fired off a red flare, the international emergency signal. We hurdled the balloon - thanking our British hosts below - before setting course for home just metres above the rolling waves of the North Sea. We had enjoyed great good fortune, taken the British completely by surprise, achieved two victories ourselves and caused great confusion if the other downings we had witnessed were anything to go by..."extracted from an account by Lt. Arnold Döring (10./ NJG 3) in the 'Nachtjagd War Diaries' Vol II (Boiten/Mackenzie) - original translation by this blog author.. Döring - a former bomber pilot with 9./KG 53 and wilde Sau nightfighter with JG 300, had taken off for 'Gisela' from Wittmundhafen at the controls of 'D5+FV' and claimed two RAF bombers shot down over Yorkshire.
Below; Hptm. Rossner of the Stab IV./ NJG 3 in front of Ney's 'D5+AF '
