“Mosquitos over Berlin” - a chat with Andreas Zapf; Moskitojagd, Kurt Welter and Me 262 jet night fighters

The history of the two-seater versions of the world's first jet fighter has been somewhat neglected. That has not stopped more than a few 'urban myths' taking root around these machines, especially in their role as 'night-hunters'. However Andreas Zapf has virtually single-handedly corrected this state of affairs with his huge " Mosquitos über Berlin. Nachtjagd mit der Messerschmitt Bf 109 und Me 262 " published earlier this year by VDM. Adapted, built and deployed in virtually the last months of the war from the Messerschmitt Me 262 two-seater training aircraft, the history of this aircraft and its employment by the so-called Kommando Welter against the fast  Mosquitos of Bomber Command - a machine which was all but "invincible" - is described in what will undoubtedly be the last word on the subject - "Mosquitos over Berlin". Andreas recently took time out to sit down with us at the Luftwaffe blog to discuss the book, Kurt Welter, Me 262 night fighters and Moskitojagd !

 “...Late in the summer of 1944, the skies over the Reich were mostly dominated by the Allied air forces. The heavy bombers of the USAAF at day, those of the RAF at night. In addition the fast de Havilland DH.98 ‘Mosquito’ of the Light Night Striking Force roamed the skies over Germany – and with little or no opposition went more or less unchallenged. Besides the ever present Flak, there was not much they had to fear. ‘Not much’, however, is relative. With their fast and agile Messerschmitt Bf 109s, some specialized units such as 10./JG 300 and later II./NJG 11 operated especially against the fast ‘Wooden Wonder’. And starting in December 1944, the first nocturnal missions using the Me 262 jet fighter were added to the threat. Starting out as ‘Kommando Welter’ and being taken into regular operations as 10./NJG 11 later, a handful of skilled pilots flew the single-seater Me262 A and later the Me 262 B-1a/U1 twin-seater to counter the nightly Mosquito attacks. A new book by German author Andreas Zapf book shines a light on the almost untold story of the Nachtjagd with the Me 262. 596 pages, 160 b/w photos, 69 reproduced documents, 24 maps and flight maps are adding to a story reproduced from material hidden in archives around the world, flight logs, written accounts and many hours of personal discussions with those involved. Enjoy the untold story of a unique unit and their nocturnal stalking of the famous ‘Mosquito’...”

Hello Andreas. Congratulations on the publication of your impressive new book ! I've reproduced the jacket blurb above by way of an introduction to our discussion. Firstly, how did you come to research and write the story of “Mosquitos over Berlin”?

Hello Neil – and “thank you very much for the flowers!” – and of course, thank you very much for taking the time to have this little talk about my book and our mutual hobby.

As for choosing the topic, that was pure coincidence – I took over a collection from a fellow researcher some years back who has been writing his books on the German Nachtjagd and other topics a few years back in the 1980s. Contained within the lot was a copy of a Luftwaffe Flugbuch (“flight log”) showing nocturnal flights with Messerschmitt Me 262 B-1a/U1. And there have been letters between the original owner of the files and a variety of pilots that flew the Me 262 with “Kommando Welter”.

This sparked my interest and I started to comb the available literature, just to find out that it was an absolute “stepchild”, hardly mentioned at all and where it was, with a variety of “truths” that were not backed by any sources one could fall back to. In other words: I was unable to say if the previous authors worked on fact, fiction, or hearsay. So I set out to improve and update the story – how difficult could it be? One small unit, a few aircraft, only a couple of months towards the end of the war… naïve and foolish, I can tell you…

Being a Bundesluftwaffe officer, a wreck recovery archeologist and airfield series author, I guess your father inspired your interest in WWII Luftwaffe ?

I think, any boy growing up and and developing a love for books sooner or later raids his father’s “library”. I don’t know what other boy are finding – but besides the usual suspects, my hunting grounds were filled with books about air war, the Luftwaffe and all that. Not a few books but plenty of them. I remember having read Werner Girbig’s “Die nicht Zurückgekehrten” and Toliver/Constable’s “Holt Hartmann vom Himmel!” amongst the first ones… it just caught up with me later, I guess. So yes: inspiration certainly came from that side.

Back to Mosquitos. I'm intrigued to know just how big a problem they were for the Germans. Did you work out how many raids Mosquitos actually flew against Berlin during the war? I read somewhere that they were overhead on 36 consecutive nights? 

One of the last things I did before wrapping up and getting the book ready for the printers was a trip to Los Angeles to meet one of the nicest guys I have ever had the honor to meet: Jorg Czypionka. Jorg was a flight instructor with FFS A/B 115 in Austria for most of the war, then was posted to 10./JG 300, stayed with it when II./NJG 11 was formed from it, and finally was posted to 10./NJG 11 in March 1945.

When he read the manuscript, his comment was “ ..so much on the Mosquitos and in comparison it almost looks like we didn’t even fly anymore!” . That hurt a little because I knew they did everything to do their job in a world that was rapidly falling apart around them – so I went and did the math – and amended a chapter in my book, so let me quote myself:

“..Taking March 1945 as an example, we can review the entire set of morning and evening reports of the Luftwaffeführungsstab Ic which lists the missions flown against Mosquito bombers attacking Berlin. They are listing 33 missions with Me 262, spread out across 13 nights. An additional 8 flights with the Ta 154 ‘Moskito’ – also hunting for the fast twin bomber – are documented. Plus seven aircraft of an unidentifiable unit. All in all, a total of 48 missions.

The Light Night Striking Force in return has reached full strength and weather denied flying only on two occasions. Without looking at the early returns, dropouts for other reasons, etc. the Mosquitos mounted some 2,280 missions to Germany. The Luftwaffe pilots were hopelessly outnumbered.

From September 1944 to May 1945, 180 missions against Mosquitos to Berlin are documented, around 60 of them for the jets. During that time frame, the Light Night Striking Force mounted more than 11,000 combat missions to Germany.”

I think, these numbers give anyone of us an idea of the odds during those final months of the war. And yes, the more squadrons the Light Night Striking Force assembled, and the more Mosquitos were readily available, the more flights they managed to pull of – and indeed, the prime target became Berlin. It was rarely the only target during the nightly missions – but it was regularly on the target list and yes, 36 consecutive nights sounds about right.

I'm sure many think that the Me 262s deployed as night fighters were bomber killers as they were by day. This isn't the case though is it? Did the Kommando regularly fly by day as well? I know Becker has one recce Lightning Abschuss? 

Initially, the Me 262 of “Kommando Welter” and more importantly the later 10./NJG11 were primarily tasked to intercept and shoot down the Mosquitos bound for Berlin. And only those. Jorg Czypionka told me that on more than one occasion, when the raids were targeting other cities, even close by, they were not given permission to engage. It was Berlin only. Different story during daytime though – here, the otherwise “useless” jets were indeed tasked to intercept Mosquitos and F-5Es on recce missions. Becker got one that is confirmed and I think, I can pin another F-5E on Fritz Reichenbach. But all in all, not on more than maybe 5 – 10 days.

Because the jets were so fast even hunting Mosquitos was fraught with difficulty wasn't it ? - high-closing speeds, no way of slowing down to accurately aim and fire?

Yes, the Me 262 was fast, sometimes too fast. Combined with the relatively low speed of the Mk108 rounds, this gave the pilots not more than one or two seconds to actually aim and fire. Karl-Heinz Becker misjudged and had to fly through the debris of ‘his’ F-5E, subsequently belly landing his bird. Lt. Herbert Altner tried to reduce thrust too quickly on his first flight with the Me 262 B-1a/U1 and experienced a flameout with subsequent loss of the twin seater. It was not an easy attack, especially not at night. You need to remember: despite the Me 262 B-1a/U1 being “the symbol” for Welter’s night fighting activities, only one pilot ever flew her in combat. The others were flying barely modified Me 262 A single-seaters… no speed brakes, a somewhat fragile engine control, darkness all around… today, we would call any pilot flying under these conditions a “reckless flyer”.

How did Welter manage to persuade the powers-that-be that he warranted his own 'Kommando'? Because of his success in 10./JG 300? He was after all still relatively unknown and a junior officer wasn't he ? We hear so much about Hitler wanting the 262 as a bomber and yet here he is apparently authorising the type to fly at night as a fighter? And can you explain what 'Objektjagd' was - the 'Objekt' being Berlin I assume?

Well, that’s a bunch of questions there. First of all, let’s clarify “Objekt”. Yes, the “Objekt” was the to-be-protected target, for the Me 262s mostly Berlin. In other words: rather than hunting free, the night fighters were bound to the Objekt where they used the searchlights to guide them to their prey.

The question about how Welter got to his “Kommando” is an interesting one. Honestly, I never found an answer. There are different stories told, some of them range from “possible” to “bullshit”. Unfortunately, the war may have erased all documented evidence and time certainly has obscured the memories of those that talked about it in the recent years.

The only thing that I know is that Welter got his Knight’s Cross in October 1944 – and documents from Rechlin show the first preparations of their Me 262s (which Welter initially was allowed to use for his trials) around End of October/early November 1944. And on December 12, 1944, Hermann Göring authorizes the trials formally, initially with 3 Me 262 (Welter) and 3 Arado Ar 234 (Bonow). But the first ideas of using the Me 262 (and also the Arado Ar 234) as night fighters dates back to a time before Welter got the Knight’s Cross.

So all I can say is that it looks like he got the “Kommando” the formal way – not, as some are suggesting, by pulling off a stunt flight then then being summoned to Göring. And he may have gotten it because he was in the right place at the right time. After all, he was a successful and skilled night fighter, he got a high decoration and he was eager to improve his success rate.

In your reading and research did you get a better idea of Kurt Welter, the person and the pilot - he was presumably the gifted night fighter that some say but perhaps a little obsessive and 'difficult'? I read in Peter Cronauer's article in Flugzeug Classic (2014) that Welter avoided flying from around mid-March 1945 and drank a lot. And of course filed many unfounded claims?

One of the predicate rules of me writing is “in dubio pro reo” – “if in doubt, for the accused”. Of course, when you deal with Kurt Welter, the first thing you come across is the classification as blunt liar and as an over-claimer. But I think, the story is not that straight forward. But let’s start with the beginning of your question: yes, I learnt a great deal about Kurt Welter and I am happy to say that it was enough to dedicate an entire chapter of 25 pages to his biography.

He certainly was a gifted night fighter and someone described him as a man with “cat’s eyes”. My friend Jorg claims his landing skills were about average but in the air, he was a gifted fighter and skilled marksman. Those that knew him in their letters (and Jorg in person) describe him as “demanding” and maybe a “womanizer” but I have not heard a bad word about him from all that I got from Karl-Heinz Becker, Herbert Altner, and Jorg Czypionka.

He also was what we would call ‘quick-tempered’ today. On the other hand, it seems he also was an ‘organizer’, a man that could get things done. I never met him, obviously, but what I am seeing is a man that – like so many others – went through a war, aged before his time and most certainly suffered the consequences from a world falling apart around him.

Did he drink? I would guess so – but many of them did and as one of the night fighter pilots told me: ‘We never knew if we had another day to live so hell, yes, we drank as if there was no tomorrow.’ – and some of them certainly drowned their fear and despair. But for all I know, he was not the alcoholic that some describe him today.

Did Welter avoid flying? Another good question – again, those that knew him said he always was the first to fly and if there was only one aircraft available, it would have been his. I know he was grounded for some time in February. I know he never flew the twin seater in combat. But did he duck out and put the others in harms way? I did not find a single piece of evidence for that. He was certainly flying in March – when the unit lost their home base, Burg near Magdeburg, after the USAAF raid on 10 April 1945, they supposedly were able to save most of the aircraft and bring them to Lübeck – but there are also intercepted messages about low combat readiness. In general, not too many flights were flown from Lübeck, as it seems – and maybe Welter was busy on the organizing side rather than the combat side.

Which brings us to the last topic and my apologies for the lengthy answer: his claims. First and foremost, I have deliberately denied my book a “scoreboard”. There is too little evidence to create one. But if you search the Internet, you will find more than once place that lists the claims attributed to Welter.

The most interesting question is: where did those claims come from? For Karl-Heinz Becker, we have the Abschussmeldungen. Also a single one for Herbert Altner. But I have yet to see anything for the others, including Welter. I know that Hans Ring and Emil Nonnenmacher compiled their list of Luftwaffe claims and I know that all the dates for Welter are contained in a shortened list of their research which I have a copy of. BUT: no sources given. And what distinguishes these entries in their list from all others: they only got a date but never a time.

You can also use the morning reports of the Luftwaffe-Führungsstab Ic which at least list the claims – but never attribute a claim to a specific pilot. So from my perspective – and that is what I did – we can trace the claims and numbers but except Becker and Altner, we have a truly hard time to put names to most of the other claims.

Then you need to imagine the situation: dark, clouds, no radar, an excess of speed – you fire at your opponent and the Mosquito corkscrews (which was their evasive maneuver) – what does the pilot think and report? It happened to Karl-Heinz Becker and I was able to get in touch with the son of his “victim”. The 30 mm rounds almost severed the tail of the Mosquito…almost. The bird limped home and Becker claimed a kill. It was not on purpose.

Other way round: Welter in his famous letter says he brought down a Mosquito by ramming it. We all went “..bullshit, that’s a clear fake!”. Yet, for one of his early claims while with JG 300 a Mosquito crew files a combat report for exactly the same place Welter claimed and almost exactly the same time: they reported that a Bf 109 (Welter was flying Bf 109 with 10./JG 300 at that time) rammed them and took off parts of their wing so they lost control temporarily before being able to fly home…

All in all: there is evidence for “over-optimistic” reporting – but I doubt that Welter bluntly lied. And I am not even sure that all the reported “claims” are actually claimed by him…

In Manfred Jurleit's book Kurt Lamm talks about a dispute and a falling-out that he had with Welter. How did his pilots regard Welter himself?

As I said: “in dubio pro reo” but Kurt Lamm’s account in Jurleit’s book and in one or two letters that I have copies of is not in line with any evidence I was ever able to find. I don’t want to judge a man that I don’t know and who cannot defend himself anymore – so let me kindly say: I think, Kurt Lamm’s account on Welter might be more “shining a light on Kurt Lamm” than “giving an honest account of Welter”.

As I said earlier: his other pilots – especially Karl-Heinz Becker and Kurt Altner who may have known him best amongst those that we have accounts from never had a bad word to say about the man. Yes, 'womanizer', yes, “quick-tempered”, yes, “demanding.” – but I never heard “coward”, “drunk”, or “liar”.

What was the significance of the 27-28 March 1945 Berlin raid? 

That night is – from a personal and non-personal point of view – maybe the single most interesting night to look at when looking at the history of Me 262 night fighting.

From a distance, it is a night at the end of March 1945 which was the most successful and busiest month for Welter and his pilots. Especially in the second half of the month, the conditions improved and they regularly were able to deploy multiple machines night after night. It is a glimpse at the “what if” scenario – if they had more men and machines available, if they had not lost their base early April 1945, if…nobody here wants that “if” but it also shows that the night fighting activities could have been scaled up and what it could have looked like. Then, of course, the date marks the first operational nocturnal flight of the Me 262 B-1a/U1 – the first-ever combat mission of the radar-equipped Me 262. Everyone else was flying on Mosquitos caught in the beams of the search light – but Lt. Herbert Altner and his radio operator, Uffz. Reinhard Lommatzsch, were able to roam free… until their engine flamed out, costing the unit “Rote 12” and Reinhard Lommatzsch his life.

Finally, it is the night that my good friend Jorg Czypionka shot down “his” Mosquito – a fact that he regrets to this day because it cost the life of the Mosquito’s pilot. I did a separate article (which I intend to translate to English and publish as an eBook like the JG 3 article of mine currently available on amazon) – it’s a perfect night to shine the limelight on men of both sides, the fate of those that perished and those that survived and had to live with the burden of the survivor.

Is there an English translation of 'Mosquitos over Berlin' coming do you think? Your own English is so good you could probably do it yourself. How did you get to master English so well anyway?

When I published the book through VDM, I sat down with Heinz Nickel and discussed the language – we agreed on German being the first shot. However, we both know that a good portion about the book is also about the fate of the airmen of the Light Night Striking Force. And I have been in touch with some of the families who all were very interested and eager to explore what their fathers or grandfathers were up against.

Personally, I want an English version – and sooner than later, because I know about the interest in the rest of the world. We are working on it but we need to find a publisher that we can liaise with. The ball is in VDM’s field so to say – but I know, they are after it and I hope, we can see development in spring next year.

In fact, I have also discussed doing the translation myself and then publish an English version through VDM. The problem is marketing and distribution, especially distribution: if you ship a book of 2.5kg from Germany to any buyer outside Europe, the postage is excessive. Which in return would reduce the sales because barely anyone would be able to pay almost the same for postage than for the book itself. Which makes it financially unattractive to any publisher without international distribution channels.

You also need to consider: an eBook is unfortunately not an option – I tried that in English and with amazon’s self-publishing platform with my much shorter story on JG 3’s adventures on the Eastern Front in 1941 and that worked well. But the Mosquito book is far more complex in layout and won’t work as eBook…so back to the drawing board with finding a suitable publisher.

My English – well, that is a story for itself, but I can safely assume my old English teacher would be somewhat amazed. It has to do with the way foreign languages were taught in school at the time I still went there (back in the 1980s and early 1990s): text, grammar, full stop. Mostly not even talking the language throughout the lesson. When I started my professional career though, I was placed in a multi-national project team with an American project leader… they made sure my language skills improved rather quickly. And I hade the great chance to spend 5 months in the Bay Area and California in 1996, working with our consultants in their office. That did the job but some people claim you can still hear a trace of a Californian accent…

What projects do you intend to work on next? 

Nachtjagd somewhat is a burnt topic now – my friend Theo Boiten is just releasing his updated series of Nachtjagd-Books and it is just great. Jean-Yves Lorant and Richard Goyat did a wonderful job on JG 300 and the Mosquito hunters of 10. Staffel. I still have a lot of Mosquito material but for the moment, I am caught up with something else.

Initially, I wanted to work on my own grandfather’s story  - he was with a heavy artillery unit, first in the West, then later at the Siege of Leningrad. In preparation, I looked at the operations around Maastricht and Eben-Emael on 10 May 1940 – which included a lot of Stuka activities. At this point, I am gathering data but it might well be that I switch from one of the fasted aircraft of World War II to one of the slowest. And it might well be the Stukas that are going to receive my attention over the next few years!

Thanks Andreas,  there's a link to your site below with more on the book and ordering information. All the best for the book and your future projects!

https://www.nachtjagd-me262.org/

1./ JG 300 wilde Sau Bf 109s at Bonn Hangelar, late 1943 or early 1944 - Ebay win! - Day fighter aces of the Luftwaffe

Rare images of 1./ JG 300 wilde Sau Bf 109s at Bonn Hangelar, late 1943 or early 1944.  Unlike other sites that have these images on display having 'doctored' them we at the Luftwaffe blog have preferred to leave them as first shown on Ebay.

Below; "White 4" and "White 1", are G-6s, of 1. Staffel in light-blue-grey finish, probably deployed at some stage on high-altitude Moskito chasing sorties. Note the whistle on the exhaust stack. These machines are not G-5s as other sites would have you believe. Needless to say this particular photo is an important image in the history of JG 300. Some never-before illustrated aspects of this machine for JG 300 have been identified by the new owner - mission role, equipment etc. The pilot in the picture - probably posing for the camera alongside his rudder scoreboard - is the ace Hermann Wischnewski. It was thought at one point that the object under the fuselage may have a been a Naxos but it is now clear that it is simply the deployed flap of the starboard wing! The actual images show the Werknummmer and the details that the ace pilot is looking at on his rudder.  Not that you would get any of this information on other sites. To the modellers and profile artists who might attempt a rendition of this one, I'd have to respectfully advise against it ..not only are the WNr. and victory markings not visible but you'll miss one, if not two crucial details!

Hermann Wischnewski was born on 9 February 1917 at Tensefeld in the Eutin region of Holstein. Wischnewski was posted to I./KGr. zbV 700 as a transport pilot on 17 December 1941. He flew many difficult supply missions over the Eastern front, including missions in the Demjansk battles of spring 1942. In October 1942, Wischnewski transferred to KGr. zbV Frankfurt based in the Mediterranean theatre. In July 1943, Wischnewski underwent conversion training on to single-engine night fighters. He was posted to JG Herrmann performing Wilde Sau missions intercepting Allied bombing raids by night. Feldwebel Wischnewski was assigned to 3./JG Herrmann. On the night of 30/31 July, Wischnewski recorded his first victory when he shot down a RAF Stirling four-engine bomber near Remscheid. In late August, 3./JG Herrmann was redesignated 3./JG 300. By the end of September, Wischnewski had four victories to his credit. By November 1943, Oberfeldwebel Wischnewski was serving with 1./JG 300. On the night of 18/19 November, Wischnewski claimed two RAF four-engine bombers shot down from a force of 300 raiding Mannheim to record his fifth and sixth victories. By the end of the year, he had seven victories to his credit. Wischnewski recorded five victories in January 1944, including doubles on each of the nights of 2/3 January (9-10) and 28/29 January (11-12). Wischnewski would also record many day victories when JG 300 was switched to the day fighter role. Serving with 2./JG 300, he recorded his first day victory on 21 June 1944, when he claimed a USAAF B-24 Herauschuß. On 29 July 1944, Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel Wischnewski shot down two USAAF B-17 four-engine bombers and a USAAF P-51 fighter but he was then shot down himself. Wounded in the left leg and foot, he baled out of his stricken Bf 109 G-6/U2 “Red 2” near Gelbstadt at low level. The force of his parachute opening wrenched his arms out of their sockets. Because of the low-level bale-out, Wischnewski’s landing was heavy resulting in further injuries. He was hospitalised at Apolda for six months. Wischnewski’s injuries precluded a return to combat. Hermann Wischnewski was credited with at least 24 victories in over 500 missions. The preponderance of his missions were flown as a transport pilot. He recorded 18 victories by night. Of his 6 day victories, four were four-engine bombers.

 (pilot biography compiled with the help of the Lorant/Goyat JG 300 history, both volumes translated by this blog author....if you think you've read any of the above on one of Dan Case's FB pages then you very probably have since he lifts just about everything I write and research on this blog and posts it elsewhere without acknowledgement of course...just check the dates of posting )

This close-up of the main image depicts  another "White 1", the aircraft assigned to the Staffelkapitan of 1./JG 300 Olt Gerhard Pilz. Note what appears to be the wilde Sau boar's head emblem on the nose of this machine. A photo of the other side of this line-up has been previously published in the Lorant/Goyat history of JG 300 and originates from former JG 300 fitter Erwin Dill's album. However this veteran stated that these pictures were taken at Herzogenaurach near Nürnberg. This new view clearly shows the Saint-Augustin convent in the background, which situates the image firmly at Bonn-Hangelar during the spring of 1944.

This brings me to a point raised by Don Caldwell in the Foreword to his "Day Fighters in Defence of the Reich" ;

  ".. photos and document, once freely shared in the 1980s and 1990s now appear on ebay to be sold to wealthy collectors, frequently never to be seen again by the general public. The small band of serious air war historians and enthusiasts has fought this pernicious trend by freely sharing this material..."

Only in this instance it is one of those 'serious air war historians' that has managed to secure these images at great personal expense. He elected to acquire them, precisely because he was able to identify exactly how 'key' these images are in the history of JG 300 - the 'enthusiasts' however continue to post them in 'their' on-line 'collections', tamper with what are pretty poor quality scans under the pretext of 'cleaning them up' and present them to the world while unable to provide any context or story. To have them loosely and inaccurately labelled as most on-line image collections do, serves in my view to depreciate their value somewhat and leads to misinformation and myth. And before anyone bothers to say, yes, I'm aware that I am no better, but in this instance, a vague caption will have to suffice, at the request of the images' new owner. After all what will make the REAL difference is the details that their new owner will be able to develop around these images, setting their context, sense and perspective. Because these images will re-appear in a revised edition of their unit's history. They are first grade testimonies, the full impact of which will only become apparent over time, when their secrets are revealed....

And a comment on our forum spat regarding the posting of these images. As far as I am concerned I think its reasonable enough to re-post pictures of this quality during an Ebay auction (most sellers who I have contacted are happy to let me do this..), but I would expect to take them down at the end of the auction when/if the new owner requests this. After all, most enthusiasts - and certainly not David Weiss - wouldn't dream of spending 1,000 euros on a set of images, would they? In my view the new owner is perfectly entitled to 'protect' his investment. I, for one, am happy these images have been bought by a 'serious enthusiast/historian'.. .

Below; a new image of "White 7" 1./ JG 300. Note the wavy camouflage finish taken over the spinner on the lower images and the absence of red fuselage band.

Bf 109 G-6/AS or G-14/AS W.Nr unknown "Grüne 5", Oblt. Manfred Dieterle, 2./Erg. JG 2

Below; a nice print from my collection depicting Bf 109 G-6/AS or G-14/AS 'Green 5' of I./EJG 2, the Ergänzungsnachtjagdstaffel  (night fighter replacement training unit), in overall (semi-) gloss back finish. Pilots for this special Moskito hunting Staffel were drawn from the ranks of the Ergänzungsnachtjagdstaffel instructors and tasked specifically with 'Moskito-Jagd'. 

Established in March 1944 at Ludwigslust under Staffelkapitän  Hptm. Heinrich Spitzer, this unit was augmented to two Staffeln in July 1944 and initially trained pilots for single-seat night fighters.

 "Grüne 5", along with two sister ships "Grüne 6" and "Grüne 7", were briefly deployed as night fighters as described by Joachim Geier in the German-language "Jet & Prop" magazine issue 3/03.

Geier's article " Die schwarze "Grüne 5" der 2./Erg.JG2 "  (front page below) was the first to publish views of these machines. Geier's photos were taken from the album of Staffel erster Wart Gerhard Hübner. Note that Geier in his feature states that "Grüne 5" was more likely to have been a G-14/AS than the far less numerous G-6/AS sub-type and points primarily to the absence of lower cowl bulges as a basis for this conclusion. (Note too that Crandall suggested elsewhere that the codes may have been red!)

Note the owl unit emblem on the engine cowl and, unusually for a Luftwaffe fighter, the white or yellow propeller tips. Note that the gear legs - as recalled by erster Wart Hübner - were also painted black! The wheel hubs are also black as well, rather than red as often illustrated..Click on the image for a quality screen-size view.

 

 On the pilot roster was former I./ JG 300 wilde Sau ace Manfred Dieterle. Dieterle was posted as Staffelkapitän 2./EJG 2 on 21 November 1944. He mostly flew G-6/AS machines on 'Moskito' hunting duties, although this was less of a priority as the end approached. In his own words;

 "My last battles of the war were night ground attack missions, bombing convoys, bridges and anti-aircraft positions in the north. We had about 80 pilots and 56 Me 109 G-6s. My last flight was on 3 May 1945."

According to the original Jet & Prop photo caption the view above apparently depicts Dieterle in the cockpit with erster Wart Gerhard Hübner leaning against the wing leading edge and was taken at Hagenow, south of Schwerin, during the winter of 1944/45. 

The lower surfaces of the three Erg. JG 2 Bf 109s here were black. However "Grüne 6" and "Grüne 7" featured 'standard' upper surface colours with some areas of their airframes, such as the yellow lower cowl, in a cross-hatched black over-spray, while "Grüne 5" was sprayed black overall.

"Grüne 6" with  erster Wart Gerhard Hübner on the cockpit sill (via Joachim Geier)

According to Hübner, Dieterle had initially requested that his machine "Grüne 5" be stripped of all camouflage paint for an extra turn of speed for Mosquito chasing duties, and a Probeflug - check flight- was flown in the bare metal finish. However the airframe was finally painted a glossy black finish that was highly polished. Two of the three Bf 109s were eventually lost;  "Grüne 7" with Ofw. Steinhagen at the controls had to make an emergency landing in the vicinity of Magdeburg.

The front page of Geier's article below, shows the over-sprayed lower cowl of 'Green 6' framing 'Green 5' in the background..

More rare images of "Grüne 5" depict the aircraft 'captured' at Gardelegen having been left there in the spring of 1945 with mechanical problems. Note the 'extended' flame damping exhaust shield in the view below, evidently a field mod made subsequent to the photo above..

Modellers looking for decals for this machine should check out John McIllmurray's new AIMs decal sheet "Monotone Me's". Likewise modellers should consider purchasing a digital copy of Roger S. Gaemperle's superlative "Captured Eagles" which features two pages of previously unpublished coverage of this Ergänzungsnachtjagdstaffel Gustav including new photos and detailed text...

"Red 2" Bf 109 G-6/AS wilde Sau ace Friedrich-Karl Müller 1./NJGr 10 Moskito hunter, July 1944 - model by Jean Barby

This time last year I was preparing a post on the aircraft flown by wilde Sau ace Friedrich-Karl Müller of 1./NJGr 10. Thanks to the generosity of M. Jean-Yves Lorant in loaning photographs of the actual aircraft, Anders Hjortsberg was able to recreate Müller's G-6/AS "Red 2" Moskito hunter as seen during July 1944.

 That post (link below) has subsequently become one of the most viewed on this blog and has inspired a number of expert modellers one of whom is Jean Barby.

 In France Jean Barby's work has appeared in Wingmasters and Avions magazines and here he shares images of his 1:48th scale model of  Müller's G-6/AS "Red 2" based on the photographs and Ander's profile artwork.  The base kit is the Hasegawa G-10 and Jean has used the MDC resin conversion set to produce a G-6/ AS; as Jean put it " what inspired me to produce this model was simply Anders' superb profile artwork.."

 Click on the images to see a full-screen view,

This 1./NJGr 10 Moskito hunter as flown by Friedrich-Karl Müller during July-August 1944 is a Bf 109 G-6/AS  "Red 2". WNr. is not known.  Given the camouflage and the stencil below the canopy we surmised that this machine was probably built by Mtt. Regensburg. Jean has finished the lower surfaces in black - judging from the other photos that I have been able to study this appears the most likely option. The Kennziffer '2' is confirmed as red from Müller's log book. The aircraft features a red fuselage band (just visible in one image), pointing to this as being an ex-JG 300 aircraft. All of Müller's aircraft can be assumed to have sported a rudder scoreboard, from his Fw 190 'Green 3' to his final K-4 - here he has 22 victories (July 1944)- the 23rd resulted in the award of the Ritterkreuz. Beautiful rendition Jean.. superbe maquette Jean et merci mille fois pour les images..


" ..following two months rest and convalescence I resumed combat flying during July 1944 and was posted to Nachtjagdgruppe 10 in Bonn where I met up again with my old comrade Kurt Welter. By this time he had accumulated 22 victories and in two sorties on 18 and 19 July had even managed to add three Mustangs to his tally.. NJGr. 10 flew the latest model of the Bf 109 - the folding hood no longer featured the heavy metal framework of previous versions. However even better for us was the improved supercharger which enabled higher top speeds and a ceiling of some 14,000 metres - during a check flight on 3 August 1944 I reached a speed of 680 km/h at more than 6,000 metres altitude. I had never flown at these sorts of speeds in a 109! On 13 August 1944 our Staffel moved to Rheine and at 23h27 I was scrambled to intercept a Mosquito. The controller gave me a vector that took me over the Ruhr where I orbited at 9,000 metres. I was given constant changes of heading - our radar posts evidently had their work cut out trying to pinpoint the English pilot. The night sky was exceptionally bright - visibility was at least 5 km. After 60 minutes of fruitless orbiting I returned empty-handed to Rheine. Here I learned that Kurt Welter had just brought down his first Mosquito following a chase that had taken him north of Hanover. This feat was of course celebrated in due fashion as the occasion warranted - certain pilots including our Kommandeur Hptm. Friedrich-Karl Müller were soon very much the worse for wear and took the best part of a day to get over their hangovers. As a rule we tended to drink far too much....."

Fw. Fritz Gniffke  of 1./ NJGr.10

(interview with Fritz Gniffke of 1./ NJGr.10 by Jean-Yves Lorant, translation copyright Neil Page..more from Gniffke on this blog  )

Photo of 'Red 2' and the profile artwork of Anders Hjortsberg

More exceptional work from Jean Barby on this blog

Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-10 of 5./NJG 11 Fassberg, May 1945

There exist a number of fairly well-known and invariably poorly reproduced - if not to say incorrectly captioned- photos of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-10s of 5./NJG 11 which were extensively photographed by RAF personnel at Faßberg during May 1945. Below are two such examples ( in this instance saved on Marc-André Haldimann's Flickr pages, highly recommended for Bf 109 images..)

Courtesy of  Luftwaffe author and researcher Jean-Yves Lorant I am able to post two exceptionally good quality images of "White 43" WNr. 130369. Click on the images to enjoy a full-screen view. Finished in an overall light blue-grey 76 Hellblau "White 43" wears a colour scheme that was typical for the 'Mosquito hunters' of 5./NJG 11 during 1945.  Even at distance in the darkness aircraft wearing dark camouflage finishes could be quite easily spotted, especially at high altitude. Note the airframe has been polished for an extra turn of speed. Also of interest is the small sliding ventilation panel on the cockpit glazing. The last anti-Moskito sorties were flown during March 1945 and the handful of machines and pilots of the so-called "Kommando Faßberg" flew night ground attack sorties against Allied road convoys throughout the month of April 1945 right up to the arrival of British forces on the airfield. (Photo credits : Jean-Yves Lorant Collection)

Fritz Gniffke of NJG 11 recalls his first wilde Sau sortie

http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/moskito-chasers-of-luftwaffe-1-bf-109.html

Moskito hunting in the Luftwaffe (2) (Bf 109 nightfighters -wilde Sau)

The following is a translation of an article - with some additional material - that appeared in the late 70s in the French magazine 'Le Fana de L'Aviation' written by 'Le Fana' staff writer Jean-Yves Lorant. Translation copyright retained. ..

The De Havilland 98 Mosquito - of wooden construction and aerodynamically pure lines - was the scourge of the Luftwaffe fighter force during the last two years of the war. Powered by two Rolls Royce Merlins, capable of out-running the latest Luftwaffe fighters and hauling a bomb load of 1,800 kg - even a lone Mosquito could send entire city populations to the air raid shelters and proved a real thorn in the night defences of the Reich. From the summer of 1943 special units were formed to combat the Mosquito menace - Hermann Graf's JGr. 50 enjoyed a spectacular lack of success against the fast British twins. The Wilde Sau units, JG 300, 301, and JG 302 claimed no more than a dozen Mosquitos shot down during the first half of 1944 - but then these specialist night-fighters were largely turned over to the day fighter role during May 1944 under the pressure of the US Air force bombing offensive. Luftwaffe commanders were to place their hopes in the formation of a specialist anti-Moskito night fighting unit during the summer of 1944 - NJG 11 flying the latest high-altitude and high speed models of the Bf 109. On paper at least, these G-14/AS and G-10 variants possessed a turn of speed which enabled them to catch a Mosquito - provided they were loitering at high altitude along one of the many 'corridors' through which the Mosquitos penetrated German air space. We recently met and interviewed two former NJG 11 pilots. Their accounts shed new light on this little-known aspect of the night air battles over the Reich ...

Feldwebel Fritz Gniffke  ".. I was born on 28 Decmber 1920 in Danzig and spent a year as an instructor at the A/B 9 flying school in Grottkau where I acquired a little night flying experience. In August 1943 I was posted to the wilde Sau night fighter training school at Altenburg where I achieved the three blind flying Scheine -'licences'- qualifying me for night ops on the Fw 190 and Bf 109. It was while I was undergoing this training that I learnt that new single-engine night fighting Staffeln were being set up and that recruits were being sought from the ranks of flying instructors and other experienced airmen. On 10 September 1943 I received my first operational posting - to 6. Staffel JG 302 stationed in Husum. There we were told that being able to pinpoint English bombers over cities on fire didn't require any super human qualities - their silhouettes were readily visible and in any event the searchlight batteries would assist us. On clear nights lighting conditions were similar to those that might be encountered by day. I'm afraid all this left me rather sceptical. On 23 September 1943 I was airborne at 21:53 for my first combat mission at the controls of Fw 190 A-4 "Yellow 9" - as luck would have it the sortie proved to be a complete fiasco.. The controllers ordered us to orbit for thirty minutes but when the call came through for all 'wilde Sau' to proceed to Mannheim - the actual objective of the British bombers - I was much too far to the south. By the time I arrived over the city I could see several fires blazing on the ground while the searchlights continued to sweep the skies - but there was no sign of any English bombers...in the end I managed to put down at Lippstadt at 23:03 after narrowly avoiding a collision with a Bf 110 in the circuit..my knees were trembling as I climbed down from the cockpit and made my way over to the control room to find a telephone and report that I had landed safely. It was pouring with rain.."  (to be continued)

Below; Fritz Gniffke -seen here on the left- with his 6./ JG 302 Bf 109 G-6 'N Yellow 7' in which he claimed a B-24 on a day sortie, 11 April 1944  (note; not 12 April as I previously captioned this image, apologies!)

This image has appeared in a number of books (eg Brett Green's 'Augsburgs Last Eagles' by Eagle Editions) - but is not always correctly captioned. 'White 11' of I./NJG 11 was regularly flown by Fw. Fritz Gniffke and this scan is via Lorant/Gniffke. The aircraft is a G-10 with Erla canopy and exhaust flame dampers, rare for a G-10. The pilot head armour appears to have been retained which in itself was also unusual for a 109 Moskito hunter. Camouflage was the standard grey scheme. Gniffke flew sorties in this aircraft up until 14 January 1945 - picture was taken on 27 September 1944 at Bonn Hangelar.

Elsewhere on this blog, part 1 of my 'Moskito hunting' pieces  - Kurt Welter's 10./ NJG 11

http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/mosquito-hunting-in-luftwaffe-1-me-262s.html

Fritz Krause NJGr.10 Mosquito victory

7/8 July 1944
Oblt. Fritz E. Krause: 1./NJGr.10 Mosquito W. Kyritz, 65 km. N.W. Berlin: 7.800 m. 01.55 692 Sqn Mosquito MM147

Fritz Krause's action report for 8 July 1944. He was airborne from Berlin Werneuchen at 00:40 hours, flying a radar-equipped Fw 190 A-6.

"...I was flying over Berlin when I saw a twin-engined aircraft caught in the searchlights; it was heading in a westerly direction. I was then at 8,500 metres altitude. I closed in on the aircraft until I was 700 metres above its level, opened the throttle wide and dived. I came in too low and opened fire from approximately 200 metres beneath and astern the enemy at 01:48 and kept firing as I closed in. Almost instantly my first salvo hit the starboard engine which erupted in a burst of sparks before trailing a thick plume of vapour.

As I had over-shot, I had to break off the attack immediately and found myself on the right, alongside the enemy aircraft whose cockpit and external fuel tanks I saw clearly, and so was able to identify it without doubt as a Mosquito.

I fired off recognition signal flares to draw the attention of the flak and the searchlights to my presence. The enemy 'corkscrewed' in a series of desperate evasive manouevres. Because of the thick white 'fog' of vapour I was able to follow him, although he had already left the searchlight zone in a north-westerly direction.

Following the trail, I managed to attack twice more. On my third pass, I saw a further explosion on the right wing and an even stronger rain of sparks. At 2,000 metres he disappeared, turning at a flat gliding angle under my own machine. I did not see the impact on the ground as this was hidden from my angle of view.

On my return flight, passing Lake Koppeln, I was able to estimate the crash-point as lying some 60-70 kilometres northwest of Berlin. When I returned to base a report had already reached them about the crash of a burning enemy aircraft at 01:55 hours at EE-25 to the west of Kuerytz. My own machine was covered in oil from the damaged Mosquito. I was flying 'white 11' which was a 'Porcupine' equipped with the Neptun J radar and a long-range fuel tank for night-hunting against Mosquitos. One of the crew of the Mosquito, Flight Lieutenant E.V. Saunders, DFC, baled out and was taken prisoner. Three days later, at 01:20 hours on 11 July, 1944, I myself had to parachute to safety over Berlin, shot down by the Berlin flak!..."

Focke Wulf 190 nightfighters - Kurt Welter 5./JG 302

Seen here in Ludwigslust (Mecklenburg) during January 1944 Ofw. Kurt Welter of 5./JG 302 poses for a snapshot in front of his Neptun radar equipped Fw 190 A-5/U2 'Porcupine' with his mechanics. Note the rod antennae of the FuG 217 radar protruding from the upper forward fuselage and the flame damping shields over the exhaust slats.

From Jean-Yves Lorant's interview with Fritz Gniffke (6./ JG 302) in the late 1970s

" ..Welter had downed two Lancasters during the night of 2-3 December 1943, bringing his total to 11, all returned on wilde Sausorties. On the night of 21-22 January he had run into a Mosquito north of Magdeburg, but the English pilot had managed to get away..Welter was our role model - we certainly didn't have any others - there were very few if any other wilde Sau pilots who had managed more than two victories at that time.."






Seen during the spring of 1944 at Werneuchen a FuG 218 radar equipped Fw 190 A-6 of Nachtjagdgruppe 10. (Classic Colours Nachtjäger volume captions this as a FuG 217) Both photos are extracted from Jean-Yves Lorant's Fw 190 Docavia book with the author's permission. On P235 of this volume there is picture of a line-up of Nachtjagdgruppe 10 machines. Most of the pilots and machines seving with NJGr. 10 during early 1944 were seconded from I./JG 300 including Hptm. Friedrich-Karl Müller.  Click on the pics for a better view..



More Fw 190 nightfighters on this blog here, including Klaus Bretschneider's FuG 217 Neptun radar equipped Fw 190 A-7 seen at Rheine during early 1944