[烛光生存狂]-德国夜间战斗机飞行员回忆

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Nachtjäger - Oblt. Rudolf Thun

The following is a letter written in July 1981 to an author of popular aviation publications, by a former member of the German 'Nachtjagd' (night fighter force), Oblt. (Dr.Ing.) Rudolf E.Thun,who ended the war as Staffelkapitän (squadron commander) of 9./NJG 6, with 7 confirmed victories.

Thanks for your letter of June 22. I am glad to contribute some of my experiences flying the Bf 110G. Naturally, limitations of time and memory will constrain my remarks to not much more than a few flashbacks, and perhaps not always absolutely accurate ones at that.

First a short summary of my World War II service in the German nightfighter corps. I had started the war as an infantry man, but obtained a transfer to the Luftwaffe after the French campaign. I went through officer's school and various training assignments including Fighter School in Ingolstadt and Night Fighter School in Schleissheim near Munich, until I joined II/NJG 5 in early 1943. II/NJG 5 was then commanded by Major Rudolf Schoenert who achieved a total of 64 confirmed kills and is now a Canadian citizen.

After flying a number of day and night sorties primarily in the defense of Berlin with Bf 110 aircraft, I did a stint as a test pilot from the late summer of '43 to early '44. Shortly after my return to combat, I got the assignment as technical officer of III/NJG 5, and we transferred to Hungary and Southern Germany. On 5/10/44 we became III/NJG 6, and shortly thereafter I was promoted to squadron commander of the 9th Squadron, III/NJG 6 which was equipped with Ju 88. From then on to almost the end of the war, I flew Ju 88 aircraft in combat and got credit for 7 confirmed air victories. I usually flew aircraft with the marking C9 + AM.

I believe that Rudi Schoenert was the first who installed fixed, 75 degree elevated cannons with a separate gun sight in his Do 217, and our weapons sergeant Mahle made also the first "Schräge Musik" installation in a Bf-110, the plane of Cpt. Wilhelm Johnen. Mahle later pioneered under my direction the first "Schräge Musik" in a Ju 88 when I formed 9./NJG 6. This pair of vertical guns permitted a major breakthrough in night fighter tactics since it facilitated a very accurate attack from below where the dark background generally prevented detection by the crew of the attacked bomber.

But now to the Bf 110 itself. With regard to the various sub types of the 110G you are probably well informed. Let me just add a few observations with regard to the variations in equipment :

The 30mm MK 108 was disliked by most experienced crews. First, the muzzle flash was much too blinding for effective use at night, and secondly, the gun spring would not contain the pieces in case of a shell exploding in the barrel. Even though the German 20mm and 30mm ammunition was extremely reliable, the MG FF or MG 151 provided added safety in this respect. Accordingly, the preferred equipment of the G-4 was MG 151's forward and MG FF's for the "Schräge Musik". Experienced crews, by the way, never used tracer ammunition.

A few G-4 were delivered with GM-1 boosters, and I was once stuck to fly such an aircraft. (I think this was the G-4/U7). This was a quite useless modification. The added speed was not needed at night, we never had nitrous oxide in the first place, and the reduction to two crew members was a serious handicap, having a pair of eyes less.

During the '43-'44 time span, while flying day sorties against American bombers, we had our 110's armed with four 21cm (8") diameter rockets. These rockets had only an effective range of 800m, flew in a wide spiral, and reduced the performance and handling of the aircraft very considerably. In fact, one of our planes equipped with these rockets and its bulky carrying rack, crashed during the start just by flying into the propwash of the plane ahead.

The ETC 500 bomb carriers were delivered with the planes and kept in the inventory until mid '44. By the time we needed them flying night ground attacks against the Russians we had of course scrapped them and were limited to using gun fire in these ground attacks.

As you probably know, the radar installations and other electronic equipment varied considerably, even within a series. Early G-4's had the Fu G 202 or 212 (Lichtenstein) together with the SN-2, and the antenna polarization varied. Later on, the SN-2 had an adequate minimum range and the Fu G 212 could be eliminated. Only a fraction of the G series was equipped with Fu G 218 Neptun and/or Fu G 350 Naxos Z. I even had some planes delivered with the Fu G 101 (radio altimeter) indicator, but without the transciever, probably because they didn't have any on the production line and did not want to delay delivery.

A short word on the camouflage paint. Contrary to present beliefs, not too much thought was spent on this question. There was a general recognition that a light, mottled gray or blue-gray was hard to see at night, but beyond that, some lowly mechanic with a spray gun usually had a pretty free hand in spraying a pattern to his heart's desire.

Well, how did the Bf 110 fly? I started with an E which was badly rigged and a total dog. The F without radar was probably the best flying 110, fully acrobatic and in some respects smoother than the Bf 109 where the slats made some racket when wringing the plane out fully. The 110F, of course, didn't have the performance of the 109. Once I got a good 110F with a lot of patience to over 11,000m, just for fun.

The 110G-4 was sort of a mixed bag. The aerials, exhaust flame dampers, drop tanks, other paraphernalia and, of course, the excessive weight when compared to the original design, resulted in a very limited performance and handling envelope. Single engine flight was barely possible with full rudder, and in this case the rudder force was extremely heavy and led to rapid fatigue.

On the other hand, visibility was excellent, and the control forces pleasant and well balanced when flying reasonably within the performance envelope. This made the Bf 110G-4 an excellent gun platform, and since speed was of no great importance against bombers, the Bf 110G-4 was a quite good night fighter. I personally, though, preferred the Ju 88. For day sorties, of course, the Bf 110G-4 was completely inadequate, and we paid with heavy losses which forced the termination of day sorties in early '44.

During the period where night fighters were controlled from the ground within the range of ground radar, no serious electronic counter measures were encountered. The limitations were essentially that of the Lichtenstein radar and of team work and skill. During the period of the "Zahme Sau" where the night fighter forces were directed into the bomber stream and followed it through the target area, the success of electronic counter measures by the British was spotty. By that time, the fighter aircraft were equipped with the SN-2 which gave a decent detection range and permitted a skilled operator to distinguish between enemy aircraft and the metal foil curtains they dropped. More effective toward the end of the war were the very powerful airborne jammers the British used, since the long wavelength of the SN-2 made it quite sensitive to jamming. In summary, the electronic counter measures used by the British were never a major deterrent to experienced night fighter crews, but they were probably quite effective against the younger, less experienced crews on which the night fighter groups had to rely more and more.

Finally, a few vignettes on personal experiences, just to give a flavor of that long ago war in the night sky of Germany. Being a night fighter was mostly waiting during the evening and night hours, waiting for the bombers which, as often as not, did not come. Few slept, since scrambling into low clouds at night was a strong incentive to s

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