Nachtjagd mementoes..

Hi Erich--unfortunately it is but, ill have access to it in about 5 weeks--unless I can get one of my Nephews to go into storage and get the box of books I have it stored in--and bring it to me.

Ill see if I can get one to look for me the next time they go to their storage place. Its usually every so often as they have cars stored there as well--and they eat-sleep and breathe--CARS.

[ 30. December 2002, 04:33 PM: Message edited by: C.Evans ]

 

Bitte ! sooner the better as I want to write him in January.......don't sweat it though if this isn't possible

vielen dank

E

 

Ill do my best. We might be even luckier still--if the box the book is in, is at Sarges house--ill check tonight when I go over and ill let ya know tomorrow.

 

Hi Erich I checked last night but nicht--it wasnt in any of my book boxes at his houde SOOOOOOOOO--it will be in February before I can check 4. U.

 

Having used just about every search engine on the 'net and come up with precious little, I just found the following totally by accident. I can't vouch for the authenticity, but I think it's interesting stuff.....?

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/drewesmb_1.htm

 

How about this for "Nachtjagd"?

Arado Ar TEW 16/43-19


The TEW 16/43-19 was a mid-wing monoplane, constructed entirely of metal. There were two jet engines mounted below the sweptback wings, in the 1500 kg (3300 lbs) thrust range. A single fin and rudder was fitted, and the tailplanes also had sweepback. The cockpit was located in the extreme fuselage nose, and held two men sitting back to back. It was very reminiscent of the earlier Arado 240 forward fuselage and cockpit. The undercarriage was to be a tricycle type, and all wheels were single tired. Five different versions were envisioned:

Schnellbomber (High-speed bomber)
Zerstörer (Destroyer)
Nachtjäger (Night Fighter)
Schlechtwetterjäger (Bad weather fighter)
Aufklärer (Reconnaissance)

Zerstörer
(Destroyer)

Three forward firing
MK 103 30mm &
two MK 213 cannon
in a ventral pack
Two forward firing
MK 213 in the
fuselage sides
Two rear firing
remote controlled
MK 213 cannon
Max. Bomb Load
1000 kg (2205 lbs)
carried externally
Bombs carried beneath
each engine nacelle

Nachtjäger
(Night Fighter)

Two forward firing
MK 108 30mm &
three MK 213 cannon
in a ventral pack
Two forward firing
MK 213 in the
fuselage sides
Two MK 108 30mm
firing upwards at 70°
behind cockpit
Two rear firing
remote controlled
MK 213 cannon
Radar operator sits
in rear fuselage
Internal radar
dish in nose


http://www.luft46.com/arado/artew19.html#NJ

 

No thnaks ! not until the nose is armored and get rid of all the glass in the front of the canopy....this is the reason why the AR 234 was rejected as a night fighter and the Me 262A-1a took over. The pilot was blinded on the attack run by searchlights from the ground and odd mirror reflections throughout the cockpit, plus any damge from the RAF bomber would cuase debris to smash through the nose and thus.......

E

 

Thanx Erich again!

Nice stats don´t mean good jagd...

 

Just found another link with info about Martin Drewes and his aircraft ; -

http://www.pilotenbunker.de/Nachtjaeger/Luftwaffe/Drewes_Martin/drewes.htm

 

JUNKERS Ju 388J STÖRTEBEKER
( The name "Stortebecker", referring to a legendary and blood-thirsty Baltic Sea pirate, was assigned by Hitler in March 1945. )

One of the models for night fighter-never made it!



Type: (L) Reconnaissance, (J) Night Fighter,
(K) Bomber

Number Produced:
Ju 388L: 47 Ju 388J: 3 Ju 388K: 15

Armament:
Ju 388J-1:
Two 30mm cannon firing forward.
Two 20mm MG 151 cannon firing forward.
Two 20mm MG 151 cannon in Shrage Musik Installation in rear fuselage.

Performance:
Maximum Speed:
Ju 388L-1: 407 mph (655 kph)
Ju 388J-1: 362 mph (582 kph)
Initial Climb: N/A
Service Ceiling (Typical): 44,000 ft. (13,500m)

Engine:
Most:
Model: BMW 801TJ
Type: 18-Cylinder two-row radial
Number: Two Horsepower: 1,890 hp

Junkers Ju 388


It was extremely urgent to fill the gap left by the abandoned Ju 288. Fortunately, Junkers had carried on development of high-altitude models of the Ju 188 and three of these, originally designated Ju 188J, Ju 188K and Ju 188L, became the Ju 388J (all-weather fighter), Ju 388K (bomber) and Ju 388L (photo-reconnaissance) models. Although all were intended originally to have Jumo 213E engines, supplies of these were unreliable since they were in great demand, and the three models thus used the turbo-supercharged BMW 801TJ radial.

Since high-altitude reconnaissance was the biggest priority, the first prototype of the new series was a Ju 388L, converted from a Ju 188T, while the following pre-production batch was converted from Ju 88S airframes, the first of them being handed over to the Luftwaffe in August 1944. Construction of Ju 388Ls totalled 47 by the time production was halted in December 1944 when photo-reconnaissance aircraft were, it was decided, no longer a priority. The Ju 388J fighter was even less fortunate, only three prototypes being completed, and 10 pre-production Ju 388K-0 bombers plus five Ju 388K-1 production models had been completed before the axe fell on this, the final development of the Ju 88.

http://www.kotfsc.com/aircraft/ju-188.htm

-----------------

Under the "Hubertus" program of 1944, plans called for production of 300-400 Ju-388s a month at seven different manufacturers. But only 176 were completed by the war's end, mostly at Allgemeine Transportanlagen Gesellschaft in the Leipzig suburb of Mockau and at the Schonefeld, Berlin, plant of the Henschel Flugzeugwerke AG. The Ju-388J was produced in the greatest numbers, with 102 being built. A preproduction batch of 10 Ju-388L-0s was converted from Ju-188S airframes in 1944 and 48 Ju-388L-1s were produced at Junkers' Merseburg factory before the war ended in May, 1945. Ten Ju-388K-0s and six Ju-388K-1s were built by Henschel before production was cancelled in February, 1945. The Luftwaffe received only 23 Ju-388s in service. A very few Ju-388L-1 may have flown some photo reconnaissance sorties during 1944 and 1945, but the type was never fully operational. Soviet forces captured the Schonefeld site in May 1945, and it became the central airport for the new German Democratic Republic.

Although none of the Ju-388K fighters actually saw combat, several were used to test the first air-to-air guided missiles, the subsonic Ruhrstahl X-4 and Henschel Hs-298. The X-4 was a small, wire-guided, rocket-powered missile intended for use against B-17 formations. It had a range of 5.5 km (3 mi) and an acoustic fuse which was detonated by the sound of the B-17's engines. The Hs-298 was a less-successful radio-controlled missile, powered by a two-stage solid-fuelled rocket, which was cancelled in favor of the X-4.

The Ju-388L-1 at the National Air and Space Museum, with construction number (werke nummer) 560049, was the eighth of the series manufactured at Weser Flugzeugbau's Nordenham plant. Parts of the airframe were built at ATG in Altenburg and at Niedersachsische Metallwerke Brinkmann & Mergel in Hamburg-Harburg. Completed early in 1945, the aircraft was captured by U.S. troops at Merseburg in 1945 and is the only Ju-388 known to exist.

http://www.nasm.si.edu/nasm/aero/aircraft/junkers_388.htm

 

First the Ju 388 nachtjäger was a total flop. Trying to arm the a/c with gorund attack Mk 103's was just plain stupid. They were too heavy. The engine were not set into the wings properly and field tests conducted caused the BMW's to drop forward and would tear the wings off and push the cockpit forward and down.

this IS the site on the Ju 388:

www.ju388.de

enjoy

E

 

I was waiting for Erich to attack !

Thanks for the link, though - this led me to another interesting one I hadn't visited before ; -

http://www.preservedaxisaircraft.com/

 

Great links guys ! Martin you are getting ever closer to the magical 2000 !

Speaking of nachtjagd momento's just picked up a nice photo of Ritterkreuz Ace Arnold Döring who was quite a successful bomber ace then into JG 300 wilde sau in the Bf 109G-6 and then into NJG 2 and NJG 3 flying over the UK on March 4/5 1945 in Unternehmen Gislea. The info came with a nice typed bio in German which Arnold took a green pen and corrected some mistakes. Sadly he passed away within the last two years.

E

 

This intriguing and enigmatic little item appeared in 'Aeroplane' magazine just this week : -

'D J Coxell, 1 Highlands, Mont Marche, Forest, Guernsey GY8 0HE, was returning to Earls Colne from an SOE agent and supply drop near Utrecht in Halifax LL351/P5-W at 0128 hrs on March 4, 1945 when, near Wells-next-the-Sea, his rear gunner reported two red glows about 400 yds astern which necessitated immediate and violent avoiding action.

That night, 35 aircraft were lost, many to 120 Ju88 intruders operating over the UK.

A German intruder pilot has visited the PRO or RAF Museum to carry our research for his book and feels that he may have been making the interception concerned, since the crew named included Coxell and Wiles. Mr Coxell would like to know the book's title and wishes to contact the author.'

 

Martin :

It's a bloody small world mate ! I chatted with Coxell just this last year about the jump on his a/c. There was a strong possiblity it was the big ace from NJG 2 Heinz Rökker, but Heinz has said that he came in on one RAF unidentified with his schräg waffen and he missed and the a/c banked away and he lost it. Another German pilot from I./NJG 2 was in positon when Heinz cut him off, and Heinz felt like a complete idiot afterward as he had never missed using the oblique weapons.
Heinz's book is "I./NJG2" from VDM verlag, all in German isbn # 3-925480-21-8.
Heinz Nickel
Oselbachstrasse 46
66482 Zweibrücken
Germany

Heinz has visted PRO several times but I think several other night fighter notables also have like Peter Spoden. but he was not on this March 4/5 45 mission.....

E

 

two very interesting letters from two NF aces, Heinz Rökker and Herbert Rauh came yesterday. Both very informative and articulate men. My letters were focused on their 1945 missions. Camo details on the a/c were nil as they both were not concerned with what the appearnce of the a/c looked like as long as their a/c was in proper fit and could perform with good running engines and hopefully no malfunctioning armament.
Herbert is going to be 90 years of age in November this year and told me in extensive detail about his last mission in March of 45 shooting down 1 Lanc and nearly not making it back to base with mossie intruders shooting up everything they could find in transit and in the flight landing pattern. His Ju 88G-6 was holed severely and he almost put the Junkers in a ditch as he and his crew ran at lighting pace from their a/c.
Some great signed pics and signed stickers for the books. Intersting that Heinz has all his medals and herbert lost them all including his flugbuch to capturing Allied forces.

E

 

That's very impressive, Erich !

Heinz Rokker - I believe that he had a considerable success on 21/22 February 1945, claiming six bombers - the same night that Schnaufer claimed seven ?

 

Yes February 21/22, 1945 was a pretty sick night. many claims by the German nf force. 59 claims !

Heinz Rökker claimed 6 Lancasters

South of Wageningen at 20.45
South/West of Hertogenbosch at 20.56
South/East of Eindhoven at 21.06
South-West of Eindhoven at 21.12
South-West of Eindhoven at 21.13
South-West of Eindhoven at 21.19

these were his 55-60 victories

a strange one is the claims of the mysterious major Eckhoff which I have found no information he was ever part of any staffel in II./NJg 2, he claimed 5 Lancasters this, but the times are missing.

Martin do you have any info via Harris's book about the raid on January 16/17, 1945 ? Magdeburg especially, as I am working with a UK grandson who lost his relative in a Hali after the raid on Magdeburg and upon returning west was shot down by a German nf. the grandfather, F/O Allan John Marshall was KIA.

thanks !

E

 

Sorry, Erich - no mention at all in either of Harris' books ( Bomber Offensive or the Despatch ), and not in the Official History either....

 

Interesting, ok I will check other sources and first hand accounts. Appreciate you checking again for me.

E