Fernachtjager - Long range night aces of the Luftwaffe

In the late summer of 1940, when the bulk of the Luftwaffe was engaged in the fierce battles over Britain, the newly formed Nachtjagd was experiencing frustrating times against Bomber Command's night raids over Germany. Radar technology was still in its embryonic phase, thus intercepting bombers at night was an extremely difficult task and results were disappointing.

To address the problem, it was decided to send night fighters in offensive sorties over Britain. The unit chosen for the task was the Zerstorer Staffel of KG 30, equipped with Junkers Ju 88C long range fighters. The staffel was redesignated I./NJG 2 and moved to Gilze-Rijen in the Netherlands.

It had been originally planned to attack the enemy bombers as they took off from their bases and along their approaching routes over the North Sea. However, no radars had enough range yet to monitor the British mainland, and the fighters did not have any airborne radar sets, thus rendering interception over the North Sea impossible.

The only viable method was to infiltrate the bomber stream on its way back to England, attacking bombers when they where flying with their navigation lights on their landing approach.

The first victory came on the night of 20-21 October, when Hptm Karl Hulschoff destroyed a Hereford near Dishforth (the Hereford was the Napier Dagger-powered version of the Handley Page Hampden).

A few nights later, 24-25th, Lt Kurt Hermann scored two kills against Blenheims and Lt Hans Hahn a third one against a Wellington. A further kill came before the end of the month, when Lt Heinz Volker destroyed a Hampden over the Lincolshire coast.

The month of November and December saw the Gruppe scoring other kills over England. Hahn and Herman increased their tallies and started gaining a reputation as long range intruders, together with Heinz Struning who scored his first victory on 23-24 November; he was to become one of the leading night fighter pilots of the Luftwaffe.

Hans Hahn

The new year started with four victories in the first four days, scored by Lt Rudolf Stradner, Uffz Helmut Arnold, Hans Hahn and Lt Gerhard Bohme respectively. Bad weather prevented the units from achieving more success, and the only two other kills were scored by Oblt Albert Schultz on the night of 15-16 January.

The following month started the beginning of six months of greater success for I./NJG 2. Twelve kills were scored in the month of February alone, with leading aces such as Hermann and Struning increasing their scores, while Oblt Paul Semrau opened its account.

The night of 10-11 February was particularly successful, when seven kills were scored against British bombers.

If March was a relatively quiet month with only 8 victories - two of them for Hans Hahn-, April was the month when the Fernacthjager became the nightmare of RAF defences. I./NJG 2 scored 25 victories and severely disrupted Bomber Command operations over Eastern England.

Hans Hahn increased its score to 8 kills, Heinz Volker to 7, and future ace Wilhelm Beier scored his first two kills.

The final exploit came on the night of 29-30 April, when Ofw. Hermann Sommer shot down three Blenheims and a Beaufort, plus five other aircraft on the ground.

Heinz Struning

In addition to their air-to-air kills, the Gruppe's Junkers Ju 88 were also attacking ground targets, dropping fragmentation bombs on enemy airfields and strafing parked aircraft. The amount of disruption was so severe that the RAF suspended all night training operations over Eastern England and the psychological effect on Bomber Command's was also very heavy.

From May to August 1941, I/NJG 2 scored steadily, achieving 13 victories in May, 21 in June , 19 in July and 15 in August.

Hans Hahn opened the streak downing a Stirling on 2-3 May and then shooting down a Fulmar and a Blenheim on the following nights.

Heinz Struning and Wilhelm Beier achieved acedom on 9-10 May and 3-4 June respectively. Another Fernachjager who rose to fame was Paul Semrau, who scored 4 four victories in May and June.

The months of July and August were to be final swan song for the Gruppe.

Wilhelm Beier scored multiple kills in  the nights of 5-6, 6-7, 17-18 July and 7-8 August, reaching 14 confirmed victories. Feldwebel Alfons Koster started achieving fame in July, reaching 5 kills on 14-15 July and increasing his tally to 11 within October.

Wilhelm Beier

Hans Hahn, the leading Fernachtjager ace, was awarded the Knight's Cross on 9 July as the first pilot to score 10 victories at night,  and went on shooting down two more enemy bombers, before finally meeting his fate on the night of 12-13 October. The German ace attacked an Airspeed Oxford on a training flight near Grantham, but the two aircraft collided and both crashed.

The death of Hahn marked the end of I./NJG 2's experience an night intruders over Britain, as in the following the days the Gruppe was withdrawn from Channel operations and sent to the Mediterranean theatre, supporting Afrika Korps operations in North Africa and against Malta.

Junkers Ju 88C photogallery - Zerstorer and nightfighter

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Junkers Ju 88 attacking Sevastopol

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JUNKERS JU 88 ATTACKING CONVOY IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

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Junkers Ju 88 in action on the Eastern Front

A clip taken from the Deutsche Wochenschau - the official wartime newsreel of the German propaganda - showing Junkers Ju 88 bombing soviet targets in June 1943.

JU-88 ATTACKING AND DEVASTATING PIRAEUS HARBOUR

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Torpedoes Away! - Luftwaffe bombers attacking British convoy in the Mediterranean

Ju 88s attacking convoy in the Mediterranean, September 1943.
A funny German shepard tried to get on board.
CURIOSITY: the aircraft launching the torpedo at 1:44 is actually an Italian S.79

JU-88 ATTACKING THE PIRAEUS HARBOUR - CLICK HERE

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Hell over Piraeus

 In the early hours of 6 April 1941, the Wermacht launched Operation Marita: Panzer divisions crossed the Bulgarian-Greek border and invaded Greece at 5:30, the attack timed to coincide with the declaration of war issued to the Greek Government. Hitler's intention to subjugate the mediterranean country had been known since February, and a British Expeditioanry Force was sent to the country; when the invasion began, more troops were sent to Greece, diverted from North Africa. The vast majority of men and supplies were bound to the Piraeus harbour, 12 km southwest of Athens.

On the evening of that 6 April, a formation of twenty Junkers Ju 88s of III./KG 30 took off from Catania, Sicily,  to attack the Allied convoys. According to John Weal - Ju 88 Kampfgeschwader in North Africa and the Mediterranean, Osprey - , the bombers were armed with aerial mines, the raid aimed at blocking the harbour's entrance. 7. Staffel's machines were nevertheless loaded with two 250-kg bombs each; the Staffel was led by Haptmann Hajo Hermann, now best remembered as the inventor of the Wilde Sau tactics.

The bombers reached their target at 2100 hrs and released their mines; Hermann's Ju 88s continued their course towards the many ships packed in the harbour; among those ships was SS Clan Fraser, a 7,529 tons British cargo steamer. The recently-arrived vessel was loaded with 250 tons of TNT (from the original 350 tons 100 had already been unloaded). During the attack, she was hit by three direct hits, as well as more near misses: the ship consequently exploded and was lifted out from the water, the shock wave even shaking the Ju 88s 3000 ft above her.

SS Clan Fraser

From the initial blast a huge fire soon developed , spreading to other merchant ships in the harbour including another steamer loaded with ammunitions, SS City of Roubaix. The whole harbour turned into a hell of fire since men on the ground were unable to tow the two ships away for fear that they would hit a mine and block the port entrance; after an entire night had passed SS Clan Fraser finally exploded in a giant fireball in the early hours of 7 April, followed by the City of Roubaix a few minutes later. A chain of  terrible explosions started, shattering windows in Athens 12 km away (7 miles), and being heard up to 240 km (150 miles).

At the end of day, nine other merchantmen were destroyed and the entire port of Piraeus was devastated. Losses were the following:                                                                                   

• SS Clan Fraser                                                                                                                           
• SS City of Roubaix                                                      
• SS Cyprian Prince
• SS Patris
• SS Surf
• SS Viking
• Alcyon (Greek)
• Petalli (Greek)
• Kyrapanagia (Greek)
• Syriani (Greek)
• Elpis (Greek)
• Evoikos (Greek)

In addition, 50-60 small crafts and barges were destroyed. Even worse, damages to port installations were catastrophic; with a single attack the Mediterranean Fleet had lost the only adequatedly equipped port to be used as a base for supplies and reinforcements. Piraeus remained unavailable for ten days, during which other poor equipped ports such as Volos and Salamis were used.

Hauptmann Hajo Hermann, turned for home with the port engine of his bomber damaged by AA fire; the long flight back to Catania was quite risky so he decided to divert to the island of Rhodes. With a combination of courage, skills and luck, Hermann and his Staffel had delivered a devastating blow to the British Expeditionary Force. Less than three weeks later Commonwealth forces were forced to evacuate Greece in an Dunkirk-like rescue operation.

REFERENCES

John Weal, Junkers Ju 88 Kampfgeschwader in North Africa and the Mediterranen. Osprey Publishing, 2009.

Stone and Stone War Diaries website.

Baby Blitz

 German newsreels footage about the 1944 Operation Steinbock, also called "Baby Blitz", a series of nocturnal raids over England in retaliation for 1943's RAF raid on Hamburg.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQeFHoQKt0M

DIETRICH PELTZ, THE YOUNG GENERAL

 Dietrich Peltz was born on 9 June, 1914 in Gera, Turingen. He achieved a private pilot licence at the age of 18, and joined the newly-born Luftwaffe in 1935, graduating as a Leutnant and being subsequently posted to StG 162 "Immelman." In this unit he flew Henschel Hs 123 before converting to Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers. Renominated StG 2 in 1939, the unit participated in the invasion of Poland, where Peltz flew 45 missions and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class. Following the end of the campaign the pilot was chosen for conversion onto the Ju 88 "Wunderbomber", and moved to II./KG 77 in the summer of 1940.

Now an Oberleutnant, Peltz flew both daily and night mission during the Battle of Britain. To escape RAF fighter's attacks, he created his own tactic consisting of flying into the clouds and then turning sharply to the opposite direction to trick the pursuing fighters - he was able to do it thanks to his high skills in blind flying.

After 70 missions over Britain -130 since the beginning of the war- Peltz was awarded the Knight's Cross on 14 October 1940.

Promoted Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of II./KG 77, Peltz relocated to the eastern front for the incoming operation Barbarossa in the spring of 1941. The Gruppe was assigned to the Northern Sector, flying missions against the Leningrad-Moscow railway line, and participating in the siege of Leningrad. At the end of the year he was awarded the Oak Leaves, only the 46th member of Germany's Armed Forces to receive the decoration. 

In late 1941/early 1942, Peltz was given command of the Bomber Unit Commanders School in Foggia, Italy, training bomber commanders of all Luftwaffe Kampfgeschwader in the latest operational techniques, some of which he had created himself. At the age of 28, he was considered the leading expert in bombing operations.

Luftwaffe units soon became overstrechted in various theatre of operations, as a result Peltz training units was converted into a new Gruppe, I./KG 66. The new formation was tasked of implementing the new tactics created and tested in its training duties, attacking Allied convoys with guided bombs such as the Fritz X and the Henschel Hs 293.

Promoted Oberstleutenant, Pelzt and his unit attacked Allied shipping in the Arctic along the Murmansk route and in the Mediterranean following landings in North Africa and Sicily.

Peltz was then promoted Inspektor der Kampfflieger and given command of IX Fliegerkorps. The air corps consisted of KG 2, KG 6, II./KG 40, I. and II./SKG 210 plus a reconnaissance gruppe. On 23 July 1943 he received the Swords to the Knight's Cross.

In January 1944, at the age of 29, Dietrich Peltz was raised to the rank of General Major, and nominated Angriffuhrer fur England. Assuming command of bomber forces in Operation Steinbock, he carefully husbanded the small resources given to him and carried out the retaliatory attacks over England ordered by Hitler. The attacks were suspended in May after heavy losses and poor results. The Baby Blitz, as it was nicknamed, came almost four years after the 1940's Blitz; in 1944 RAF night defences were at their peak while Luftwaffe resources in the Western Front were overstretched - in some mission flying schools crews had to be use to reach operational numbers required.

In the Autumn of 1944 IX Fliegerkorps was disbanded, its pilots selected for conversion as fighter pilots while gunners were sent to infantry units. Peltz became the commander of II. Jagdkorps in the Ardennes.

At war's end, Peltz was briefly held by the British. After being released he became a businessman in Germany and Spain, continuing to fly in his freetime.
Dietrich Peltz died at the age of 87 in Munich on 10 August, 2001.

                                                                                                                              

 AWARDS

Iron Cross 2nd class, 15 September 1939.

Iron Cross 1st class, 22 May 1940.

Knight's Cross, 14 October 1940.

Oak Leaves, 31 December 1941.

Swords, 23 July 1943.

Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe

Combine Pilot-Observation badge in gold with  diamonds.

JU-88 PILOT HAJO HERMANN DELIVERING A DEVASTING BLOW TO THE ROYAL NAVY IN 1941, CLICK HEREhttp://ww2eagles.blogspot.com/2011/03/hell-over-piraeus.html