First Mosquito loss at night?

Oops, I was forgetting the intruders: thinking only of night bombers.

Hi Graham,

First nocturnal bomber air-to-air loss was DZ386 of 139 Sqn, on 20/21 April 1943, shot down by a 110 of 12./NJG 1.

Whether it was as good as that title and others have claimed is open to doubt … Mosquitos were such rare abschusses.

Yes, bear in mind that it’s a list of claims: Finke’s can be shown to have escaped, and there’s no match for Rauer’s second, though a 139 Sqn aircraft was damaged by a fighter that night, I’ve not been able to cross-check time and place.

Also bear in mind that the 219 had the same engines as the 410, on a larger, heavier airframe, fitted with flame dampers and festooned with aerials. The DB603A had to batter away on that bloody awful B4 fuel, so, “high performance” isn’t exactly a phrase which springs to mind.

Mossies claimed more 219s than the other way round, though I’ve not been able to confirm them all, at least one is for a 219 with an under-slung jet, such creatures certainly existed, but none was reported lost in combat.

Re previous post #6

List published (in English translation) in Heinz J Nowarra “Uhu – He 219 The Best Nightfighter of World War 2” Schiffer Military 1989.

Whether it was as good as that title and others have claimed is open to doubt. Without refering back to the text, and relying on memory, Captain Eric Brown had reservations about its one engine handling especially on having to go round and as this list shows it was not a prolific executioner of Mosquitos.Indeed, my notes show more He219’s downed by Mosquitoes than vice versa. Also Petre Hinchliffe “The Other Battle” (highly recommended) page 284 recounts a personal interview of Jospeh Nabricht’s funker, who says 12.6.44 they chased a Mosquito from the Zuider Zee to Saltzwedel (250 miles possibly) before they caught it. On landing they were greeted with a bunch of flowers. Mosquitos were such rare abschusses.

“(The “six Mossies in 10 days in June ’43” is the biggest of the 219 myths, simply didn’t happen.)”

Quite widely published myth. Any idea why?

No idea at all. Possibly someone somewhere had some finger trouble, and an awezum story for a kewl aircraft sprang fully-formed into life.

For the record, here’s Heinkel’s own list of 219 victories, up to 17 July ’44, put together as part of their plea to keep the 219 in production. This is from one of the German-language books on the aircraft, I’m no longer sure which one. If there are copyright issues, let me know and I’ll can the images.

“(The “six Mossies in 10 days in June ’43” is the biggest of the 219 myths, simply didn’t happen.)”

Quite widely published myth. Any idea why?

Oops, I was forgetting the intruders: thinking only of night bombers.

… or is it yet another of the many Uhu myths that are out there?

Just another myth.

The very first night-time air-to-air loss of a Mossie was as early as 28/29 July 1942, when Reinhold Knacke of 1./NJG 1 shot down DD677 YP-J of 23 Squadron near Haps, in the Netherlands.

First shoot-down of a Mossie by a 219 didn’t come until 6/7 May ’44. (The “six Mossies in 10 days in June ’43” is the biggest of the 219 myths, simply didn’t happen.)

I agree it “smells” like a myth, but the early Mosquitos were day bombers, so it might be worth studying just how many night operations had been carried out before the summer of 1943. Possibly not so many.