Which was the best night fighter? (1 Viewer)

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Like the SAW BNs, the FCS personnel often fought under fire. In July 1942, the 8th was still based at Milne Bay, New Guinea. In August, Japanese troops landed from barges only six miles from the headquarters. The squadron endured mortar and artillery fire for several days. Due to a shortage of combat troops, the men of the 8th Fighter Control Squadron were pressed into service as infantry, bolstering an Australian infantry brigade. Several tense days in fighting positions ensued but the Japanese threat was eliminated before the airman ***-infantry had to be used.42
In a more serious example, a Sgt Brown, 8th FCS radio operator, was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor for combat action during the invasion of Biak. Coming ashore on D-Day, Sgt Brown killed several Japanese soldiers during an enemy infantry charge against the U.S forces. Sgt Brown later crawled out under intense enemy fire to rescue a wounded U.S. soldier. 43

The airmen of the 8th faced more than ground threats. A combat report dated March 4, 1944 from the commanding officer of the 8th FCS to the commanding general, Fifth Air Force, described a Japanese bombing attack on Gusap, New Guinea and results:

1. Weather: 4/10s cloud cover, vis 8 miles, cloud base 3,000
2. First radar contact: 1230L, last contact 1340L
3. 16 a/c scrambled, 42 a/c returning from mission
4. 4 'Tonys' sighted, 3 destroyed, 0 friendly aircraft missing *
5. Several H/E bombs dropped; 2 A-20s damaged, 3 A-20s slightly damaged
No warnings given – enemy a/c came in low and timing of returning mission covered plot board with tracks.44

* 'Tony' was the Allied code name for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force's Ki-63single engine fighter/bomber

Finally, the 8th's combat reports also include a Bronze Star citation for a Capt Lloyd Brooks who served as a ground control intercept officer aboard a US Navy destroyer supporting the December, 1944 invasion of Ormoc bay, the Phillipines. Capt Brooks was directing a flight of fighters to intercept a group of enemy tracks. Despite the picture-perfect intercept, one of the attackers broke through and performed a kamikaze attack on the destroyer. Capt Brooks continued controlling until the ship lost power and eventually sank.45

These examples are but dramatic interludes in the work-a-day business of providing early warning and ground controlled intercept of enemy aircraft. The 8th FCS, and later squadrons like the 1st, 35th, 49th and 56th, working with the Signal Aircraft Warning battalions expanded the roles that radar could play. By war's end, GCI had expanded to include both the SAW BNs and the FCS to become Fifth Air Force's primary means of command and control (C2) for tactical operations. Indeed, V Fighter Command had been designated primary agency for all matters concerning air warning and defense. As such, V Fighter was the sole source for using SAW BNs and FCS.46

The Allied advance into the Philippines was perhaps the culmination of the progress made in combining the SAW BNs and the FCS into a smoothly running air warning and effective air defense machine. Many radar sites spread throughout the islands as the campaign progressed covered virtually every square mile of territory. Radar supplies and replacements shipped from Signal Corps depots from the ZI (Zone of the Interior) arrived into Air Force supply dumps and were distributed as Air Force assets. The signalmen of the SAW BNs drew rations and pay from the Air Force. BN commanding officers took orders directly from V Fighter Command that in turn relied on the Signal Corps officers to lend advice on how best to place and use the equipment. Ground controllers and signalmen worked side by side in operations tents and at radar scopes, directing Allied aircraft in a myriad of missions.47
This unity was a far cry from the early divided concept between the Signal Corps and the Army Air Forces. As a fitting finale, in June 1945, the Signal Aircraft Warning Battalions officially transferred from the Signal Corps to the Army Air Force. 48
 
Edit - someone else queried this.

418 Sqn was never attached to Bomber Command, and wasn't detached to 2nd TAF until November '44.

410 Sqn was also detached to 2nd TAF, in September '44. They patrolled for LW bombers attacking allied ground troops, as opposed to LW nightfighters attacking the bomber stream.
 
Well, here I come to ad my 3 cents to the end of the line. . . .

I'm not sure we can say which night fighter was best unless we first state what the criteria are. For instance-- an excellent plane brought in right at the end of the war, which saw a tiny bit of combat, but didn't have time to lay down a track record? Or an early NF such as the Beaufighter, which really "met the ox at the trough" so to speak, and slipped slowly into obscurity thereafter. Now, I don't know any of you on here, and I have not been privileged to access official data records, etc, nor taken the time to find out everything possible. However, Eric, I would like to ask you your opinion about the book "The Warplanes of the Third Reich" by William Green. As far as I know, the book is out of print, and I am privileged to own a copy. I don't know what to compare it to, but this is my source book for the Luftwaffe. No other book I have seen comes close to compiling a similar amount of relevant data and history on the subject in a single volume, along with photos, drawings, etc. The He 219 section in this book is about ten (big) pages long, and goes to great length to tell about the history of the type, and seems to indicate that the only two major problems with the type were bureaucracy and the deterioration of the war situation by the time it was pressed into service. Green states that it was exceptionally easy to maintain and service in field conditions, so much so that ground crews assembled six entire aircraft from spare parts and these were used operationally, though unofficially. The maneuverability of a night fighter is not very important, compared to for a day fighter, because it does not usually have to worry about mixing it up with single-engine types. Now-- imagine this, too. . . Just how fast could any of those German types have gone if it weren't for those huge aerial arrays they had to push through the air!!??

If you go based on what the plane was for the time it was introduced to night combat, I'm going to select the Beaufighter. In early 1941, it was faster than practically all the bombers Germany could muster, and there's just something about pulling the trigger for ten guns all at once. . . . and I dare you to find a sturdier nightfighter on the books. Well, the Mosquito might be as sturdy perhaps. One of the first to actually mount radar, the Beau I was a monstrous leap in the right direction, being lightyears ahead of ground-directed only fighters, or the Blenheim IF. . . . oo, enough said about the Blenheim. Bob Braham did manage to score his first night kill using a Blenheim, though, before switching to Beau's and eventually Mosquitos. I would really like to read an account of a match, day or night, between a Beaufighter squadron and a Bf 110 squadron. Comparing those two could be a forum thread in its own right. . . .

Also, don't forget that when the Mosquito NF II went into service, its top speed was only in the realm of 355 mph, more or less, which was hardly a healthy lead over the Bf 110F and G. How quick we are to forget the beginnings of the war as we enthusiize over the final year!

And while we're mentioning random thoughts, the Ta 154, though never operational, sure looks like it packed a lot of promise.

Let us not forget the F4U and F6F nightfighters, either. To be able to fly, navigate, fight, run intercept radar, and take off and land on a carrier at night ALL BY ONE'S SELF must have taken considerable talent indeed!
 
flights were taken in the Ta 154 while in NJG 3.

take greens book and use it as a door stop, it isn't even worth mentioning when it comes to NF coverage.
 
I haven't looked over the entire thread so not sure of prior discussions of Type 16 control (with up to 100-120 range) of fighters from Dec 1943 forward, then in July 1944 the AN/CPS Micowave Early Warning was installed and was capable on controlling up to three fighter groups out to 200 miles, then in November MEW was established at Gulpen, west of Aachen, reaching deep into Germany.

8th AF became increasingly adept, particularly from D-Day forward of picking up German Fighter concentrations and vectoring one or two groups to that area to kill something.

November 27 was a spectacular example of coordination and a bad day for the German Controllers.. three Groups of Mustangs were escorting three more groups of Mustangs on a Fighter Bomber/Starfing Patrol. The LW thought it was a 'bomber force' and directed their fighters to the area. In all 98 awards were doled out for that day and the 352nd, 353rd and 357th were awarded 18, 18 and 30 respectively

I am not sure to what extent the 9th AF adopted the doctrine for the P-61.
 
9th AF had the P-61 on hand in July of 44 for the 422nd and 425th nfs. sadly it was too little. the 414th nfs was equipped later and actually a small section fought alongside with the 422nd while pursuing Lw craft over the Ardenne. It was unfortunate according to the micro-fische of both outfits that ground haze even affected the AI with funny bouncing objects off the surface, much what I have gleaned from this has never been thoroughly explained, too many times in late 1944 there is visual but especially glimpses on the radar of rocket/jets flying past at incredible speeds before the advent of Kurt Welters Me 262 Kommando
 
I'm not disputing that the Allies were more advanced and increasingly so as the war progressed as compared to the Germans (and Italians),

???

You'll find it was the other way round.
 
The Bf-110 was a successful nightfighter.There was a plan in the works to make the Bf-110 as a nightfighter a major part of the Luftwaffe.The problem was that Adolf Hitler didn't want to believe the Allied aircraft production figures and wouldn't agree with the plan.But the Bf-110 shot down many Lancasters at night to protect German cities.
 
The Bf-110 was a successful nightfighter.There was a plan in the works to make the Bf-110 as a nightfighter a major part of the Luftwaffe.The problem was that Adolf Hitler didn't want to believe the Allied aircraft production figures and wouldn't agree with the plan.But the Bf-110 shot down many Lancasters at night to protect German cities.

I would take a Ju 88 over a Bf 110 any day.
 
Carrots contain a high amount of something called beta-carotene, this is converted into Vitamin A (retinal) by our bodies. It is then converted to a molecule called retinal which essential for a protein called rhodopsin to work. Rhodopsin is found in rods in your eyes and it converts light into an electrical gradient.
It's more a case of eating no carrots and not getting any beta-carotene causes night-blindness.

It's my first message so I apologise if it's not really about night fighters (having written a book about this matter, my personal opinions on the matter differ quite amply from the opinions of many of the excellent experts on this forum....) but as a M.D. and ophthalmologist I can confirm that, yes, carrots might help getting a better night vision and berries (blueberries, blackberries, etc), containing antocyanosides, can be even more helpful in attaining a singificantly lower sensitivity to low lights, so they were actually useful to night fighter pilots in those days. Nowadays rallye drivers simply gulp 2 or 3 tablets of concentrated antocyanosides (Tegens, etc) and it's ok. In those days, you ate berries or carrots; it's not a myth.

I must say that this is a really brilliant forum. I really wish to congratulate you all for your excellent education and for the good manners of this conversation. Hals und Beinbruch!

Stefano

Stefano Pasini's Homepage
 
Hi Stefano,

>as a M.D. and ophthalmologist I can confirm that, yes, carrots might help getting a better night vision and berries (blueberries, blackberries, etc), containing antocyanosides, can be even more helpful in attaining a singificantly lower sensitivity to low lights, so they were actually useful to night fighter pilots in those days. Nowadays rallye drivers simply gulp 2 or 3 tablets of concentrated antocyanosides (Tegens, etc) and it's ok. In those days, you ate berries or carrots; it's not a myth.

Thanks a lot, that's really a great first post here! The "carrot" story has always fascinated me, and I'm thrilled to read that it was in fact a well-thought out cover story with a proper scientific background and not just some transparent excuse to avoid breaking secrecy about radar.

Do you perhaps have a professional opinon on the effectiveness "night goggles" worn by British pilots during daytime (or under artificial light conditions) to improve their night vision? I don't know the exact method or if it was used by other air forces than the RAF as well, I only have some superficial impression from Tee Emm cartoons - which of course show PO Percival Prune bumping into hard objects while wearing these goggles on the ground!

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)
 
HTML:
Do you perhaps have a professional opinon on the effectiveness "night goggles" worn by British pilots during daytime (or under artificial light conditions) to improve their night vision?

Dear HoHun, thank you for your welcome and your question. I quote from another site:

"During World War II, the British Royal Air Force noted reports from pilots that nighttime visual acuity was improved after consuming bilberries. Subsequent studies showed that bilberry improved nighttime visual acuity, provided quicker adjustment to darkness and faster restoration of visual acuity after exposure to glare." This is actually true; not so true is what the same guy writes afterwards, i.e. "....Currently, European medicine uses bilberry extracts to treat several ocular disorders such as cataracts, macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, diabetic retinopathy, and night blindness." Sadly, the anthocyanosides alone cannot cure such diseases, but they're useful, enhancing the low-light sensitivity of photoreceptors, especially rods.

Night-time goggles were red-tinted lenses used to shield the retina from too much light and thus making easier the attainment of the desirable condition of sensitivity, to low lights, currently named 'mesopic' or 'scotopic' adaptment during the last crucial hours before the mission. The red light disturbs the reaching of this condition much less than the other wavelenghts (blue, yellow, green, etc; remember thata visible light is just an electromagnetic wave), thus in dim ambient light you can see throught those red lenses well enough to read a map but still not hurting your precious adaptment to low lights. All these ideas were lost after the mass introduction of radar in every miltary aircraft, making the eyes less critical to aerial combat (if you would allow me to say so).

The 'red lens' concept still works (a red-tinted lens is good to play golf because it enhances contrast even at dusk), just try it remembering that reaching a good level of low lights sensitivity would need 30-120 minutes and a single flash-light exposure to a bright light will destroy it. Amazingly, being a retinal phenomenon, either eye can attain it indipendently from the condition of the other. So, dear Eagle, you still have something to test after all! :twisted: Thank you,

Collector
 
Hello Graeme,

thank you for your contribution. Unfortunately that article misses the mark, being macular degeneration (ARMD stands for 'age-related macular degeneration') a disease transmitted as a genetic-induced disruption of the central cones of the macula, and no amount of carotene can fight this process. Being now in holiday in Tyrol I don't have a full access to my reference books, but the last issue of 'Ophthalmology' reports the results of the Beaver Dam study where it is clear that the most effective amongst so-called VSs (Vitamin Supplements), MSs (Mineral Supplements) and other drugs NVNMs (Non-Vitamin, Non-Mineral) is the combination of zinc and antioxidant supplements, and this works only in 25% of cases exhamined (Klein, Knudsnon et al, Ophth. 115/7/2008 ). Carotene is, I think, far less useful, but if you like those weird orange things, eating one a day surely won't hurt. Cheers! :D

Collector
 
Thanks for the explanation Stefano!

You could/should start an opthalmic thread! :D
This isn't the place, but I'd love to discuss...

  1. Diabetic retinopathy.
  2. Hyperkeratosis and corneal transplant.
  3. And High Index glass/lens.

Cheers.
 

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