Page, Neil/Roba, Jean-Louis Night Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe 1940-43

On 10 May 1940, the Wehrmacht launched its attack on the West. One element of the West's response was the night-time deployment of heavy bombers from RAF Bomber Command over German industrial centres. These attacks were only effective to a limited extent, but the Luftwaffe's inability to track the RAF bombers at night annoyed Wolfgang Falck so much that he quickly set up a credible night fighter force. The first test flights with Bf 110s were carried out at dusk in Denmark in April and the 1st Night Fighter Division was formed in the summer of 1940. The first few months were chaotic, with constant reorganisations of units and reassignments of aircraft, but soon the Night Fighter Division was scoring steady victories - and losing crews just as steadily. Despite the efforts of the senior leadership, Night Fighter was constantly struggling to secure sufficient personnel or aircraft, and spent most of its existence playing catch-up - its radar systems were regularly outclassed by the jamming capabilities of RAF Bomber Command, although the development of 'Weird Music' and 'Wild Sow' gave Night Fighter an advantage. The Luftwaffe's first specialised night fighter - the Heinkel He 219 - was not tested until 1943. This fully illustrated book is a chronological account of the night fighter units for the first half of the Second World War and covers the major campaigns, biographies of individual aces and details of the technology developed for night fighter operations.