ISBN 978-0-9554735-6-2
396 pages

Introduction and Acknowledgments; Foreword; photos; sidebars

Boiten, Theo and Roderick J. Mackenzie. Nachtjagd War Diaries: An Operational History of the German Night Fighter Force in the West, volume 2: April 1944 - May 1945. Walton on Thames, UK: Red Kite, 2008

ISBN 978-1-906592-00-4
412 pages

Foreword; photos; sidebars; maps; Glossary; Sources; Bibliography; List of German Night Fighter Pilots with One or More Victories; Jaegermeldnetzmap NW Europe 1944; Wilde Sau Map NW Europe 1944

   For more than sixty years some aspects of the Second World War have remained shrouded in darkness, including details of Luftwaffe night fighter operations. Fortunately, more so than ground warfare and more than naval warfare, air warfare in World War II lends itself to almost microscopic scrutiny, and aviation researchers have been able to focus their instruments ever more precisely on hidden data many feared would never be illuminated.
   That might make a clumsy introduction to this review of Nachtjagd War Diaries (hereafter mostly NWD), but it's nevertheless true and entirely relevant to Theo Boiten's latest work. In the same way Henry de Zeng and Douglas Stankey compiled the first volumes of Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe (see our review for details) and for the first time in English began making serious headway in terms of detailed Luftwaffe unit histories and OB information, Boiten has managed after ten years of painstaking research, verification, and cross-checking to generate enough lumens to provide a brilliant accounting of hour-by-hour operations and victories credited to pilots of the Luftwaffe's night fighter force.
   More than anyone, Boiten seems to be fully cognizant of the relatively few imperfections of his work.

   It is important to expand here on the sources and methods used in writing the night summaries and matching Nachtjagd combat claims to Allied losses. A great effort has been expended, in close co-operation with dozens of fellow airwar historians, in documenting and analysing the operational employment of the Nachtjagd on a nightly and daily basis and the more than 6,000 German Nachtjagd combat claims against the Allied Air Forces in the West. Unfortunately, very few Luftwaffe records survived the war, for several reasons.
   Firstly, most of the Luftwaffe documentation pertaining to victory claims of the period 1940-1943 was destroyed in an RAF Bomber Command raid on Berlin in November 1943. Following the loss of these records, the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe/Reichs Luftfahrt Ministerium (OKL/RLM) requested that all operational Luftwaffe units re-send a list summarising all victory claims made before 25 November 1943. Thus, the extensive but incomplete fighter and Flak claims records for 1940-1944, which were compiled by the OKL/RLM at the end of 1944 are a reconstruction of original documentation.
   Secondly, other documents (some 15,000 files) of the RLM that were stored in Berlin were lost in an Allied bombing raid on 3 February 1945.
   Thirdly, on orders from the German Air Force higher authorities, the vast preponderance of Luftwaffe unit War Diaries and Luftgaukommando (Air Force District Command) War Diaries were put to the torch at the end of the war.
   One of the primary sources which disappeared at the end of the conflict were the archives of the Aussenstelle Wiesbaden (Abschuss Kommission), the official inquiring body of the RLM and OKL which was responsible for the examination and confirmation of claims submitted for aircraft shot down by the Luftwaffe during WWII. Thus, only an estimated 2 to 3% of the Luftwaffe's original mass of files survived the war.

   Despite—or because of—limitations imposed by the loss of so many primary records, NWD is by far the most complete reckoning of night fighter victories published to date. And even with a few question marks remaining, it's probably as close to comprehensive and accurate as any work we're likely to see on the subject for decades to come.
   Of course, Boiten didn't overcome the limitations of missing records by magically throwing his books together overnight. His work already included a number of distinguished volumes covering the air war in general and night fighters in particular. In addition, his "Introduction and Acknowledgements" contains a list amounting to more than two pages of "former German aircrew, relatives of aircrew, and fellow researchers from around the globe..." who assisted with the project. Furthermore, Rod Mackenzie—"a tower of strength"—attained co-author status in volume two for his work, notably on the diaries for 1945.
   All that hard work and perseverance paid off, and Boiten has scored a notable victory, with NWD measuring up to the very best data-intensive aviation works of this sort.
   Indeed, in many ways this volume resembles data-intensive RAF tomes such as Martin Middlebrook's The Bomber Command War Diaries, W.R Chorley's Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses, the 2nd Tactical Air Force series by Chris Shores and Chris Thomas, John Foreman's five-volume Fighter Command War Diaries series, and Foreman's RAF Fighter Command Victory Claims of World War II. Considering the difference between availability of RAF primary sources in comparison to Luftwaffe documentation, that's an amazing accomplishment.
   The two NWD volumes divide into a total of ten chapters, each beginning with introductory remarks (usually amounting to a couple of pages) and covering a few months of the period from September 1939 through May 1945. Within each chapter, the material is presented on a night-by-night basis. In the first chapter, running from September 1939 through 29-30 October 1941, many nights saw no action at all and are consequently skipped. By the time the nocturnal air campaign reaches full blast, most nights receive ample attention from the authors.
   Each nightly entry is split into a narrative summary and a tabular listing of victory data. For each nightly summary, the book provides anywhere from a sentence to several pages of description. For example, on 21-22 July 1940, Boiten states simply "Oblt Streib destroyed a 78 Squadron Whitley, which was held by searchlights to the N of Munster." As the action heats up, each nightly entry contains far, far more information.
   Here's part of a much longer overnight summary:

15-16 July 1944

   Bomber Command directed its might against three rail targets in France and two oil targets in the Ruhr. Aircraft engaged in the two latter raids (194 bombers attacking Wesseling near Koln between 01.08 and around 01.20 hrs, and 170 aircraft raiding Scholven near Gelsenkirchen between 01.25 and 01.37 hrs) escaped remarkably lightly. Just five heavies failed to return from these two raids. On the approach of the Wesseling-bound bomber stream, at 23.55 hrs, elements of the Ju88-equipped IV./NJG3 were sent to an area over the North Sea on the bombers' track, to try an early route interception. The fighters did not make contact with the bombers though, and almost 1 1/2 hours later, the same Gruppe was directed to Gilze-Rijen to meet a reported 'mass of bombers'. On arrival in this area, a few Tame Boars intercepted the homeward-bound Scholven force. Returning bomber crews reported five fighter attacks over Holland and the Dutch coastal area, two crews of 10./NJG3 each dispatching a Lancaster, at Venlo and off Den Helder. In turn, one Ju88 was claimed destroyed over the North Sea.
   The outward-bound track of 22 Mosquitos of the LNSF flying to Berlin was accurately plotted by the Northern central Germany running commentary controller between 01.39 and 02.11 hrs and passed to 14 crews of I./NJG1 and an unknown number of I./NJGr. 10. On the approach of Berlin, two crews of these units each claimed a Mosquito shot down. In fact, only one Berlin raider (of 571 Squadron) was lost.
   It appears that the German Nachtjagd controllers decided, at a very early hour, to concentrate almost all available fighter Gruppen against the three French raids, expecting that the main Bomber Command threat lay in France. They were strengthened in this assumption by a screen of jamming of their early warning radars on the French coast. The German defences wasted no time or effort on a diversionary sweep by 139 aircraft across the North Sea towards Holland, but, as a precautionary measure against a possible Bomber Command incursion into France, sent several Gruppen that were based in Belgium (including I./NJG3 and IV./NJG1) to France. The Laufende Reportage of the controllers for Northern France opened at an unusually early hour, at 23.49 hrs. They passed plots of the three French raids, (which, at that time, were south of London), to 15 Bf110s of III./NJG5. These Tame Boars had been scrambled from Laon-Athies a few minutes earlier and were directed to the Cambrai area. Two other Gruppen (II./NJG2 and II./NJG4) became airborne from Coulommiers around the same time and were sent to the Dieppe area. I./NJG3 (from Le Culot) and I./NJG4 (from Florennes) were sent to the Bapaume and, later, the Cambrai area. Finally, IV./NJG1 was sent from St. Trond to Northern France at an unknown time and I./NJG5 was employed against one of the three French raids (on Revigny) after 01.00 hrs.
   Whilst the Tame Boar Gruppen were moved to take up favourable battle positions, their opponents, three separate bomber streams bound for Aulnoye, Acquet and Revigny, approached the coast of France in the Le Touquet-Le Treport area between 00.17 and 00.40 hrs. By the time the bomber streams crossed into France, the assembled Nachtjager were ready to spring forward in strength from their waiting positions in the Cambrai and Dieppe areas. The first two incoming raids, however, were not intercepted in force. The first stream that made landfall on the French coast, at 00.17 hrs, were 148 aircraft bound for Aulnoye near Maubeuge. This force, which bombed between 00.45 - 01.11 hrs, reported few fighter attacks (probably from I./NJG3 and I./NJG4, which were ordered to the Cambrai area, just west of Aulnoye, at 01.00 hrs). Two Lancasters were lost near Mons and Tournai, both fell victim to Nachtjager of I./NJG4. In turn, the Aulnoye force claimed two twin-engined fighters and a 'Bf109' destroyed.
   Aided by the searchlight belt in the Abbeville area, four Gruppen of Tame Boars were directed onto the second force, 62 aircraft heading for Acquet, just NE of Abbeville, which penetrated into France at 00.21 hrs. Oblt. Hopf St. Kpt. of 8./NJG5, however, was the only pilot to make a successful contact with this raid, some 10 minutes after landfall. He dispatched two Halifaxes near Amiens, which, incidentally, were the only two losses suffered by this raid. Very few Nachtjager managed to engage the Acquet raiders due to the very shallow penetration of this raid, which bombed between 0.28 - 00.36 hrs and re-crossed the French coast at 00.46 hrs.
   The last of the three French raids, 115 Lancasters and Mosquitos bound for Revigny, a deep penetration onto N.E. France, made landfall at 00.40 hrs. This force bore the brunt of the Nachtjagd onslaught. The four Gruppen which had tried to engage the Acquet raid only minutes earlier were now re-directed against the incoming Revigny raid and joined battle with three Gruppen which had already been vectored onto this bomber force. Thus, seven twin-engined fighter Gruppen (of NJG2, 3, 4 and 5) followed the raid south-eastwards past Paris, attacking continually up to the target. The Nachtjagd controllers skilfully moved Gruppen from beacon to beacon in Northern France (and, on the homeward route, in Belgium), which enabled them to guide many of the fighters onto the bombers' track, both on the outward and homeward-bound routes. The Revigny raid was accurately plotted between 00.01 - 01.46 hrs, the plots continually being passed on R/T to the Tame Boar hunters. Ofw. Herbert Altner of 8./NJG5 was the night's top-scoring Tame Boar pilot. After take off from Laon-Athies in his SN-2 equipped Bf110 C9+AS at 23.31 hrs, he made contact with the outward-bound Revigny force shortly before 01.00 hrs. Within 34 minutes, he dispatched five Lancasters with his Schrage Musik, which earned him the award of the German Cross in Gold. Ofw. Reinhard Kollak of 8./NJG4 dispatched four Lancasters on the run in to the target, during the bombing attack and on the first leg of the bombers' homeward route, for his 46th to 49th confirmed kills. This was Kollak's largest number of kills on any one night....

   In addition to the narrative summary, each nightly entry also contains a tabular listing of all the victories for that night in this standardized format: pilot, pilot's victory number, pilot's unit, type claimed, location of claim, time of claim, and actual identity of victim (where known). For 21-22 July 1940, with just one Nachtjagd victory, the table looks like this:

Oblt Werner Streib: 3

2./NJG1

Whitley

Gimbte, 10 km N Munster

01.22

78 Sqn Whitley N3487

   Of course, that single victory is a reflection of limited activity, whereas some of the tables on busy nights list dozens of victories. For 15-16 July 1944, for example, the table shows Nachtjagd data for 39 bombers downed.
   These more-or-less nightly entries take up the vast majority of the book, with each night's activities transformed into an endless series of deadly matches in a ghastly season of some horrifying blood sport. Night after night the home team takes to the sky and scores point after point in inning after inning, but inexorably the matches take their toll and despite so many victories the Luftwaffe slides into a long, irreversible endgame of defeat.
   The nightly entries are accompanied by photos (all with exemplary captions) and by sidebars containing wartime combat reports and recollections written by Luftwaffe aircrew. Other pieces, such as a long transcript of communications between a pilot and the ground controller guiding the night fighter to enemy bombers, also punctuate each chapter.
   The second volume contains a lengthy bibliography of books, interviews, and primary documents. It also contains a tabular listing of more than thirty pages titled "German Night Fighter Pilots with One or More Victories." These pages show name and rank of each pilot, unit(s) with which the pilot served, total night victories, total day victories, and fate of the pilot (including missing, wounded, POW, "survived the war," or killed with date and details of loss).
   Although this is mostly a history of individual trees, not forests, Boiten and Mackenzie do a good job of ensuring continuity from day to day, week to week, and month to month as the airwar rages, keeping track of the rapid evolution of technology, shifts in strategy and tactics, relocations of units, and changes in command. These two volumes won't completely replace broader histories of the nighttime air war (such as Battles with the Nachtjagd: The Night Airwar over Europe, 1939-1945 by Boiten and Martin Bowman or The Other Battle: Luftwaffe Night Aces versus Bomber Command by Peter Hinchliffe), but no other English-language source remotely approaches this level of detail for the Nachtjagd.
   Impressive as NWD proves to be, and despite the excellent summaries accompanying the tabular listings of victories, the real focus remains on individual Abschusse (victory claims). There is, however, no tabulation of victories, so the reader must count the listings to get a total for any night, week, month, or year. And what about night fighter losses? Although sometimes mentioned in the nightly summaries (and also available on a pilot-by-pilot basis in the "List of German Night Fighter Pilots with One or More Victories" at the back of the second volume), no effort seems to have been made to quantify the numbers of lost fighters or fighter aircrew on a night-by-night basis. Finally, these two volumes exclude German Nachtjagd operations on the Russian Front and in the Mediterranean, although Boiten indicates those theaters might be covered at a later date.
   In this case, to be sure, holding out one's bowl and asking for more seems unwarranted, because the bowl isn't empty, heaped as it is with unprecedented amounts of information about night-by-night Luftwaffe operations and victories.
   In fact, the two volumes of Nachtjagd War Diaries comprise a major, important resource for anyone interested in the Luftwaffe's war and, more than that, they rank among the best releases of the year.
   Highly recommended. Boiten and Mackenzie have performed an excellent job of shining light, as it were, on the campaign of the night.
   Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from Red Kite.
   Thanks to Red Kite for providing these review copies.