Information of some night fighter pilots and their aircraft

[dornier335nut]

Hi,

I'm looking for information on the following pilots. I'm primarily after pictures of themselves in uniform as well as any information on their aircraft.

Paul Zorner - Ju88
Ernst Wilhelm Modrow - He 219

Any help would be of great appreciation.

Nicholas

 

[tango35]

Paul Zorner was born on 31 March 1920 at Roben in the Leobschütz region of Schlesien. He joined the Luftwaffe in October 1938 and began his basic military training at Oschatz-Sachsen on 7 November. He attended the Luftkriegsschule 2 at Berlin/Gatow in March 1939, where he studied simultaneously to be an officer and to fly. By November he had qualified on single-engined aircraft and was sent to a C-Schule at Alt-Lönnewitz where he underwent training on twin-engine aircraft. On completion of his training at the end of February 1940, he was selected for training as an instructor. Zorner was promoted to the rank of Leutnant on 1 April. He completed an instructor's course and was posted to the C-Schule at Zeltweg on 5 July. During his time there as an instructor he also attended Blindflugschule at Neuburg-Donau. In March 1941, Zorner was posted to KGr.z.b.v. 104. Leutnant Zorner was assigned to 4./KGr.z.b.v. 104 flying Ju 52 three-engine transport aircraft. He was to fly 162 missions in the Mediterranean theatre, including a detachment to Iraq with Sonnderkommando Junck supporting the pro-Axis Government in an attempt to oust the Allies. In August, he was operating over the Ukraine on the Eastern front. On 1 October 1941, Zorner commenced training as a night fighter pilot attending the Jagdfliegerschule at Schliessheim and the Nachtjagdschule at Manching near Ingolstadt. During this time he was promoted to the rank of Oberleutnant. On completion of his training on 1 July, he was posted to NJG 2. Zorner was assigned to 8./NJG 2 based at Gilze-Rijen flying Ju 88 C twin-engine night fighters. He flew his first night fighter mission on 17 August 1942, encountering a RAF Wellington twin-engine bomber but was unable to record a victory. From 6 December 1942, Zorner led 2./NJG 3, based at Wittmundhafen flying Bf 110 and Do 217 twin-engine night fighters. On the night of 17/18 January 1943, Zorner claimed his first victory. On 16 March, he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 3./NJG 3, based at Vechta. He had six victories to his credit at this time. He was shot down on 17 April attempting to intercept USAAF four-engine bombers by day. He successfully force-landed Bf 110 E-1 (W.Nr. 3962) "D5 + DH" near Cloppenburgh. He claimed his 10th victory on the night of 25/26 July, when he shot down a RAF Halifax four-engine bomber raiding Essen but he and his crewman again had to bale out when his Bf 110 G-4 (W.Nr. 6219) developed an engine fire. In mid-August 1943, Zorner was appointed Staffelkapitän of 8./NJG 3. He claimed three RAF Lancaster four-engine bombers raiding Berlin shot down on the night of 23/24 December to record his 17th through 19th victories. He shot down another RAF Lancaster near Luckenwalde as his 20th victim on the night of 2/3 January 1944. He claimed four RAF Lancasters raiding Leipzig shot down on the night of 19/20 February (27-30) and followed this up with five of the force raiding Schweinfurt shot down on the night 24/25 February (31-35). Three more RAF Lancasters raiding Essen were claimed on the night of 26/27 March (39-41). Zorner claimed a RAF Mosquito twin-engine bomber shot down during the night of 20/21 April. Zorner was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III./NJG 5 on 25 April 1944. On the night of 27/28 April, Zorner claimed three more RAFLancasters shot down from the force of 322 bombers raiding the armament factories of Friedrichshaven (44-46). Oberleutnant Zorner was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 9 June for 48 victories. He shot down four RAF four-engine bombers of the 432 bombers targetting railway installations at Acheres, Dreux, Orleans and Versailles in support of the Normandy invasion on the night of 10/11 June (49-52) and then a further three RAF Halifaxes targetting V-1 launch sites in the Pas-de-Calais area on the night of 24/25 July (56-58). Hauptmann Zorner was awarded the Eichenlaub (Nr 588) on 17 September for 58 victories. On 22 October 1944, Zorner was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./NJG 100 based at Nowy-Dwor on the Austria/Czechoslovakia border. The Gruppe was equipped with Ju 88 twin-engine night-fighters. In February 1945, II./NJG 100 was relocated to Wien-Seyring. Major Zorner claimed his 59th, and last, victory on the night of 5/6 March 1945, when he shot down an Allied B-24 four-engine bomber near Graz. Zorner surrendered, with the rest of his Gruppe, to US troops in the Karlsbad area on 10 May 1945. However, Zorner was handed over to Russians on 17 May. He finally returned to Germany, after many years of Russian incarceration, on 30 December 1949. Following recuperation from his ordeal at the hands of the Russians, Zorner undertook practical training at a local machine company and studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University at Stuttgart. On completion of his training he entered the field of refrigeration engineering. In January 1956, he joined the Bundesluftwaffe. He was not considered fit to fly and returned to civilian life in May 1957. He was employed in the Cryogenics field initially then the reconstruction and maintenance service within the chemical industry. Zorner retired in 1981 as chief engineer of one of the Hoechst factories producing plastics near Frankfurt. He now lives in Homburg.
Paul Zorner was credited with 59 victories in 272 missions, including 110 night-fighter missions. All his victories were recorded at night.

No Date Time Unit A/c Type Location / Comments
1 17.1.1943 21:55 2./NJG 3 Halifax 45km NW Juist
2 11.2.1943 20:44 2./NJG 3 Lancaster 40km WNW Borkum
3 19.2.1943 20:34 2./NJG 3 Boston 12km N Nordeney / Wellington of 426 Sqn, RAF flown by Sgt J Gauthier
4 26.2.1943 20:46 2./NJG 3 Stirling 30km NNW Schirmannikoog
5 7.3.1943 20:30 2./NJG 3 Wellington 12km NE Nordeney
6 14.3.1943 3:51 2./NJG 3 Wellington N Nordeney
7 29.6.1943 2:22 1./NJG 3 Wellington 9km NW Löwen / Wellington of 300 Sqn, RAF flown by F/Sgt Kleinschmidt
8 4.7.1943 1:09 1./NJG 3 Wellington 2km E Neerhespen
9 9.7.1943 1:53 1./NJG 3 Lancaster Near Harzé
10 25.7.1943 3:54 1./NJG 3 Halifax Ten Boer / Halifax "LQ-M" of 405 Sqn, RAF flown by P/O ME Tomczak
11 18.8.1943 1:53 3./NJG 3 Lancaster Greifswald / Lancaster of 57 Sqn, RAF flown by W/C Haskill
12 18.8.1943 2:03 3./NJG 3 Lancaster Peenemünde / Lancaster of 426 Sqn, RAF, flown by F/Lt Shuttleworth
13 23.11.1943 20:09 8./NJG 3 Lancaster 40km NW Berlin
14 2.12.1943 19:24 8./NJG 3 Lancaster S Sulingen
15 2.12.1943 20:29 8./NJG 3 Lancaster SW Berlin
16 20.12.1943 20:02 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Hintermeiligen
17 24.12.1943 3:02 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Rodsenhain
18 24.12.1943 5:43 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Vechta-Quakenbrück
19 24.12.1943 6:02 8./NJG 3 Lancaster 2km NW Apeldoorn
20 3.1.1944 3:10 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Luckenwalde
21 6.1.1944 - 8./NJG 3 Lancaster NW Stettin
22 6.1.1944 - 8./NJG 3 Lancaster NW Stettin
23 20.1.1944 - 8./NJG 3 Lancaster N Berlin
24 20.1.1944 - 8./NJG 3 Lancaster N Berlin
25 15.2.1944 20:22 8./NJG 3 Lancaster 3km SE Rebeitz
26 15.2.1944 21:11 8./NJG 3 Lancaster N Neuruppin
27 20.2.1944 3:04 8./NJG 3 Lancaster N Hannover
28 20.2.1944 3:17 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Wesendorf
29 20.2.1944 3:26 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Burg/Gardelegen
30 20.2.1944 3:41 8./NJG 3 Lancaster S Briest
31 24.2.1944 22:15 8./NJG 3 Lancaster SW Stuttgart
32 24.2.1944 22:20 8./NJG 3 Lancaster SW Stuttgart
33 24.2.1944 22:30 8./NJG 3 Lancaster S Stuttgart
34 25.2.1944 0:25 8./NJG 3 Lancaster NW Stuttgart
35 25.2.1944 0:51 8./NJG 3 Lancaster N Stuttgart
36 22.3.1944 21:43 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Giessen area
37 22.3.1944 22:18 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Giessen area
38 24.3.1944 22:57 8./NJG 3 Lancaster E Leipzig
39 26.3.1944 22:30 8./NJG 3 Lancaster N Oberhausen
40 26.3.1944 23:04 8./NJG 3 Lancaster W St Trond
41 26.3.1944 23:12 8./NJG 3 Lancaster SW Brussels
42 21.4.1944 3:30 III./NJG 5 Mosquito 20km SE Brussels / Mosquito (DD616) of 169 Sqn, RAF flown by F/Lt Morgan
43 23.4.1944 1:03 III./NJG 5 Halifax SW Aachen
44 28.4.1944 1:20 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster S Nancy
45 28.4.1944 1:19 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster SW Strasbourg
46 28.4.1944 2:09 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster NW Friedrichshafen
47 1.6.1944 2:35 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster Villeguines-Anmont
48 3.6.1944 1:22 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster 30km WN Évreux
49 11.6.1944 1:00 Stab III./NJG 5 Halifax W Dreux
50 11.6.1944 1:01 Stab III./NJG 5 Halifax SE Verneuil-sur-Avre
51 11.6.1944 1:08 Stab III./NJG 5 Halifax SE Verneuil-sur-Avre
52 11.6.1944 1:42 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster SW Dreux
53 25.6.1944 0:32 Stab III./NJG 5 Viermot E Boulogne
54 25.6.1944 0:50 Stab III./NJG 5 Viermot NW Etaples
55 1.7.1944 1:22 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster 15km SW Bourges
56 25.7.1944 2:25 Stab III./NJG 5 Viermot W Strasbourg
57 25.7.1944 2:35 Stab III./NJG 5 Viermot NW Strasbourg
58 25.7.1944 2:54 Stab III./NJG 5 Viermot 30km NW St Dizier
59 6.3.1945 1:30 Stab II./NJG 100 B-24 SSE Graz

Victories : 59
Awards : Ehrenpokal (31 August 1943)
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (20 March 1944)
Ritterkreuz (9 June 1944)
Eichenlaub (17 September 1944)
Units : NJG 2, NJG 3, NJG 5, NJG 100




here two images of his aircrafts :

greets

Thomas

 

[tango35]

Heinkel He-219A NJG1.1 $Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow 1944 01

At the beginning of 1944, German night fighters began to appear with one wing painted black, presumably as a feature to identify friendly aircraft to the Flak units. Such a finish is shown here on a Bf-110 (Messerschmitt Bf-110 Zerstörer NJG Camouflage 01) and an He-219A-2, (Heinkel He-219A NJG1.1 $Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow 1944 01) but it is thought that this undersurface coloring existed only for a short time. However the He-219 shown here was flown by Hptm. Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow of I./NJG1 who was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 19 August 1944 after achieving 25 night victories and went on to increase his tally to 33 may mean the camouflage was used longer than first thought.

 

[Maximowitz]

Nice work Tango. Do you have anything on Paul Forster?

 

[109ROAMING]

Bloody nice work Thomas

 

[Erich]

if I may. the last photo of the deceased He 219A is showing the night ground attack scheme though noted by I./NJG 1 pilots/crew and several NJG 1 historians He 219A's were never used on night or day ground attack sorties. Though rare to see in photos the scheme was also used on Bf 110G-4's late war as well as Ju 88G-6's. the ground attack scheme was not widespread at all and few a/c actually had it painted on in 1945 not earlier

 

[tango35]

The informations about Major Paul Förster are short :

As an Oberleutnant Paul Foerster has flown with I/ZG26 (3./ZG26) during the French campaign. 3 Victories prior to transfer to nightfighters.Source is Boiten and Freeman's "Battles with the Nachtjagd".

Later on he promoted to Hauptmann

21.11.42 Hptm.(d.R./Fl.), transfer from Höh.Kdo.d.Jagd-u.Zerstörerschulen München to XII. Fliegerkorps.
23.09.43 Hptm., Staka 2./NJG 1 (to 22.01.44).
23.01.44 Hptm., Kdr. I./NJG 1 (to 01.10.44 † - crashed in flames while attempting to land following a test flight). Posthumous promo to Maj.

He 219 A-0, 190194, G9+CL with Oblt Fritz-Konrad Apel

 

[tango35]

Hereby some additional images about Modrow :

and here a "sister aircraft " :

have a fine day and for the modelers :May the mighty Glue with You !

Thomas

 

[dornier335nut]

of Modrow or Zorner in uniform? Or what they may have looked like in uniform.

 

[tango35]

@dornier335nut : Do you have read my first reply ? There is a photo from Zorner in Uniform.

Again :

Zorner

Modrow

greets

Thomas

 

[Maximowitz]

Tango, eye-thank-yew! Excellent work.

 

[tiger12]

Hi

I have stumbled onto your information regarding the lossess below. My relative was in Halifax HR864 LQ-M when it went down on the night of 25th July 1943. His name is Edward K White known as Eddie. I am researching all of the men in my family who served during WWI and WWII. I was wondering where you got the information from regarding who shot LQ-M down.

I would really appreciate your help if you could.

Best Wishes

Jane

Paul Zorner was born on 31 March 1920 at Roben in the Leobschütz region of Schlesien. He joined the Luftwaffe in October 1938 and began his basic military training at Oschatz-Sachsen on 7 November. He attended the Luftkriegsschule 2 at Berlin/Gatow in March 1939, where he studied simultaneously to be an officer and to fly. By November he had qualified on single-engined aircraft and was sent to a C-Schule at Alt-Lönnewitz where he underwent training on twin-engine aircraft. On completion of his training at the end of February 1940, he was selected for training as an instructor. Zorner was promoted to the rank of Leutnant on 1 April. He completed an instructor's course and was posted to the C-Schule at Zeltweg on 5 July. During his time there as an instructor he also attended Blindflugschule at Neuburg-Donau. In March 1941, Zorner was posted to KGr.z.b.v. 104. Leutnant Zorner was assigned to 4./KGr.z.b.v. 104 flying Ju 52 three-engine transport aircraft. He was to fly 162 missions in the Mediterranean theatre, including a detachment to Iraq with Sonnderkommando Junck supporting the pro-Axis Government in an attempt to oust the Allies. In August, he was operating over the Ukraine on the Eastern front. On 1 October 1941, Zorner commenced training as a night fighter pilot attending the Jagdfliegerschule at Schliessheim and the Nachtjagdschule at Manching near Ingolstadt. During this time he was promoted to the rank of Oberleutnant. On completion of his training on 1 July, he was posted to NJG 2. Zorner was assigned to 8./NJG 2 based at Gilze-Rijen flying Ju 88 C twin-engine night fighters. He flew his first night fighter mission on 17 August 1942, encountering a RAF Wellington twin-engine bomber but was unable to record a victory. From 6 December 1942, Zorner led 2./NJG 3, based at Wittmundhafen flying Bf 110 and Do 217 twin-engine night fighters. On the night of 17/18 January 1943, Zorner claimed his first victory. On 16 March, he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 3./NJG 3, based at Vechta. He had six victories to his credit at this time. He was shot down on 17 April attempting to intercept USAAF four-engine bombers by day. He successfully force-landed Bf 110 E-1 (W.Nr. 3962) "D5 + DH" near Cloppenburgh. He claimed his 10th victory on the night of 25/26 July, when he shot down a RAF Halifax four-engine bomber raiding Essen but he and his crewman again had to bale out when his Bf 110 G-4 (W.Nr. 6219) developed an engine fire. In mid-August 1943, Zorner was appointed Staffelkapitän of 8./NJG 3. He claimed three RAF Lancaster four-engine bombers raiding Berlin shot down on the night of 23/24 December to record his 17th through 19th victories. He shot down another RAF Lancaster near Luckenwalde as his 20th victim on the night of 2/3 January 1944. He claimed four RAF Lancasters raiding Leipzig shot down on the night of 19/20 February (27-30) and followed this up with five of the force raiding Schweinfurt shot down on the night 24/25 February (31-35). Three more RAF Lancasters raiding Essen were claimed on the night of 26/27 March (39-41). Zorner claimed a RAF Mosquito twin-engine bomber shot down during the night of 20/21 April. Zorner was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III./NJG 5 on 25 April 1944. On the night of 27/28 April, Zorner claimed three more RAFLancasters shot down from the force of 322 bombers raiding the armament factories of Friedrichshaven (44-46). Oberleutnant Zorner was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 9 June for 48 victories. He shot down four RAF four-engine bombers of the 432 bombers targetting railway installations at Acheres, Dreux, Orleans and Versailles in support of the Normandy invasion on the night of 10/11 June (49-52) and then a further three RAF Halifaxes targetting V-1 launch sites in the Pas-de-Calais area on the night of 24/25 July (56-58). Hauptmann Zorner was awarded the Eichenlaub (Nr 588) on 17 September for 58 victories. On 22 October 1944, Zorner was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of II./NJG 100 based at Nowy-Dwor on the Austria/Czechoslovakia border. The Gruppe was equipped with Ju 88 twin-engine night-fighters. In February 1945, II./NJG 100 was relocated to Wien-Seyring. Major Zorner claimed his 59th, and last, victory on the night of 5/6 March 1945, when he shot down an Allied B-24 four-engine bomber near Graz. Zorner surrendered, with the rest of his Gruppe, to US troops in the Karlsbad area on 10 May 1945. However, Zorner was handed over to Russians on 17 May. He finally returned to Germany, after many years of Russian incarceration, on 30 December 1949. Following recuperation from his ordeal at the hands of the Russians, Zorner undertook practical training at a local machine company and studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University at Stuttgart. On completion of his training he entered the field of refrigeration engineering. In January 1956, he joined the Bundesluftwaffe. He was not considered fit to fly and returned to civilian life in May 1957. He was employed in the Cryogenics field initially then the reconstruction and maintenance service within the chemical industry. Zorner retired in 1981 as chief engineer of one of the Hoechst factories producing plastics near Frankfurt. He now lives in Homburg.
Paul Zorner was credited with 59 victories in 272 missions, including 110 night-fighter missions. All his victories were recorded at night.

No Date Time Unit A/c Type Location / Comments
1 17.1.1943 21:55 2./NJG 3 Halifax 45km NW Juist
2 11.2.1943 20:44 2./NJG 3 Lancaster 40km WNW Borkum
3 19.2.1943 20:34 2./NJG 3 Boston 12km N Nordeney / Wellington of 426 Sqn, RAF flown by Sgt J Gauthier
4 26.2.1943 20:46 2./NJG 3 Stirling 30km NNW Schirmannikoog
5 7.3.1943 20:30 2./NJG 3 Wellington 12km NE Nordeney
6 14.3.1943 3:51 2./NJG 3 Wellington N Nordeney
7 29.6.1943 2:22 1./NJG 3 Wellington 9km NW Löwen / Wellington of 300 Sqn, RAF flown by F/Sgt Kleinschmidt
8 4.7.1943 1:09 1./NJG 3 Wellington 2km E Neerhespen
9 9.7.1943 1:53 1./NJG 3 Lancaster Near Harzé
10 25.7.1943 3:54 1./NJG 3 Halifax Ten Boer / Halifax "LQ-M" of 405 Sqn, RAF flown by P/O ME Tomczak
11 18.8.1943 1:53 3./NJG 3 Lancaster Greifswald / Lancaster of 57 Sqn, RAF flown by W/C Haskill
12 18.8.1943 2:03 3./NJG 3 Lancaster Peenemünde / Lancaster of 426 Sqn, RAF, flown by F/Lt Shuttleworth
13 23.11.1943 20:09 8./NJG 3 Lancaster 40km NW Berlin
14 2.12.1943 19:24 8./NJG 3 Lancaster S Sulingen
15 2.12.1943 20:29 8./NJG 3 Lancaster SW Berlin
16 20.12.1943 20:02 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Hintermeiligen
17 24.12.1943 3:02 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Rodsenhain
18 24.12.1943 5:43 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Vechta-Quakenbrück
19 24.12.1943 6:02 8./NJG 3 Lancaster 2km NW Apeldoorn
20 3.1.1944 3:10 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Luckenwalde
21 6.1.1944 - 8./NJG 3 Lancaster NW Stettin
22 6.1.1944 - 8./NJG 3 Lancaster NW Stettin
23 20.1.1944 - 8./NJG 3 Lancaster N Berlin
24 20.1.1944 - 8./NJG 3 Lancaster N Berlin
25 15.2.1944 20:22 8./NJG 3 Lancaster 3km SE Rebeitz
26 15.2.1944 21:11 8./NJG 3 Lancaster N Neuruppin
27 20.2.1944 3:04 8./NJG 3 Lancaster N Hannover
28 20.2.1944 3:17 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Wesendorf
29 20.2.1944 3:26 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Burg/Gardelegen
30 20.2.1944 3:41 8./NJG 3 Lancaster S Briest
31 24.2.1944 22:15 8./NJG 3 Lancaster SW Stuttgart
32 24.2.1944 22:20 8./NJG 3 Lancaster SW Stuttgart
33 24.2.1944 22:30 8./NJG 3 Lancaster S Stuttgart
34 25.2.1944 0:25 8./NJG 3 Lancaster NW Stuttgart
35 25.2.1944 0:51 8./NJG 3 Lancaster N Stuttgart
36 22.3.1944 21:43 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Giessen area
37 22.3.1944 22:18 8./NJG 3 Lancaster Giessen area
38 24.3.1944 22:57 8./NJG 3 Lancaster E Leipzig
39 26.3.1944 22:30 8./NJG 3 Lancaster N Oberhausen
40 26.3.1944 23:04 8./NJG 3 Lancaster W St Trond
41 26.3.1944 23:12 8./NJG 3 Lancaster SW Brussels
42 21.4.1944 3:30 III./NJG 5 Mosquito 20km SE Brussels / Mosquito (DD616) of 169 Sqn, RAF flown by F/Lt Morgan
43 23.4.1944 1:03 III./NJG 5 Halifax SW Aachen
44 28.4.1944 1:20 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster S Nancy
45 28.4.1944 1:19 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster SW Strasbourg
46 28.4.1944 2:09 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster NW Friedrichshafen
47 1.6.1944 2:35 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster Villeguines-Anmont
48 3.6.1944 1:22 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster 30km WN Évreux
49 11.6.1944 1:00 Stab III./NJG 5 Halifax W Dreux
50 11.6.1944 1:01 Stab III./NJG 5 Halifax SE Verneuil-sur-Avre
51 11.6.1944 1:08 Stab III./NJG 5 Halifax SE Verneuil-sur-Avre
52 11.6.1944 1:42 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster SW Dreux
53 25.6.1944 0:32 Stab III./NJG 5 Viermot E Boulogne
54 25.6.1944 0:50 Stab III./NJG 5 Viermot NW Etaples
55 1.7.1944 1:22 Stab III./NJG 5 Lancaster 15km SW Bourges
56 25.7.1944 2:25 Stab III./NJG 5 Viermot W Strasbourg
57 25.7.1944 2:35 Stab III./NJG 5 Viermot NW Strasbourg
58 25.7.1944 2:54 Stab III./NJG 5 Viermot 30km NW St Dizier
59 6.3.1945 1:30 Stab II./NJG 100 B-24 SSE Graz

Victories : 59
Awards : Ehrenpokal (31 August 1943)
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (20 March 1944)
Ritterkreuz (9 June 1944)
Eichenlaub (17 September 1944)
Units : NJG 2, NJG 3, NJG 5, NJG 100




here two images of his aircrafts :

greets

Thomas

 

[stona]

To add to Thomas' post LQ-M was claimed by Zorner 11 Km NE of Groningen. The aircraft fell at Ten Boer in the Netherlands. The Luftwaffe had a stringent claims system in place (at this time,it was abandoned much later in the war) and Zorner's claim would have been cross checked with the crash site and any witnesses on the ground before he was awarded the victory. Nightfighters,unlike their daytime contemporaries,did not have wingmen as witnesses and have far fewer "optimistic" or outright fraudulent claims.

In Chorley's "Bomber Command Losses-Roll of Honour" your relative has the following entry.

R/150887 F/S WHITE Edward Kenneth 'Eddie' 25-07-43 405 Sqn.

You probably already know this,from another volume the crew is given as.

Flying Officer M.E. Tomczak, RCAF
Sgt. A.J. Wood, RAF
Flying Officer A.P McCracken, RCAF
Flying Officer A.J. Sochowski, RCAF
Sgt. C.J.V. Kettley, RCAF
Sgt. E.K. White, RCAF
Flight Sergeant M.S. Smyth, RCAF.

Sochowski was the only survivor. He claimed that they were shot down at low level which does not tally with Zorner's claim* of 5,600m but such anomalies are not unusual. Zorner was flying a Bf110.

Cheers
Steve

*From "Luftwaffe Nightfighter Claims 1939-1945" Foreman,Mathews,Parry

 

[tiger12]

Hi Steve

Many thanks for your reply it has certainly helped me. I knew about the rest of the crew and have pictures of their graves at Ten Boer.

I was confused as Rudolf Sigmund claimed a Halifax at around 23:56 hours in the same area, but was edging towards Paul Zorner as he gave the tail serial. I knew that the crew took off at 21:46 hours from Gransden Lodge, England and were on the Essen Raid. As Paul Zorner has given the time of 03:54 hours I take it that they were shot down on their way home.

Again thank you so much for your help.

Jane

 

[stona]

Yes,Zorner was definitely credited with this Halifax and at that time the claims verification procedure,which went up to the RLM (Reich Air Ministry),was quite thorough and long winded. It could take many weeks for a claim to be confirmed and credited,or denied.
I'm actually away from home so can't check for sure but it certainly looks like the Halifax was on the way home. Sadly to be shot down on the return journey was not at all uncommon. Shortcuts were taken (against explicit orders),the concentration of the bomber crews might be wavering after a long and stressful night and of course the German nightfighter controllers knew were the bombers were now headed.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Airframes]

It's probably not relevant in this instance, but just check the times.
During WW2, the time entered in the (RAF) Flying Control log was GMT. The time in the ORB and Pilot's Log was the time used during the period (i.e, BST/DBST etc). The German forces, however, were two hours ahead of the time used in the UK, not the normal one hour contintental time zone difference.
All these time differences can affect calculation of actual time, position etc.

 

[stona]

A very good point. I will check when I get home in a couple of days.
Cheers
Steve

 

[pbfoot]

Its good to note that aircraft flying from continent post DDay used whatever time system that was the continent not the British Isles , this caused a lot of confusion in the awarding of claims. Eg Charlie Fox strafing Rommel,