just a note in reply to some of the remarks given by me and another poster from a forum whom tried to pry me out by using my name ........
M.H. I would consider an expert at least with in regards to vets who flew and maintained the He 219 in I./NJG 1
hth
Hello friends,
As an 'airfield Venlo' and I.NJG 1 buff, I am not in a position to compare the quality and efficiency of the He 219 with the Ju 88 and Bf 110 variants. I have my doubts about the value of such debates because we all know that changing operational conditions during WW 2, must have had its impact on the suitability of nightfighter types. Seeburg-Lichtenstein tactics and Himmelbett orientated nightfighting was ideal for the (rather) short range Bf 110 though we all know that as soon the four engined RAF bombers arrived, the NJG's had a lot of difficulties to catch up with the Bf 110. When the Zahme Sau tactics were developed, types as the Ju 88 and He 219 had many more advantages above the Bf 110.
Therefore I can only present some facts of the He 219 with the I.NJG 1:
1) in an early stage of the He 219 design, it was exclusively constructed for the night fighter arm though other versions were planned as well
2) in that light, the comments of Martin Drewes about the design of the He219 (I know: technical quality does not always catch up with designs
) makes sense: several wellknown nightfighter pilots like Streib and Lent were involved during the design process of the He 219. Martin Drewes' is clearly appreciating this influence
3) the I.NJG 1 got their first He 219's (3 prototypes) in May 1943. Streib flew the first combat mission with a He 219 (still a prototype!), shot down 5 bombers and crashed the bird in a landing in Venlo. The remaining He 219's and (later) some newly delivered He 219's obtained a further 7 kills. The total for 1943 is therefore is 12.
4) in 1944 the steadily growing number of He 219's in the I.NJG 1 made it possible to increase the operational range: as one of the frontline units, the I.NJG 1 were involved in Zahme Sau (Tame Boar) operations and for this the He 219 had the appropriate range (but not always the endurance because of many technical malfunctions). The I.NJG 1 was one of the few units capable of shooting down Mosquito's. The total of He 219 victories for 1944 was 122 (including 7 Mosquito's)
5) The I.NJG 1 score for 1945 was just 10 victories
Of the 638 victories of the I.NJG 1, 144 were obtained with the He 219, mostly in 1944 when the 'glory days of nightfighting in 1943' were over. My impression, made during the many years of historical research about the I.NJG 1, is that several advantages of the He 219 were severely hampered by productional problems and technical innovations which did not work properly. The GL/C meetings and Heinkel Archives do reveal many of such shortcommings but contain also many enthousiast reactions of I.NJG 1 flying personel. Many technical difficulties, described in the KTB I.NJG 1 and even more some diaries of pilots and Bordfunkers arouse mixed feelings: good fighting opportunities were blocked by early returns because of malfunctions, but on the other hand pilots were proud to have a plane that was able to intercept Mosquito's.
Another, perhaps revealing question would be why the introduction of the He219 with the I.NJG 1 was much more smoothly then with the II.NJG 1, both units were used to fly the Bf 110. In that respect I do regret that we never will know the impressions of pilots like Werner Streib, Manfred Meurer or Heinz Strüning (they had nocturnal victories with the Bf110, Ju88 and He 219) thought of these aircraft. Even then, their subjective tastes could blur our opinions.