Nachtjager, Volume One: Luftwaffe Night Fighter Units 1939-1943 (Luftwaffe Colours) [Paperback]

Ian Allan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1903223539 | ISBN-13: 978-1903223536 | Publication Date: January 28, 2006

Produced in the same style as the Jagdwaffe series (which concentrated on German day fighters), this is the first of a two-part history of the German Nachtjager the nightfighter force in World War II. The Luftwaffe used many aircraft in the night fighter role, primarily to combat RAF Bomber Commanders nocturnal heavy bombing raids against German targets from 1940-41 onwards, and a cat-and-mouse development of aircraft enhancement, weapons, guidance systems, and radar took place. The book contains a wide variety of aircraft. This volume, concentrates on the single-seat Me109 fighter adapted as a night fighter, early versions of the Me110 and the Ju88. The text is accompanied by a wide range of photographs many published for the first time together with color profiles, biographies of top night fighter aces such as Falck, Schnaufer, Lent, Jabs and others. Furthermore, the book includes pilot accounts and details of the Schr+±ge Musik upward-firing, FuG202 Lichtenstein and SN-2 radar sets, etc. With the great importance attached by the Royal Air Force to its nocturnal bombing raids, the importance to the defense of Germany of the night fighters squadrons cannot be overstated. This volume and its companion will provide the modeler and historian with a detailed examination of the Nachtjager forces deployed by the Luftwaffe during the war and will be required reading for all interested in the subject of the nightly battles over the skies of the Reich during World War II.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Williams resides in the west of England with his wife and daughter, but travels frequently to Germany to interview former day and nightfighter pilots and research in archives. He has amassed a significant quantity of research material on the lives of prominent German aces. He is author of two volumes dealing with the German nightfighter and day fighter aces.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Classic Publications (January 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1903223539
• ISBN-13: 978-1903223536
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,154,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reliving the Exploits of Germany's Deadly Nightfighters!, May 18, 2006

By 

Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" (Wausau, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Nachtjager, Volume One: Luftwaffe Night Fighter Units 1939-1943 (Luftwaffe Colours) (Paperback)

David Williams, who wrote the HUNTERS OF THE REICH books, examines the development and early combat history of the Luftwaffe's nightfighter arm in this nicely-done volume, the first of two.

Despite Hermann Goering's idiotic boast that no enemy bomb would fall on Germany, Luftwaffe commanders began forming small nightfighter units begining in late 1939. Due to an insightful report filed by a Bf 110 pilot, Htm. Wolfgang Falck, in April 1940, the Luftwaffe began serious efforts to create and organize a Night Fighter Force, Falck being appointed to command the first Nachtjagdgeschwader. The task was enormous but Falck's efforts were bolstered by the appointment of Oberst Josef Kammhuber to command a newly created Night Fighter Division. By the end of 1940 radar technology, both ground-based and mounted in Bf 110s, Ju 88s and other aircraft, had been incorporated, resulting in a force that began taking an increasing toll of their RAF opponents.

Williams covers the first, faltering steps of German's nightfighters, chronicling their successes, failures and technical developments such as 'Schrage musik' along with giving proper credit - in the form of lengthy sidebars - to Falck, Kammhuber and top-scoring ace Helmut Lent. Several combat reports by aircrew and CGI controllers are included as well.

In typical "Classic Colours" style the text is complimented by over 200 black & white and color photos and 14 Tim Brown/Tom Tullis color profiles of Bf 109, 110, Ju 88, Do 215/217 and even Arado 68 nightfighters. This is one VERY well-illustrated book!

The exploits of experten like Streib, Gildner, Lent and Geiger live again in Williams' splendid book. Luftwaffe fans will enjoy this book; it's a winner!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book with jagged layout, December 12, 2008

By 

Irina (California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Nachtjager, Volume One: Luftwaffe Night Fighter Units 1939-1943 (Luftwaffe Colours) (Paperback)

This is a well written though brief historical overview of the early years of the German nightfighter force in WW2. For its compact (less than 100 9" x 12" pages) size, there are lots of great pictures, color illustrations, biographies, anectdotal accounts, and techical descriptions of the men and equipment that comprised the Nachtjagd. My only complaint is that the number of these sidebars which sometimes are as large as three pages, interrupt the reading of the historical narrative which is actually the most interesting part of the book. One of the primary purposes of this series seems to be to clarify and illustrate the color, camouflage and markings of the aircrafts used by the Luftwaffe. To that end I would like to see more than just profiles of the aircraft which are illustrated. There also seem to be a few tiny errors in the identification of aircraft, but overall I am very happy with this book and would highly recomend it to anyone, especially scale modelers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Same as Volume 2, March 30, 2009

By 

D. Volberding (Nevada, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nachtjager, Volume One: Luftwaffe Night Fighter Units 1939-1943 (Luftwaffe Colours) (Paperback)

Same review as with vol. 2 goes with this book. Generaly ok, hard to read but good drawings. Could use less on people and more on machines.