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Wilde Sau (Luftwaffe Night Fighter Tactics)
''Wilde Sau'' ( Lit. wild sow; generally known in English as "Wild Boar") was the term given by the ''Luftwaffe'' to the tactic used from 1943 to 1944 during World War II by which British night bombers were engaged by single-seat day-fighter aircraft flying in the Defence of the Reich. It was adopted when the Allies had the advantage over German radar controlled interception. The fighters had to engage the British bombers freely as they were illuminated by searchlight batteries, while avoiding their own anti-aircraft fire. After some initial successes, rising losses and deteriorating weather conditions led to the abandonment of the tactic. Background In 1943 Allied bombing raids against the German industry and cities intensified significantly. Strained by fighting on several fronts the ''Luftwaffe'' was not able to answer those raids adequately. Mismanagement by the ''Luftwaffe'' leadership led to stagnant production of much needed aircraft, and indecision regarding aerial doctri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ground-controlled Interception
Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic was pioneered during World War I by the London Air Defence Area organization, which became the Royal Air Force's Dowding system in World War II, the first national-scale system. The ''Luftwaffe'' introduced similar systems during the war, but most other combatants did not suffer the same threat of air attack and did not develop complex systems like these until the Cold War era. Today the term GCI refers to the style of battle direction, but during WWII it also referred to the radars themselves. Specifically, the term was used to describe a new generation of radars that spun on their vertical axis in order to provide a complete 360 degree view of the sky around the station. Previous systems, notably Chain Home (CH), could only be directed along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Berlin (RAF Campaign)
The Battle of Berlin (November 1943 to March 1944) was a bombing campaign against Berlin by RAF Bomber Command along with raids on other German cities to keep German defences dispersed. Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) Bomber Command, believed that "We can wreck Berlin from end to end if the USAAF come in with us. It will cost us between 400 and 500 aircraft. It will cost Germany the war". Harris could expect about 800 serviceable heavy bombers for each raid, equipped with new and sophisticated navigational devices such as H2S radar. The USAAF, having recently lost many aircraft in attacks on Schweinfurt, did not participate. The Main Force of Bomber Command attacked Berlin sixteen times but failed in its object of inflicting a decisive defeat on Germany. The Royal Air Force lost more than 7,000 aircrew and 1,047 bombers, (5.1 per cent of the sorties flown); a further 1,682 aircraft were damaged or written off. On 30 March 1944, Bom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autocannon
An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bullets) fired by a machine gun. Autocannons have a longer effective range and greater terminal performance than machine guns, due to the use of larger/heavier munitions (most often in the range of , but bigger calibers also exist), but are usually smaller than tank guns, howitzers, field guns or other artillery. When used on its own, the word "autocannon" typically indicates a non-rotary weapon with a single barrel. When multiple rotating barrels are involved, such a weapon is referred to as a "rotary autocannon" or occasionally "rotary cannon", for short (particularly on aircraft). Autocannons are heavy weapons that are unsuitable for use by infantry. Due to the heavy weight and recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schräge Musik
''Schräge Musik'', which may also be spelled ''Schraege Musik'', was a common name for the fitting of an upward-firing autocannon or machine gun, to an interceptor aircraft, interceptor aircraft, such as a night fighter. The term was introduced by the Nazi Germany, German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. "''Schräge Musik''" was previously a German language, German colloquialism, meaning music that featured an unusual Musical tuning, tuning and/or time signature. By itself, the word ''Schräge'' has often been translated as "wikt#Adjective, slanting" or "Oblique angle, oblique", although it may instead be rendered into English as "weird" or "strange". The first such systems were developed in World War I. They were also developed and used by the Japanese military during World War II. Like the ''Luftwaffe'', the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) and Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) fitted such weapons to twin-engined night fighters. Both the Luftwaffe an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Hydra (1943)
Operation Hydra was an attack by RAF Bomber Command on a German scientific research centre at Peenemünde on the night of 17/18 August 1943. Group Captain John Searby, commanding officer of No. 83 Squadron RAF, commanded the operation, the first time that Bomber Command used a master bomber to direct the attack of the main force. Hydra began the Crossbow campaign against the German V-weapon programme. The British lost 215 aircrew and 40 bombers, and killed several hundred enslaved workers in the nearby Trassenheide forced labour camp. The ''Luftwaffe'' lost twelve night-fighters and about 170 German civilians were killed, including two V-2 rocket scientists. Prototype V-2 rocket launches were delayed for about two months, testing and production was dispersed and the morale of the German survivors was severely affected. However, the impact of the operation on German war production was deemed insufficient. Background German rocket research To evade the restrictions of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Josef Kammhuber
Josef Kammhuber (August 19, 1896 – January 25, 1986) was a career officer in the Luftwaffe and post-World War II German Air Force. During World War II, he was the first general of night fighters in the Luftwaffe. Kammhuber created the night fighter defense system, the so-called Kammhuber Line, but the detailed knowledge of the system provided to the Royal Air Force by British military intelligence allowed them to render it ineffective. Personal battles between him and Erhard Milch, director of the Reich Air Ministry, led to his dismissal in 1943. After the war, he joined the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of West Germany. Career Josef Kammhuber was born in Tüßling, Bavaria, the son of a farmer. At the outbreak of World War I Kammhuber was 18 and joined a Bavarian engineer battalion. He participated in the Battle of Verdun in 1916 and was promoted to Second Lieutenant in 1917. He remained in Germany's post-war army, and in 1925 was promoted to First Lieutenant. Between Octobe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zahme Sau
(( Lit. tame :wikt:sow; generally known in English as "Tame Boar"John O’Connell (2007) The Effectiveness of Airpower in the 20th Century Pt p.53) was a night fighter interception tactic conceived by Viktor von Loßberg and introduced by the German ''Luftwaffe'' in 1943. As a raid approached, the fighters were scrambled and collected to orbit one of several radio beacons throughout Germany, ready to be directed en masse into the bomber stream by running commentaries from the . Once in the stream, fighters made radar contact with bombers, and attacked them for as long as they had fuel and ammunition. See also * (Wild Boar) * List of World War II electronic warfare equipment: Tactics * Night fighter A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used i ... References {{reflist Ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million people in the Cologne Bonn Region, urban region. Centered on the left bank of the Rhine, left (west) bank of the Rhine, Cologne is about southeast of NRW's state capital Düsseldorf and northwest of Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. The city's medieval Catholic Cologne Cathedral (), the third-tallest church and tallest cathedral in the world, constructed to house the Shrine of the Three Kings, is a globally recognized landmark and one of the most visited sights and pilgrimage destinations in Europe. The cityscape is further shaped by the Twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne, and Cologne is famous for Eau de Cologne, that has been produced in the city since 1709, and "col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
30th Fighter Division (Germany)
__NOTOC__ 30th Fighter Division (''30. Jagd Division'') was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed in September 1943 in Berlin and disbanded on 16 March 1944. The Division was subordinated to the Luftwaffenbefehlshaber Mitte (September 1943 – February 1944) and the I. Jagdkorps (February 1944 – March 1944). Commanding officers * Oberst Hajo Herrmann, September 1943 – 16 March 1944 Subordinated units *Jagdgeschwader 300 *Jagdgeschwader 301 *Jagdgeschwader 302 See also *Luftwaffe Organisation The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ... References Air divisions of the Wehrmacht Luftwaffe Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 {{Use dmy dates, date=June ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jagdgeschwader 302
''Jagdgeschwader 302 (JG 302)'' was a ''Luftwaffe'' fighter-wing of World War II. ''JG 302'' was formed on 1 November 1943 in Stade, Germany with a theoretical establishment of ''Stab'' and three ''Gruppen'' (groups) known as a "''Wilde Sau''" (wild boar) single-seat night fighter unit. After re-equipping with the Focke-Wulf 190 A-8, ''I./JG 302'' was redesignated ''III.''/''JG 301 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 301 (JG 301) was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. The order to form JG 301 was issued on 26 September 1943 and formed on 1 October 1943 in Neubiberg with ''Stab'' and three ''Gruppen'' (groups) as a "Wilde Sau" (wild ...'' on 30 September. ''JG 302'' made a known total of at least 348 air victory claims Operations 1944 The unit's primary mission, when formed in late 1943, was to intercept Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers at night, flying modified single-engined day fighters. Eventually ''JG 302'' also engaged United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) bombers by day. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jagdgeschwader 301
''Jagdgeschwader'' 301 (JG 301) was a Luftwaffe fighter aircraft, fighter-Wing (air force unit), wing of World War II. The order to form JG 301 was issued on 26 September 1943 and formed on 1 October 1943 in Neubiberg with ''Stab (Luftwaffe designation), Stab'' and three ''Gruppen'' (groups) as a "Wilde Sau" (wild boar) single-seat night fighter unit. The ''Geschwader'' was equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Bf 109G and was reorganised with four ''Staffeln'' per ''Gruppe''. Jagdgeschwader 50, a specialist anti-De Havilland Mosquito, Mosquito unit, was disbanded in October 1943 and absorbed into I./JG 301. II./JG 301 was redesignated as II./Jagdgeschwader 302, JG 302 on 30 September 1944 and replaced by I./JG 302. II./Jagdgeschwader 7, JG 7 was attached to IV./JG 301 on 24 November 1944 and disbanded on 19 January 1945. 1943 During October 1943, while I./JG 301 was formed in Neubiberg from Jagdgeschwader 50, II./JG 301 was formed at Altenburg from elements of II./JG 300. W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
