First revealed on our blog in November 2022, the Air War Publications team is excited to announce that the Nachtjagd Over The Eastern Front book is now available for purchase from our website HERE. A taste of the book can be found in the sample pages available HERE. It is based on extensive research using a collection of German primary sources, including the logbooks of more than 50 Luftwaffe airmen, personal diaries, and an equally impressive amount of Soviet primary sources. The three authors – Sven Carlsen, Morten Jessen and Adam Thompson – present the course of the nocturnal air war in the East from 1941 until the final days of the war.
The story of Luftwaffe night fighter airmen and their operations on the Eastern Front is one that defies the traditional stereotype of the Germans as well-organised and meticulous planners. Instead, it emphasises their successful improvisation in the face of unanticipated problems and a very tough Soviet opponent. Initially, Luftwaffe night fighting in the East was conducted in an ad hoc fashion, with success dependent on improvisation, and the luck and skill of individual crews, but by war’s end, the Eastern Front night fighter force was just as potent as its Western Front counterpart.
No night fighters were assigned to the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, and for the first year-and-a-half, the Luftwaffe paid scant attention to nocturnal air defence. In the first half of 1942 some bomber and fighter units were forced to fly night fighter missions, achieving a surprisingly good amount of success in the role. However, as that year went on the number of Soviet night incursions increased dramatically, and by the end of 1942, the Germans were compelled to organise small, dedicated night fighter units to combat them. These Nachtjagdschwärme operated only a handful of aircraft each, including hastily converted Heinkel 111 bombers, but still managed to enjoy some success.
The year 1943 marked the significant expansion of the Luftwaffe night fighter force, with the provision of radar trains and the latest Junkers 88 and Dornier 217 night fighters. This enabled it to better combat the constant Soviet supply runs to partisans behind the German front, increasingly heavy bombing attacks, and the almost ever-present ‘night witches’ conducting harassment missions in their pesky single-engine biplanes.
The German pilots conducted their missions all along the lengthy Eastern Front, from Leningrad in the north to the Crimea in the south, and were forced to cover thousands of kilometres of frontline and rear areas with a limited number of aircraft and crews. Despite the many challenges they faced, the Luftwaffe personnel engaged in these operations persevered, and several pilots rose to prominence, claiming the same degree of success as their Western Front comrades-in-arms.
The book is 316 pages and is furnished with 242 photographs, including many never-before-published images, 19 illustrations, 12 aircraft profiles, and 22 of Morten’s superb maps. Helping add a variety of colour to the narrative is a wide selection of first-hand accounts from some of the men involved in the events, from both sides of the conflict. Explored theatre-by-theatre and sector-by-sector, the table of contents for the book is as follows:
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Glossary and Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1: Background
Chapter 2: Early Night Fighting on The Eastern Front Chapter
Chapter 3: Mobile Radars
Chapter 4: The Northern Sector
Chapter 5 – Part I: The Central Sector
Chapter 5 – Part II: The Central Sector and Reich Defence
Chapter 6: The Defence of East Prussia and the Baltic States
Chapter 7: The Southern Sector and South-Eastern Europe
Conclusion
Appendix I: Aircraft and Personnel Losses
Appendix II: Aerial Victory Claims
Appendix III: Airfields and Commanders
Appendix IV: Camouflage and Markings
Appendix V: Tactics
Appendix VI: Ground-Attack Missions in 1945
Appendix VII: Eastern Front Night Fighter Aces
Bibliography
Index
As you can see, at well over 150.000 words (excluding footnotes and Appendices), the authors have left no stone unturned in their efforts to tell the story of the Luftwaffe’s night fighter journey on the Eastern Front. We at Air War Publications are very proud of this title, and hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed researching, writing and publishing it.
