Nachtjager Volume 1: Luftwaffe Night Fighter Units 1939-1943 (Luftwaffe Colours)

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 Command's 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 Schrage 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 fighter's 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.