[RodM]

Thank you for all the informative replies.

I should clarify that in the descriptions I have read, the airfields were not lit up by the 'rockets', rather some sort of lighting was seen and an airfield was identified by the RAF crews.

My question was prompted by a veteran account (of an event that occurred on 14-15 February 1945) in a Bomber Command Association newsletter from the nineties, which, while clear in its description of the incident, clearly reflects how aircrew at that time rationalised the phenomena that they saw: "...the mid-upper gunner...said that a runway had just been illuminated to port and ahead. He then reported a jet aircraft taking off, going into a left-hand circuit and climbing rapidly. It was obviously being vectored on to us and the gunners instructions were followed by...the pilot. On the order 'Corkscrew, starboard, go', the mid-upper fired a short burst and the fighter exploded. All the nine crew witnessed this as we carried two pilots and a mid-under. With the adrenalin still flowing, we made our report at debriefing, which was met with indifference and a kill was not confirmed!" (note - a common theme to many of the mis-sightings and subsequent claims by Bomber Command crews was the exploding of the alleged fighter soon after a short burst had been fired at it, and, in many cases, the exploding of the alleged fighter even when no fire at been directed at it. The veteran concerned does not seem to be aware of the reasons why the claim was not treated as an air combat kill against an aircraft)

Anyway, the jet/rocket "scare" within Bomber Command began in early November 1944 and continued for much of the remainder of the war. It became every bit as much of a myth as the use of 'scarecrows'. 34 jets/rockets were claimed destroyed at night in November 1944 by RAF BC crews, the majority of these occurring on two nights - 2-3 and 4-5 November. In assessing the claims and the sightings, BCHQ rightly dismissed the claims as not being against aircraft; they were aware via intelligence that the Luftwaffe could not be using so many Me262s at night and were rightfully doubtful on the deployment of the Me163 at night. BCHQ did soon after institute a procedure whereby all jet/rocket sightings were to be reported by returning crews, along with clear descriptions of what was seen, including the colour and characteristics of the exhaust plume.

Among the claimed sightings in November 1944, for example, were:

1-2 Nov, Amsterdam/Schipol, Single jet a/c taking off. Climbed to 5000'. Appeared to do climbs & dives over airfield (reported by a Mosquito night fighter crew).

4-5 Nov, 52 08 N, 06 29 E, A/F lit up and 3 jet a/c seen taking off, short bursts of whitish yellow flame rising at an angle of 60-70°

4-5 Nov, 52 22 N, 07 50 E, 2 Me163 seen taking off (ACHMER)

As can be seen, often the statements were more interpretations of what was seen, rather than pure descriptions of the visual phenomena.

I, for one, would prescribe the above occurrances as probably being signals munitions, but had to explore the RATO angle to be sure (any such use by night fighters of RATO would surely have been uncovered by now). Even if RATO could have enabled night fighters to climb at the speeds claimed by the RAF crews, I would have thought that such flying characteristics (very high speed climb of an aircraft not originally designed for such high speeds) would have been inherently dangerous at night. Ditto for the use of the Me163 at night; surely the risk of disorientation at high speed would have been great, giving the pilot little opportunity to do anything other than keep his eyes glued to the flying instruments.

Cheers & Thanks

Rod