[Marcel Hogenhuis]

Hello Brian,

Thanks for your interesting remarks. The sole doubt I have by 'rear fire' is that this He219 had a two men crew (Tampke and Tants) so we must assume that Tants did not hide himself somewhere in the fuselage, but stayed neatly on his seat. Is the damage to the Mustang and/or pilot specified ? Bullet holes or could it be damage from debris?

The first, pre A-0 produced He219 prototypes had a bulged rear canopy with an oval shaped hole/window which would enable to house a MG for rear defense. However: Wnr.190107 was the 36th A-0 produced He219 from Schwechat and had the stretched, more aerodynamically shaped rear canopy most of us know.
In May 1944 the II./NJG 1 had some He219's too but 190107 was not among them and therefore not having the field modification as discussed above in one of my other postings.

I am still learning about the He219, its developement and history each day, but up to this day I never came across such canopies with rear firing MG's. Perhaps (in the heat of the fight) front fire has been mistaken for rear fire?

Just loud thinking but given our present knowledge, a He219A-0 with rear firing MG seems unlikely but please feel welcome to correct me if I am wrong.

Best regards, Marcel