[RodM]

Hi Norbert,

I hope that the following will provide you with an understanding on the air battles on this night and on the gaps in available knowledge due to the destruction of Luftwaffe records in the last few months of the war.

The RAF attacks on the night of 16-17 January 1945 can be split in to two major components - (1) Two large bomber streams that flew out over France and over/near Luxembourg to attack the oil refineries at Zeitz and Brux, and (2) a large bomber stream that flew out across the North Sea and then flew southwards over NW Germany to attack Magdeburg.

The Luftwaffe Jagddivisions (1, 2, and 3 JDs) each concentrated on different raids. 3 Jagddivision, which included the Nachtjagd units I., II., III., and IV./NJG1, I. and II./NJG2, I. and III./NJG4, was deployed against the stream coming in over France (Zeitz and Brux), while 2 Jagddivision, although it initially made deployments of night fighters in reaction to the southern stream, ended up combatting the stream flying southward across NW Germany (Magdeburg). This has been verified from analysis of a large number of Nachtjagd aircrew flying logbooks along with analysis of radio traffic intercepted by the British "Y" Service.

The night fighters of 3 JD managed to catch up with and infiltrate the Zeitz bomber stream to the NE of Frankfurt, and it was here that the first combats took place. At 2115 hrs a 12 Sqn Lancaster was shot down by a pilot from III./NJG1. The next two aircraft from the Zeitz force to crash were the two you are interested in - from 405 and 434 Sqns. While the post-war RAF investigation thought that the two aircraft may have collided, witnesses, as you're aware, thought the crashes to be some twenty minutes apart.

From surviving RAF records, it is interesting to note that in the immediate area where these two aircraft crashed, returning RAF crews reported witnessing an aircraft falling in flames at approx 2121 hrs, and another aircraft being shot down by a night fighter at 2130 hrs (the horizontal tracer fire from the night fighter was seen before the bomber caught fire and crashed).

So, the three aircraft, one each from 12, 405, and 434 Sqns were the only ones lost along the outward route of the Zeitz/Brux bomber streams at this time. The next loss didn't occur until around 2200 hrs, some 180 km east of the crashes at Pfaffenhausen.

In addition, a German night fighter of III./NJG1 ran out of fuel and crashed some 100 km NE of Pfaffenhausen.

So, as can be seen, there was isolated night fighter activity and combats along the route of the stream, including the Pfaffenhausen area.

So, who may have shot down the 405 and 434 Sqn Lancasters, if they were indeed lost to night fighters? This is where the destruction of Luftwaffe records leaves big gaps in our knowledge. Firstly, to the best of my knowledge, no information indicating the total effort by the Nachtjagd on this night survives, so it is impossible to know how many night fighter claims were submitted. The claims where some documentary evidence exists come from the few surviving unit records and the flying log books/personal archives of the aircrew involved.

Thus, it is not known have many aircrew under 3 Jagddivision claimed aircraft shot down, bearing in mind that night fighters of this Jagddivision also engaged the bomber stream along its homeward route to the north. It can reasonably be assumed that there is a probability that the details of some claims have been lost.

Of the 3 Jagddivision claims where I've verified the original documentary source:

Hptm. Dietrich Schmidt (III./NJG1) - claimed the 12 Sqn Lancaster at 2115 hrs.

Fw. Heinrich Lahmann (III./NJG1) - made a claim at 2156 hrs and piloted the Bf110 that ran out of fuel as mentioned above. From the crash location of Lahmann's Bf110, it is certain that he was active against the Zeitz/Brux streams along their outward route. It is possible that he attacked one of the two Pfaffenhausen Lancasters, although the time of his claim would suggest otherwise. He equally may have shot down a 101 Sqn Lancaster, the next aircraft to crash after those at Pfaffenhausen, at 2215 hrs.

Lt. Joachim Sommerau (III./NJG1) - made a claim at 2210 hrs, could have been the 101 Sqn Lanc mentioned above.

The other known claims all occurred after 2200 hrs so aren't relevant. Because the KTB and a claims listing for III./NJG1 are preserved, these details are available. The same can't be said for the other 3 Jagddivision units, and it would not surprise me that some claims were made where the details are lost. The known claims by crews of the other JDs (NJG3, NJG5, and III./NJG2) can be discounted because they were not employed against the Zeitz/Brux bomber streams between Frankfurt and Nuremberg.

With regards to the claims by Welter in an Me262, the first important point to make is that these claims, to me, are pure heresay, and I've yet to find one piece of documentary evidence that Welter was even airborne on this night, let alone shooting down bombers. There is all sorts of background that I won't go into that involves researchers inventing fictious claims that have now made it in to publications in the west. The claims by RAF crews about being attacked by or seeing jet fighter(s) on this night need to be put in to proper context - such reports were made on almost every major RAF night raid during late 1944 and in 1945, and most can be put down to mistaken identity. As mentioned, I've seen no evidence to support any Me262 action against four-engined bombers at night other than a post-war memo written by Welter himself where he claims to have shot down two Lancaster in an Me262. But, if such an event occurred, the date is not known, and not conclusively supported by Allied records. For the record, the jet encounters reported by the RAF crews on the night of 16-17 January occurred to the NW of Zeitz.

I hope that this helps.

Regards

RodM