[George 118]

From OSPREY AIRCRAFT OF THE ACES• 84 American Nightfighter Aces of World War 2

Ernst's victim on 27 November was a Bf 110. He and his crew were flying a 'barrier patrol' between the frontlines and the Rhine, hoping to intercept Luftwaffe night intruder’s intent on attacking Allied road traffic. By this time the Germans were well aware of the Black Widow's presence, and its capability, but they were willing to risk encountering in an attempt to stem the Allied advance. Ernst recalled; 'We were patrolling at about 10,000 ft (3000 m) when GCI came on the radio and told us a bogey was approaching at 4000 ft (1200m) from a distance of 20 miles (32 km). I immediately dropped the nose and went down to 3500 ft (1075 m), and by that time the distance between us and the intruder was only 2.5 miles (4 km). My radar observer, 2Lt Ed Kopsel, already had a lock on the bogey as it passed overhead. 'We got on his tail and narrowed the gap down to 1400 ft (430 m). I eased back on the throttles to slow the closure rate, and when the gap hit 800 ft (250 m) we were able to get a positive visual - it was a Bf 110 nightfighter. He was flying at 200 mph (320 km/h) on a course of 200 degrees at an altitude of 3700 ft (1140 m). He was evidently looking for movement on the roads, and had no idea I was onto him. With the bogey square in my sights, I gave him a two-second burst with my 20 mm cannon. I observed strikes on the fuselage and wing roots. Continuing to close down to less than 600 ft (185 m), I fired another quick burst, which converged on his port engine and wing root. Before I could blink an eye, a huge explosion consumed the Bf 110 in a fireball, and he went straight down through the broken undercast. Now, this brought a dangerous situation for us because the cloud layer was about 3000 ft (900 m) above the ground, so I couldn't take the chance of following him down to confirm the kill. However, we did get a confirmation from ground troops in the area. It was a clean kill!'