[Oxby R]

Hajnel - Hmmmm. Can't agree entirely with your assessment of Bob Braham as THE greatest British nightfighter Ace. I'm not keen on the term 'Ace' anyway. It conveys something 'elitist' - which existed amongst the RAF of the time, but maybe it shouldn't have. 'Ace' somehow undermines/disregards/forgets (?) the guts of the young guys who often only had a few hours under their belts 'on type', and yet they still went airborne - sometimes against a much stronger and more experienced enemy. Many didn't come back. Strangely, few of them - despite their sacrifice - are remembered individually nearly so well as we like to celebrate names like Johnnie Johnson, or Adolf Galland. Also, there were quite a few guys who survived - and were remarkably successful, but still they didn't make 'front page' news. So, clearly not everyone can be a war hero. Yet they all flew in the full knowledge they were unlikely to survive the conflict. (I thank God, today we don't have to fight like they did. They are all heroes to me) Please, do not misunderstand what I'm saying - yes, there's no denying Bob Braham was a successful pilot - but you should understand he was just one of many - we should also not forget, British nightfighters worked as part of a team. ALL British nightfighter pilots - including the likes of 'Cat's Eyes' John Cunningham, Branse Burbridge, Bob Braham (etc) - and not forgetting less well-known pilots such as Peter Green (and others) were all reliant to a far greater extent on the skills of the unsung heroes of the team i.e. their radar operators to locate the enemy in the vastness of a night sky, than has been recognised to date. How can I be so certain of this ? Well, my father was a nightfighter navigator. He was moderately successful (22 confirmed e/a destroyed) but, he never really received much recognition, not that he sought it anyway. Let's just say, he would have received much more public attention had he been a pilot. This ain't really sour grapes (!), I am simply trying to underline the fact that NONE of the above mentioned nightfighter pilots - no matter how good they were - would ever have been able to locate, leave alone destroy ANY of the enemy without the skilled interpretation and direction of the nav/rad. Finally, we always forget the vital role played by GCI (Ground Control Interception) radar operators who would have been responsible for detecting the enemy on their longer range radar, before relaying a series of vectors directing the British aircraft into an approximate position from where an attack might be made. Without this information, the nightfighter would have been aimlessly stooging about the night sky looking for a needle in a pitch-black haystack - but not really knowing where to look. Once the 'bogey' (i.e. the enemy intruder aircraft) was detected on the airborne radar, (known as 'MK IV AI' - meaning aerial interception) the nav/rad could then call 'contact' to his pilot - and take over the stealthy, and careful approach - firstly to positively identify the aircraft as either friend or foe - before delivering a calculated, lethal stab in the darkness. Often this was such a devastating blow, the enemy aircraft would literally disintegrate in the air. Much less a case of nightfighting - much more a 'legitimate murder in the dark !!' - that's how father described it to me anyway.

Personally, I would be remembering a less well-known hero. But, each to their own. I wish you luck, and hope you find more accurate details of Bob Braham's a/c. Like all of those who flew for their countries, whether Allied or Axis - they were all brave men. Best regards, RO.