[RodM]

Hi,
'just to clarify some points about the loss of the He219...

The description of the circumstances of loss as mentioned above, taken from the Nachtjagd War Diaries Volume 2, came from Fritz Habicht, and are related to the Abschuss claim that his pilot made at 20.30 hours on the night in question.


I don't have available a complete list of RAF BC claims for the month of February to be sure, but if Hptm. Rességuier's victim did indeed crash then no formal air combat claim against the He219 would have been made. As to the unidentified night fighter that attacked from behind, this incident cannot be traced in available RAF records (i.e. no corresponding Mosquito claim has been found, and the 410 Sqdn claim that seems on the surface to match cannot relate to this incident based upon the time of the claim and the description of the combat, which do not agree with Habicht's account or the time of the Rességuier Abschuss).


There remains the unsubstantiated possibility that the He219 was brought down by a German night fighter by mistake, or that Habicht could have been mistaken about being attacked from behind by a night fighter (i.e. it could have been fire from another unseen bomber), or that they were not in fact shot down simultaneously with their Abschuss.


Cheers


RodM