Ju 87 D-3 "Nacht" "VII" details?

[Norbert Schuchbauer]

Hi all,
can anybody enlighten me regarding the following Ju 87 types:

Ju 87 D-3 "Nacht" "VII"
Ju 87 D-5 "Nacht" "VII"
Ju 87 G-2 "VII-C"

Thanks in advance,

Norbert

[Dénes Bernád]

I found a few similar "mysterious" post-fixes for the Henschel Hs 129, too.

Could the code refer to the radio set type, i.e. FuG VII?

"Nacht" is obviously "night".

[Nick Beale]

Thanks for the suggestion on the "VII" which seems a strong possibility.

The D-3 and D-5 (N) or (Nacht) designations appear in loss reports from some Nachtschlachtgruppen, for instance:

30.1.45
2./NSG 4
Ju 87D-5 "Nacht VII", WNr. 131392, 1K+AK
Feindflug Böhmischdorf (71199)
Ursache unbekannt, nicht feindbeobachtet, 99% Beschädigung
tot: (FF) Ofhr. Vogel, Franz; (Bf) Uffz. Plank, Johann

So I suspect it just denoted the aircraft was fitted for night operations (e.g. exhaust shrouds) but it doesn't appear in every case. It may even have been dependent on who filed the loss report wheter tht level of detail was included.

[Norbert Schuchbauer]

My information is from Luftflottenkommado 6. Dates are for February 1945. I agree with the "Nacht" explanation it makes sence, but the VII is still mysterious.

I have some losses of Ju 87 G-2 "VII-C" for 10.(Pz.)/SG 77.

One even more strange is the loss of a Ju 87 G-2 "XVI" (Z S) "VII-C" of 10.(Pz.)/SG 77

Any ideas on those?

Norbert

[George Hopp]

Stating that the "VII" is for the FuG VII is highly dubious as that radio was superseded by the FuG 16 about 1942. But then, the FuG 16 ZS is a valid radio set, so just perhaps ....

[Norbert Schuchbauer]

Well thanks George, I think this a very interesting thought.

Norbert