Losses of german nightfighters - night 19/20 February 1943

[Marcel Hogenhuis]

Hello all,

The NVM says about the Do217 crew that they all have killed at 18th February 1943 and got a decent grave on a Ehrenfriedhof, which indicates that all bodies were found, identified and buried. Georgsheil, W of Aurich is over land which complies with the 3 dead crew members found.

The NVM of the Bf110 however says something different: the loss occurred on 19th February 1943 and both crew members were declared dead in March 1943 which is a strong indication that they were missing and with a great degree of certaintly dead.

Further: the Wellington started its mission and returned from it on the evening of 19th February 1943. Thus, the encounter with a Bf110 over sea all happened on the 19th February. The fact that the Bf110 crashed in flames over sea matches with the missing Hagn/Prinzel crew as well.

I will look into the Interception and Tactics Reports (RAF) whether these give away other details, but I am pretty confident that the loss of the Bf110 occurred on the evening of 19th February, therefore more or less the night of 19/20th February, not the night before.

All the best, Marcel