German night fighter top aces by plane

[PMoz99]

The photo Nick refers to is captioned as being taken at the end of 1943. At that time Wittgenstein was probably still Kdr II./NJG3, which had a mixture of Bf110, Ju88, Do217 and even a Me210 or 2. Other units he served with also had a mixture of aircraft available, so it is quite possible he did score in types other than just Ju88. Because of the mixture of available aircraft, even knowing the dates of his claims won't help. So without logbooks ......
Note Wiki has a list of his victories.
Note also the Wiki article states W never flew a Bf110 after June 1943 (cites references) but it is unclear whether he flew one operationally before then.
I never realised he flew 150 bomber combat missions before transferring to night fighters.
Cheers
Peter

[Nick Hector]

Originally Posted by PMoz99

The photo Nick refers to is captioned as being taken at the end of 1943. At that time Wittgenstein was probably still Kdr II./NJG3, which had a mixture of Bf110, Ju88, Do217 and even a Me210 or 2. Other units he served with also had a mixture of aircraft available, so it is quite possible he did score in types other than just Ju88. Because of the mixture of available aircraft, even knowing the dates of his claims won't help. So without logbooks ......
Note Wiki has a list of his victories.
Note also the Wiki article states W never flew a Bf110 after June 1943 (cites references) but it is unclear whether he flew one operationally before then.
I never realised he flew 150 bomber combat missions before transferring to night fighters.
Cheers
Peter

Even for a first-year uni student, quoting Wikipedia is tantamount to telling an essay or assignment marker "I don't care if I fail this subject, nay, I pretty much hope that I will..." It is a beyond-laughable source for anyone calling themself a scientist to quote.

The best use for Wikipedia is to follow up the sources that they quote, in this instance: Mathews and Foreman, and quote THAT. You should at least be checking for discrepancies between Wiki and the source material, as a bare minimum. Otherwise, where's your right to use words like "meticulously", "painstakingly", "thoroughly" etc. when describing your research project?

Given that Mathews and Foreman is widely available at a reasonable price and not some obscure out-of-print source, that much effort and expense should not be beyond a serious researcher. Otherwise, how much effort are you really making and what does posting on the forum really represent? A statement that you have "meticulously, painstakingly and thoroughly" googled (...for all of 0.57 seconds....) and still need to rely on the "Answer Fairies" to do your research for you because you have not spent any substantial amount of your own money on a reputable source, nor any substantial amount of your own time, effort and expense on archival research and have nothing worthwhile to exchange with those who have.....

[Nick Hector]

Originally Posted by PMoz99

The photo Nick refers to is captioned as being taken at the end of 1943. At that time Wittgenstein was probably still Kdr II./NJG3, which had a mixture of Bf110, Ju88, Do217 and even a Me210 or 2. Other units he served with also had a mixture of aircraft available, so it is quite possible he did score in types other than just Ju88. Because of the mixture of available aircraft, even knowing the dates of his claims won't help. So without logbooks ......
Note Wiki has a list of his victories.
Note also the Wiki article states W never flew a Bf110 after June 1943 (cites references) but it is unclear whether he flew one operationally before then.
I never realised he flew 150 bomber combat missions before transferring to night fighters.
Cheers
Peter

These are the victories Wittgenstein claimed in the final months of 1943,

18.10.43/2035 Lancaster ("Viermot") Hanover @ 6200m Bomber Command. (Note that this night's raid was an all-Lancaster affair, there were 18 Lancasters lost = 5.0% of the attacking force, versus 20 German victory claims, so at least 2 victory claims are not valid)

22.10.43/2110 Halifax V ("Viermot") 10-20km NNW of Kassel @ 4000m Probably LK664/MP-U of 76 sqn. Lt. L E Hulthin RNAF and crew all KIA

22.10.43/2135 Viermot Frankfurt (Tony Wood) or Paderborn (Boiten) @ 6100m. Bomber Command, 43 losses of 25 Lancasters and 18 Halifaxes (7.6%) versus 54 German victory claims, so at least 9 victory claims are not valid.


So if he claimed a victory at all in the Me110, it would be one of these, provided Werner Held's dating of the photo is correct (end of 1943)

Sources:
Nachtjagd War Diaries vol 1 by Boiten
Tony Wood lists
Bomber Command War Diaries by Middlebrook and Everitt