Herman E Ernst of 422 NFS

[hanshauprich]

Hello,
whats about an mistake with one of the Do 217M-1 from 2. or 4.(F) Nacht?
(Night Recon). (uncorrect indentification of the enemy airplane)

Remember me a little bit for another 422 NFS Pilot. Capt. Anderson in the night of 20.March 1945. He shoot down an RAF Lockheed Hudson (K 803) from 161 Sqduadron (SOE) over Luxembourg. He and his R/O identify the Hudson as an German Do 217-K2. Only the Pilot from the Hudson came safe. The rest of 3 crewmembers and 3 SOE Agents (Belgian) KIA.

[John Manrho]

Hello Hans,

I looked at all twin-engine a/c ...... not any logical match. Unless I am misisng losses wich surely could happen....

I would look at a friendly fire incident also.....

John

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by hanshauprich

Hello,
whats about an mistake with one of the Do 217M-1 from 2. or 4.(F) Nacht?

Weren't they both in the East?

Among the twin-engined units in the West, I. and II./LG 1 and I./KG 66 were ordered to operate that night against marshalling yards in Antwerp. KG 53 (He 111) was to launch V1s against London if there was sufficient cloud cover.

Also NSG 20, NSG 1 and NSG 2 were to provide "the strongest concentration of aircraft" against Liège, Mechelen, Hasselt and Maastricht.

[George 118]

From “422nd Night Fighter Squadron : A History” by Charles McEwen, Jr. we can see the He 111 launching platforms for the V-1s

- The night of the 26/27 saw Churchill Wilcox making his first appearance as Duty I.O. and things really started to pop. The first two missions were quiet, but then Smitty dropped a "Buzz Bomb" about 1/2 mile from a Marmite for first blood for the month, and hit another which only made it seem to go faster. Word then came in that Bolinder had gotten himself a HE.111, almost in 425th territory, and was closing in on another. Close in he did, but after sitting 200 feet under the bogie for 15 minutes, could not reconcile certain features with any German plane, so he played "rather than be sorry" and broke away. Subsequently he was sure it was a ME.110, which was something in the way of a miracle to the two "Krauts" who, but for the Grace of God, should have joined their ancestors. Then Captain Lee closed in on a ME.110, but only damaged it when the nose wheel doors partially opened and were shot away, breaking the circuit and rendering his guns useless. Break number two for the Hun, but by this time Wilcox was in a dither. Ernst then got himself his first, again almost in 425th territory and to cap this very satisfactory evening, Smitty, on his second mission for the night, pranged another HE.111 squarely on a "Boch" village. The explosion and consequent damage to property was the completion of a very satisfactory carron shot. All these planes, according to G.C.I., were launching platforms for the V-I's, though the buzzies, had gone before we arrived. In addition to this, the moon and good visibility made it possible for us to have a very enjoyable evening on the deck to the detriment of the German Railroad System. -

[ClinA-78]

Hello,

Perhaps another 'blue on blue' credited to the 422nd NFS...
Might involve the loss of Hudson T9463 of 161 Sqn lost on the 27/11/44 around 2.00am crashed at Brisy, near Houffalize (Belgium), with the death of S/L Wilkinson and crew.

I have written an article about 422nd NFS during the Bulge but not studying this incident. However, about 20% of 422 NFS claims are against friendly target...

ClinA-78

[George 118]

You mean the https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/87349 ???

What about the location that Ernst gives ?

[John Manrho]

According to Frank Olynyk's victory list the claim of Ernst was at 02.40 hrs and at "P-7575, Kempen to Munster Eifel". The grid coordinate P7575 is very close to the crash site of the Hudson. As there were no German twin engine a/c losses that match, we might indeed have a blue on blue incident here.

[George 118]

So for his claims we have

1 - Bf 110 over Munster Eiffel (Blue on Blue / Friendly Fire incident 161 Sqn RAF Hudson Mk III MA-L, T9463 S/Ldr Reginald Eric Wilkinson, DFC, FC (Neth), F/O J Weddell, F/L FJJ Champion, F/L GH Ash, DFC)
2 - 1./NSGr. 2 Ju 87D-3 D3+OH, WNr. 131369 Uffz Reinhard Brühne, Ogefr Heinz Janke
3 - Ju-188 near Monschau, Belgium (probably Ju 88G-6 Werk Nr 621599 of 8/NJG-3)
4 - 1./NSGr 1 Ju 87D-5 142089 Fhj Fw Günter Hollwitz, Fw Herbert Kalb 10 km NW Köln
5 - 1./NSGr 1 Ju 87D-5 141954 Uffz Paulus Handschuh, Ogefr Helmut Dehnert 20 km NW Köln