Fw. Herbert Ludwig - 6./NJG 101

[Lebowski]

Hi All !

For the past 6 years I have been researching my Uncle who lost his life whilst serving as an Airgunner with 37 Sqdn, RAF between August '43 and April '44. He took part in a total of 28 operations (mostly over Italy) until sadly he lost his life during the RAF's first night time operation over Hungary on 3rd April 1944. The target that night was the Manfred Weiss Armaments Factory on Czepel Island, just to the south of Budapest.

I have been reliably informed by Dr. Theo Boiten that his aircraft (Wellington LN 853 'Z') was fired upon by Fw. Herbert Ludwig of 6./NJG 101 which was based at 'Parndorf' airfield.

Although Dr. Boiten cannot say for certain what kind of aircraft Fw. Ludwig was flying that night the only surviving member of the crew of LN 853 has told me that he believes he spotted the outline of a Bf 110 immediately after the attack.

I would be interested to know if anybody has a further details regarding this incident - such as the names of Ludwig's fellow crewmembers and markings on the aircraft of 6./NJG 101 - (I'm sorry to say that I'm a little ignorant on certain aspects of the Luftwaffe)

Cheers !

Lebowski

[David E. Brown]

Hello Mr. Lebowski,

Interesting research. I suspect that it is quite a challenging journey to piece the puzzle together on this event. There are a lot out excellent human resources here on this Board that hopefully will be able to help you. Here is my modest bit.

I am sure that you’ve discovered that Dr. Boiten is an outstanding resource to assist with your study. Regarding his information, I do not know his source, but it is at variance with actions and Luftwaffe claims noted on Tony Wood’s website for that date and location: http://www.lesbutler.ip3.co.uk/tony/tonywood.htm

The following have been copied from the site’s listing for “O.K.L. Fighter Claims: Chef für Ausz. und Dizsiplin Luftwaffen-Personalamt L.P. (A) V Films & Supplementary Claims from Lists - Reich, West and Südfront, Jan to Apr 1944. Vol. I.

Night: 3-4. April 1944
JaFü Ostmark/Lfl. Reich

03.04.44 Oblt. Josef Krause 6./NJG 101 Wellington �� N. Plattensee: no height 23.46 Film C. 2027/I Anerk: Nr.11
04.04.44 Fw. Sanders [sic] 6./NJG 101 Wellington �� 20 km. S. Budapest: no height 00.16 Film C. 2027/I Anerk: Nr.13
04.04.44 Fw. Sanders [sic] 6./NJG 101 Wellington �� 20 km. S. Budapest: no height 00.08 Film C. 2027/I Anerk: Nr.14

It may well be that Dr. Boiten’s sources supersede the above and it would be useful to confirm this.

Aircraft from 6. NJG 101 would presumably be coded “9W+_ P, with the first two alpha-numeric characters the unit code, and the last letter representing the 6. Staffel. The third space would be occupied by a letter unique to that particular aircraft and theoretically be red.

From Michael Woods website: http://www.ww2.dk/oob/bestand/njagd/biinjg101.html , II./NJG 101’s operational / returns reports indicate that for the month of April 1944 the unit was equipped with twin-engined Do 217 Ns and possibly Js. I would think that they could well be mistaken for a Bf 110 when one was afforded a very brief sighting at night.

Full details on these claims – and the aircraft - might exist in the indicated microfilm files Film C. 2031/II as noted above. It is possible that a fellow reader here might have access to this microfilm or hard copies from them. Depending on the available document, additional information should be available on the action, aircraft, etc.

Finally, there is a discussion board that is dedicated to Luftwaffe nightfighters that you may wish to consult. I can't recal its URL, so perhaps a colleague here can post it.

Best of luck with your research.

David

[WEISNER]

http://disc.server.com/Indices/169401.html
The above should be the link you want, interesting place to visit, Boiten is a regular as well as a certain Peter Spoden, Who knows a thing or two about the Night war over Europe....
Kevin

[David E. Brown]

Weisner,

Thanks for posting the link to the Nightfighter Board.

I must correct an error in my original post. Regarding markings for aircraft from 6./NJG 101, the aircraft's individual code was noted as being red. This is incorrect. It was painted yellow for the 6. Staffel.

Cheers,

David

[WEISNER]

You are welcome, and thanks for the correction David...
Kevin

[DDT]

Hello Mr. Lebowski,

I just bought the book "Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939-1945 written by J.FOREMAN - J.MATTHEWS - S.PARRY. Under the date of 3/4 april 1944 3 victories are noted :
Oblt. Hans Krause (as already stated by D.BROWN), but they gave another name for the 2 other victories that night :
a Ofw. Hunderz of 6./NJG 101 shot 2 Wellingtons down 20 km S of Budapest.
Perhaps someone else has more informations about those victories.
Best wishes,

Dirk

[Lebowski]

O.K. Gents I'll come clean !

Perhaps one or two of you who use the boards that were suggested may have realised that 'Lebowski' is nothing but a silly alias.
I've made so many postings on the 'NJG Forum & RAF Commands that I'm sure people are probably getting sick of seeing my real name - David Griffith.

My Uncle was Sgt. Arthur Griffith, rear gunner on board Wellington LN 853 'Z' - piloted by Sqdn/Ldr H.H. Beale, DFC & Bar (RNZAF)

I have been keeping an eye on Tony Woods records for the past 4 years and much to my annoyance the name of the Luftwaffe Pilot who claimed my Uncle's Wellington has changed on 4 occassions.

To qoute Dr Theo Boiten:

3-4 April 1944
205 Group attacked the Manfred Weiss Armaments factory in Budapest, Hungary. Five Wellingtons were lost, three of which were shot down over Hungary by two crews of 6./NJG101 that were operating from Parndorf. Oblt. Krause destroyed a 150 Squadron Wellington during a night fighting sortie in the Steinamanger area. During his second attack, the left wing of Krause’s Do217 was hit in return fire from the Wellington’s rear gunner.

Oblt. Hans Krause: 5 6./NJG101 Wellington Keszthelyi-öböl/Lake Balaton 23.46 150 Sqn Wellington LN858
Fw. Herbert Ludwig: 5 6./NJG101 Wellington Dunapentele-Tiborszállás, S. Budapest 00.08 37 Sqn Wellington LN853
Fw. Herbert Ludwig: 6 6./NJG101 Wellington Hercegfalva, S.W. Budapest 00.16 104 Sqn Wellington LN925


Re. the names of 'Huderz,' 'Huders' or 'Sendarz' -these are all misspellings. The true claimant was Lt. Herbert Ludwig. This Nachtjagd pilot served with 5./NJG1, 5./NJ Schule 1, 6./NJG101 and IV./NJG6, scoring 13 confirmed nighttime victories and a few more unconfirmed victory claims and was KIA 23/24.4.45 when he was shot down by American Ack-Ack during a ground strafing attack to the East of Nürnberg. In the Nachtjagd War Diaries, I will publish lots of details on this man incl. a photo.
Hope this is of use to you David!

The above details were confirmed by a totaly different method

For approx. 3 years I have been in contact with Nigel McTeer whose Father was the rear gunner on board Wellington LN 858 (150 Sqdn)
Fortunately Nigel's Father survived the attack by Hans Krause's Do217 over Lake Balaton, Hungary.

A couple of years ago Nigel was informed by the author Mr Martin Bowman that Krause was still alive and would be willing to write to Nigel and try and answer any of his questions.

This he did - and he also explained to Nigel that only two pilot's made any claims for the night of 3rd April 1944 (Himself and Fw. Herbert Ludwig)

And so now I do feel that the information that Dr. Theo Boiten provided me with is the truth.

Thanks everybody for the replies concerning markings type of aircraft at 'Parndorf' etc. - I'll certainly start using this board more in future - Only next time it will be under my real name !

Cheers
David Griffith