Meaning of Nachtjagd control method: halbwilde Sau Matterhorn?

[Theo Boiten]

Dear all,

During the research for the upcoming volume in the Nachtjagd Combat Archive series about the Nachtjagd on the Eastern Front, in a Nachtjagd combat report about the shooting down of a Russian bomber by a Nachtjäger guided by ground control in the Barysaw area in June 1944, I came across the following code name for an interception method which I can't explain; who has seen this before and knows what it means?:

Führungsart: halbwilde Sau Matterhorn.

Cheers and thanks,

Theo

[SES]

Hi Theo,
I have never come across that expression sounds like a derivative of Wilde Sau.
bregds
SES

[Theo Boiten]

Thanks for your reaction Michaël -yes I believe this was some form of 'mix' between Wild Boar and ground controlled interception technique, as the combat report also mentions that a JLO (Ground Controller) Lt. Tolksdorf was involved in guiding the Nachtjäger onto a formation of Russian bombers, but without guiding the Nachtjäger in a close-controlled interception as in the Dunkelnachtjagd/Himmelbett method.

Cheers, Theo

[ghostwriter]

theo,
did you really mean "Matterhorn"?
please see the quote below:

For the "Wilde Sau" operation, fighters of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 types were used. These day fighters did not have any night hunting equipment, such as radio measuring devices for enemy detection, and were therefore not very suitable for night flight. In order to be able to use them nevertheless, one used a tactic which Hajo Herrmann called "Mattscheibe". Here the anti-aircraft artillery fired flare grenades hanging on parachutes, the fighters dropped the same flare bombs. At the same time fires on the ground and cascades of lights ("Christmas trees") illuminated the airspace. Spotlight batteries, which stood in the defensive bars in front of the cities as well as in the cities themselves, lit up existing clouds. The silhouettes of the attacking bombers then appeared on this "screen". The fighters could attack. In the same period the anti-aircraft artillery stopped firing in order not to endanger the fighters. So the day fighters could only be deployed over the target of the bombers and only during an ongoing attack.

source: german wikipedia
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilde-...tjagdverfahren

[Theo Boiten]

Yes the combat report literally states 'Matterhorn' and not 'Mattscheibe'.

Best regards, Theo

[SES]

The use of Mattscheibe would require a cloud deck below the attacking formation. In that case a Soviet formation would be unable to navigate to and attack the target. And MATTERHORN was a FuMG-Stellung in the area in question. Please see:
http://www.gyges.dk/Stellungen%20NE%20Europe%204.pdf
bregds
SES

[Theo Boiten]

Excellent Michaël -that explains the case! The Nachtjäger was therefore operating under control of box Matterhorn, but not in close-control but as a sort of freelance Wild Boar in this Raum. Really new to me.

Cheers, Theo

[SES]

:-)
SES

[Carsten Petersen]

Nice job, SES

[SES]

Hi Carsten,
Anytime, my pleasure.
bregds
SES