Battle for the Night
Lancaster and Junkers
The story of the war in the night skies over France and Germany
Research
By; Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette
Lancaster of the 467th Squadron
I have a ton of information about the night war but I am forced to add it here in bits and pieces over time or as time permits.
I was watching a television show about the Lancaster bomber. The people that were interviewed for the show were several Lancaster pilots, a gunner, bomb aimer and other crew. One pilot stated that there was a fifty percent loss ratio. They lost half of their pilots and crews!?! The Lancaster pilot continued to say that with training accidents and other accidents that "just happen," brought the number up to 6 out of every 10 who flew for the R.A.F. Bomber Command died while in their service.
That is a staggering account. The show was great. Now, or today, or as we would have said when I was younger, "now-a-days" we have so many history shows that simply cover everything. I watched a show yesterday on the Messerschmitt Me-262. I did not take notes but I took notes today when I listened for the casual rates of the Night Air War. I knew that the Luftwaffe night-fighter pilots did their best to shoot down as many British bombers as possible, but I had no idea that the ratio was as high as half of all the bombers the British launched against the German Nation were lost.
I did remember reading somewhere that if the causality rate went up from 50% to 60% from combat losses that lasted for over six months, or if with every raid the loss was 60%, the British would have ceased this action completely. But the German never reached the 60 percent number and was never able to keep it that high for the period of time needed to discourage the British.
Still the numbers are staggering once you really realize the loss of humanity this effort was. The souls of men burned in their airplanes. German, British, Irish, Canadians all came to earth burning like Roman candles. Citizens stood in the streets and watched these shooting stars fall.
Bomber Command, Harris thanked the company that built the Lancaster saying that the bomber actually contributed to the end of the war. Actually, the bombing of the German cities and their civilians did not in fact bring the end of the war any closer at all. Bombing German factories and airfields as well as all other military instillations, this brought the end of the war closer. Not the killing of civilians.
Junkers Ju88G-1 7th Staffel, Nachtjagdgeschwader 2
To read more go to the link below;
I will add more here in the future.
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If you have ever wanted to commission your own painting please let me know. If the artwork you want is something very special then I will use the funds to publish a print of the artwork. I love the many different types of Night-Fighters and all the many different paint schemes they were painted. Hire me to paint one of these fighters for your home or office. I will do you a good job. Thank you.
Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette
Aviation Artist/Historian
107 Arthur Moore Drive
Green Cove Springs, Florida 32043
Internet Address; aviationartstore@peoplepc.com
Posted and Counter Started August 10, 2011