IL2

Messerschmitt Bf-110G Zerstörer NJG6.3 (2Z+LL) Mainz-Finthen 1943 01-02

Photo’s 01-02: From the spring of 1943, German night fighters were employed against American aircraft in daylight operations. It was thought that the long endurance of the night fighter aircraft, the navigational skill of the crews and the ability of their aircraft to carry heavy armaments would prove useful in augmenting the German day fighters, but in fact the night fighter crews found themselves thrust into a role in which they lacked the specialised training and experience. In particular, their inability to launch concentrated attacks while in close formation led to unduly heavy losses which continued even when the night fighters were ordered only to attack single bombers separated from their formations. The night units themselves were much against their daylight employment and, taking matters into their own hands, prohibited their most experienced crews from flying daylight operations. Nevertheless, the losses considerably weakened the Nachtjagd's effort against RAF night raids for this period of 1943 and eventually forced the termination of daylight operations. These photographs show a FuG 212 'Lichtenstein'-equipped Bf-110G-4 of 3./NJG6 from Mainz-Finthen, probably in the late summer of 1943. The aircraft was camouflaged in 76 but with grey 75 reverse mottles over the uppersurfaces of its wings and fuselage. From the photographs, the mottling appears darker around the cockpit area than elsewhere and all national markings appear in the same grey used for the tactical code 2Z+LL.To improve the aircraft's performance, the flame dampers, redundant during daylight sorties, have been deleted, leaving a clean area over the exhausts where these have been removed. Note that this machine has the early-pattern vertical tail surfaces.