Night Fighter Squadron 2

Night Fighter Squadron 2
The uniform squadron coat of arms of all night fighter squadrons. It shows an eagle plunging down from the night sky with red lightning on England.
active	November 1, 1941 to May 10, 1945
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Wehrmacht
Armed forces	air force
Branch of service	Air force
Type	Jagdgeschwader
structure	Squadron staff and 3 groups
equipment	Bf 110 , Do 17 , Ju 88
Squadron commodors
First commodore	Lieutenant Colonel Karl Hülshoff

The Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 was a squadron of the German Air Force in World War II , which was primarily set up and used for night hunting . Initially stationed in the southern Netherlands , the squadron was then in the Mediterranean , later even in North Africa . This was followed by the use in the defense of the empire as well as in long-distance night hunting over England; especially there in the Gisela company .

Squadron history

The name of NJG 2 appeared for the first time on September 11, 1940, when the I. Group of Nachtjagdgeschwaders 2 was formed from the destroyer squadron of Kampfgeschwader 30 and the 1st squadron of destroyer squadron 1 on that day . Their air base was in Gilze-Rijen , from where the group flew long-range night hunting missions over the North Sea and the British coast. At the end of 1940, the group was reinforced by a 4th Squadron, which was created by renaming the 1st Squadron from Destroyer Squadron 2 . The squadron identification was R4 or 4R.

1941 to 1943

On November 1, 1941, the squadron staff was set up in Gilze-Rijen. On the same day, the establishment of the second group of NJG 2 from the Wittmundhafen command , which had to give up parts of its 4th and 6th squadron. Their mission eyrie was in Leeuwarden , from where the group started on hunting missions using the four-poster bed method .

In mid-November 1941, the I. Group was transferred to Catania in Sicily, where they flew missions against Malta until the summer of 1942 and provided the ship escort protection. During this time, in March 1942, the III. Group of the night fighter squadron in Gilze-Rijen. In the summer of 1942, Group I also flew missions over Crete and North Africa . In August 1942 she was moved to Hoensbroek . On October 1, 1942, there was another organizational change in the squadron. So the previous II. Group dropped out and became the new IV. Group of Night Fighter Squadron 1 . In its place came the III. Group renamed II./NJG 2.

From November 1942 to June 1943, the squadron flew closed night hunting missions over Sicily , also in submarine hunting and convoy protection. In June 1943 she was moved to central Italy . In July 1943, the squadron was withdrawn from its operational area and relocated to Germany for refitting. The squadron was re-equipped in Parchim and Neubrandenburg . In the same month, the III. Group that was spread across Gilze-Rijen, Enschede and Twente . In December 1943, the squadron staff was together with the II. Group in Deelen , the III. on the other hand in Gilze-Rijen and Venlo and the I. in Kassel .

1944

After the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, both squadron staff and Groups I and II were relocated to the Western Front, where they were stationed in Châteaudun - Coulommiers - Dijon . After the collapse of the German fronts, the squadron was released from its mission in September 1944 and relocated back to Germany. Their air bases there were Cologne , Kassel and Langendiebach . During this phase, the fourth season of NJG 2 was set up in Münster . Their contingents came from the renaming of the I. Group of the 7th Night Fighter Wing . At the end of 1944 the squadron was regrouped again. Squadron staff and 1st group were transferred to Twente. The II. Group was moved to Vechta and the III. Group dropped out. It went over to the 3rd Night Fighter Squadron as a new IV. Group . In their place, the squadron received the previous IV. Group of NJG 3; now as (new) III./NJG 2.

1945

On February 23, 1945, Group IV resigned from the squadron as Night Strike Group 30 . On the night of March 3rd to 4th, 1944, the squadron was involved in a long-range night hunt against England in Operation Gisela. After that, both squadron staff, I. and III. Group gradually pushed back to Schleswig , where they disbanded. The second group, however, withdrew until the end of the war via Langendiebach, Mainz, Illesheim to Pocking . On May 10, 1945 she capitulated in the Bohemian border area. The list of the V group from the III. Group of Kampfgeschwaders 2 was not realized.

Last outline

The last structure of NJG 2 dates from the beginning of May 1945. However, Werner Girbig's publication only gives the surnames of the group commanders. This results in the following structure:

group	Rank	Surname
I. group	Captain	Raht
II group	Captain	Brinkhaus
III. group	Captain	Marker

Squadron commodors

Between 1941 and 1945 the squadron was led by five commodors:

Rank	Surname	date
First lieutenant	Karl Hülshoff	November 1, 1941 to December 31, 1943
major	Heinrich Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein	1. – 21. January 1944 (fallen)
Lieutenant colonel	Günther Radusch	March 1944 to October 30, 1944
major	Paul Semrau	November 1, 1944 to February 8, 1945 (fallen)
Lieutenant colonel	Wolfgang Thimmig	until dissolution

Known squadron members

• Werner Streib (1911–1986), was in 1966 as brigadier general "Stage Manager Flying Associations" in the Bundeswehr Air Force

literature

• Wolfgang Dierich: The air force associations 1935-1945. Structure and short chronicles - a documentation. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1976.
• Ernst Obermaier: The Luftwaffe Knight's Cross bearers 1939–1945. Volume I, fighter pilot, Verlag Dieter Hoffmann, Mainz 1966.
• Werner Girbig: Start at dawn - A chronicle of the sinking of the German hunting rifle in the West in 1944/1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-613-01292-8 .
• John Foreman, Simon W. Parry: Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims: Combat Claims by Luftwaffe Night Fighter Pilots 1939–1945. Red Kite, 2003, ISBN 978-0-9538061-4-0 .

Footnotes

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Dierich, p. 65.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Dierich, p. 66.
3. ↑ Dierich, p. 67.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Gibrig, p. 279.
5. ^ Foreman / Parry, p. 27.
6. ↑ Obermaier, p. 42.
7. ↑ Obermaier, p. 69.
8. ↑ Obermaier, p. 84.