page_title: Nachtjagdgeschwader 1
section_title: Battle of the Ruhr, Hamburg and Peenemünde
hierarchical_section_title: Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 / World War II / Battle of the Ruhr, Hamburg and Peenemünde
context_page_description: Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 was a German Luftwaffe night fighter-wing of World War II. NJG 1 was formed on 22 June 1940 and comprised four Gruppen. NJG 1 was created as an air defence unit for the Defence of the Reich campaign; an aerial war waged by the Luftwaffe against the bombing of the German Reich by RAF Bomber Command and the United States Air Force. In 1941 airborne radar was introduced with radar operators, and standardised in 1942 and 1943. Consequently a large number of German night fighter aces existed within NJG 1.
  NJG 1 operated all of the major twin-engine night fighters produced by German industry during the war. It fought in notable campaigns, such as the Battle of the Ruhr and Battle of Berlin. By the end of the war, lack of fuel, technical setbacks, lack of training and advances by the Allied powers rendered the Luftwaffe night force ineffective from August 1944 until the end of the war in May 1945. NJG 1 was the most successful night fighter wing and had claimed some 2,311 victories by day and night, for some 676 aircrew killed in action.
context_section_description: In February 1943, several of the Experten were killed. Knacke was killed on day three. Becker was killed in action on a rare daylight interception against the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Eighth Air Force. Becker followed Gildner, killed two days before him. As the older aces were killed, Johannes Hager, who would go on to achieve 48 aerial victories joined NJG 1 in February 1943. In March 1943, Harris began his first concerted military campaign against a specific objective, known as the Battle of the Ruhr. Harris had 53 squadrons for the battle, and his pathfinders were now operating the H2S ground-mapping radar. The Air Marshal felt he had sufficient resources for a long offensive against the German industrial region. On 5 March 1943, Falck led the command Staffel from Deelen, Streib commanded I. Gruppe from Venlo, Thimmig, III. Gruppe from Leeuwarden and IV. Gruppe from Twente; all operated the Bf 110. II. Gruppe under Ehler at Sint-Truiden operated the Bf 110 and Do 217.
  On the first night, 5/6 March 1943, NJG 1 claimed 10 bombers destroyed. Among the claimants were fighter pilots Manfred Meurer, Herbert Lütje, Heinz Vinke and Lent all claimed. On 12/13 March NJG 1 claimed 13, and repeated this again on 29/30 March. On 3/4 April the wing claimed 17. The success was not repeated until 27/28 April when its pilots submitted 10 claims. On 4/5 May NJG 1 claimed 24 bombers destroyed and was the only Luftwaffe unit to report any successes that night. Among the pilots was Hans-Dieter Frank who would claim 55 aerial victories and briefly command I./NJG 1 before his death in a collision with a colleague while flying a Heinkel He 219. The collision may have been caused by an attack on his fighter by Wing Commander Bob Braham. On 12/13 May the wing claimed 25, and on 13/14 May the pilots claimed another 26. On 23/24 May a further 23 were claimed. The attacks on Dortmund that night cost Bomber Command 38 aircraft. Over the next six days 58 bombers were claimed by the night of the 30/31 May. The operation against Wuppertal on 29/30 May cost the British 33 aircraft. 211 RAF bombers were claimed by NJG 1 in June 1943. Total British losses were 277 for the month to all causes. During the campaign NJG 1 was able to engage Bomber Command consistently. On one night the wing scrambled 50 night fighters, only one-sixth of the Luftwaffe force. Committal of further crews was not possible in the Kammhuber system which required rigid allocation of units to specific points on the line. Dietrich Schmidt emerged as another NJG 1 "expert" during the Ruhr campaign, claiming his first successes which reached 43 by March 1945.
  The Nazi Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, wrote in his diary on 14 May 1943 of German defences,
  during the night there was another exceptionally heavy raid on Duisburg.... An unspeakable sorrow and great distress has come to the sorely tired city. Our technical development as regards submarine missions and air warfare is far inferior to that of the English and Americans. During the past five months the enemy has had the upper hand, almost everywhere he is defeating us in the air.
  By the time the Ruhr campaign ended Bomber Command had suffered heavy losses to German night fighters and anti-aircraft defences. 1,099 were lost to all causes. The Luftwaffe's defences were unable to prevent Bomber Command from severely disrupting German production. Steel production fell by 200,000 tons and the armaments industry was facing a steel shortfall of 400,000 tons. After doubling production in 1942, production of steel increased only by 20 percent in 1943. Adolf Hitler and his armaments minister Albert Speer were forced to cut planned increases in production. This disruption caused the Zulieferungskrise (sub-components crisis). The increase of aircraft production for the Luftwaffe also came to an abrupt halt. Monthly production failed to increase between July 1943 and March 1944. Adam Tooze concludes; "Bomber Command had stopped Speer's armaments miracle in its tracks". Production of locomotive
caption: He 219 night fighter. Werner Baake flew these successfully exclusively in I./NJG 1[13]
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