Nachtjagdgeschwader 5 Nachtjagdgeschwader 5 ( NJG 5 ) was a Luftwaffe night fighter - wing of World War II . NJG 5 was formed on 30 September 1942 in Döberitz . History . On 1 October 1942 , 3 . / NJG 1 was redesignated 1 . / NJG 5 . In March and April 1943 , General Josef Kammhuber ordered IV . / NJG 5 to Rennes , France in defense of the German U - boat bases . The group was relocated to the Eastern Front again and redesignated as I . / " Nachtjagdgeschwader " 100 ( I . / NJG 100 ) Oberleutnant Walter Borchers was made " Gruppenkommandeur " of III . / NJG 5 on 22 April 1943 , leading the Gruppe until March 1944 . He claimed six night victories and four heavy United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) bombers shot down . Promoted to Major he then took command of NJG 5 . He received the Knight ' s Cross on 29 October 1944 for 45 aerial victories . Werner Hoffmann was appointed acting " Gruppenkommandeur " of I . / NJG 5 on 5 July 1943 , replacing Hauptmann Siegfried Wandam ( 13 victories , ) who had been shot down and killed on 4 July 1943 . On 20 January 1944 Hpt . Hoffmann was shot down over Berlin when his aircraft was damaged by return fire from a Lancaster bomber . On 28 / 29 January he shot down three Halifax bombers raiding Berlin and claimed two Lancasters the next night . On the night of 27 / 28 April , Oblt . Wilhelm Johnen of III . / NJG 5 attacked a Lancaster over Lake Constance heading west for Switzerland . His Bf 110 G - 4 received hits during the attack , setting the port engine alight , and Johnen was obliged to land at the Swiss airfield at Zürich - Dubendorf . Johnen and his crew were interned , and the Luftwaffe employed extensive political manoeuvering to ensure the Bf 110 , equipped with the still secret SN - 2 radar , was kept from close Allied examination and returned intact . Werner Hoffmann was awarded the Ritterkreuz for 31 victories on 4 May 1944 and made permanent Gruppenkommandeur of I . / NJG 5 on 1 June . At the end of July 1944 I . / NJG 5 was withdrawn to Stendal for re - equipment with the new Ju 88G - 6 night fighter . Then deployed to Jesau in East Prussia , night operations against Soviet bombers followed for the remainder of 1944 . Following the opening of the Soviet offensive on 12 January 1945 , I . / NJG 5 operated in the ground attack role on the eastern front . By 25 January 1945 I . / NJG 5 was again operating from bases in Germany , selocating to Parchim and Erfurt . Major Borchers was shot down and killed on the night of 5 March 1945 by W / C Walter Gibb and F / O Kendall in a Mosquito night fighter of No . 239 Squadron . Flying Junkers Ju 88 G - 6 " C9 + GA " ( Werknummer 622 319 — factory number ) his air gunner parachuted to safety while his radio operator was also killed . he was replaced by Major Rudolf Schoenert . By the war ' s end the bulk of NJG 5 were based at Lübeck - Blankensee . Service on the Eastern Front . By early 1943 the Soviet Air Forces were increasing difficulties for the invading German forces . At night harassment sorties were flown with elderly biplanes . The Polikarpov Po - 2 , known to the Germans as the " Nähmaschine " ( sewing machine ) or ' UvD ' ( " Unteroffizier vom Dienst " , or Duty NCO ) , did little damage in night raids but had an immense nuisance value . The aircraft with their slow cruising speed made interception extremely difficult . To counter these attacks IV . / NJG 5 under " Hauptmann " Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn - Wittgenstein was moved to the Eastern Front in February 1943 . The unit moved to Bryansk and Orel in June 1943 for Operation Citadel and later operated under " Luftflotte 6 " in the Smolensk - Bryansk area and under " Luftflotte 4 " in the Poltava - Stalino area .