Herbert Schmid
Oberleutnant Herbert Schmid (1 April 1914 – 1975) was a German World War II pilot who defected to north-east Scotland in May 1943, piloting a German nightfighter with advanced interception radar which allowed British scientists to jam German nightfighter radar. Early life. He was born in Saxony-Anhalt. His father was the secretary to the German Chancellor and Foreign Minister, Gustav Stresemann Career. He was a pilot in the Luftwaffe, serving with Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (NJG 3). May 1943 defection to Scotland. On 9 May 1943, at age 29, Schmid took his Junkers Ju 88 R-1 ("360043"), equipped with  the most advanced German nightfighter interception radar, to an RAF station at Aberdeen. He had set off from Aalborg in Denmark at 1503, flying to Norway to refuel at 1603. It took off at 1650 to take part in a mission over the Skagerrak, between Norway and Denmark. At 1710, a false message was sent to the German nightfighter headquarters in Denmark, saying that the aircraft's starboard engine was on fire; the aircraft dropped down to sea level and dropped three life rafts. Interception. Two Spitfires from 165 Squadron were sent to intercept the Ju-88, making contact with the  Ju-88 at 1805, west of Aberdeen; the Ju-88 dropped its flaps and undercarriage and launched red flares. The Ju-88 landed at Aberdeen at 1820. One of the German aircrew was not compliant following the landing and had to be taken at gunpoint. Schmid was detained as a prisoner of war, after being detained in the Officer's Mess for a week with the other crew of his aircraft. Aircraft testing. Once the aircraft was captured, German nightfighters could be detected much earlier. The aircraft was flown to many times, behind a Vickers Wellington that dropped the tin foil "window". The  radar-jamming technique known as "window" was found to work. The previous year, Wellington "DV819" of No. 1474 Flight (part of 192 Squadron) had attempted the world's first Ferret mission, from RAF Gransden Lodge in Huntingdonshire on 3 December 1942, to find German AI radar; the aircraft came under attack by a Luftwaffe Ju 88 nightfighter, and shot down on the Kent coast; the captured Ju 88 would find the radar system that this Wellington had been trying to find in December 1942. Aircraft. Within five days the Ju-88 had been given the designation "PJ876", later being tested at  RAF Collyweston in Northamptonshire. The aircraft was moved to the RAF Museum in London in November 1978, when the museum opened.