Enemy In The Dark: The Story Of A Luftwaffe Night-Fighter Pilot

by Peter Spoden

Con el estallido de la Segunda Guerra Mundial se iniciaba un período de más de cinco años de duración durante el cual las ciudades y localidades alemanas iban a ser objeto de una sucesión de ataques aéreos sin parangón en la historia: de día por parte de los bombarderos estadounidenses y de noche por parte de sus homólogos británicos. Pronto quedó evidenciada la práctica inutilidad de la artillería antiaérea como arma defensiva contra los contra bombarderos de área nocturnos. Urgía desarrollar una nueva arma defensiva. En consecuencia, en 1940 la Luftwaffe comenzó a organizar los escuadrones de caza nocturna, cuyo objetivo era contrarrestar los ataques aéreos de la RAF. El autor, Peter Spoden, se alistó en la Luftwaffe en octubre de 1940. Tras graduarse como piloto de caza nocturna, fue destinado el 1 de julio de 1943 al Escuadrón de caza nocturna 5 (NJG 5). Aquí participó en la lucha a vida o muerte entre las mareas de bombarderos atacantes y los cazas nocturnos volcados en la defensa del Reich. Además de obtener numerosas victorias aéreas contra bombarderos cuatrimotores británicos, fue derribado y herido en repetidas ocasiones. Al final de la guerra era comandante de la NJG 6, ostentando el rango de capitán.

Genres: History, Military History

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[KOMET · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here, in his own words, Peter Spoden, shares with the reader his experiences as a Luftwaffe night fighter pilot with the Fifth & Sixth Night Fighter Wings (NJG 5 & NJG 6) in the West between the Spring of 1943 and the end of the war in May 1945. Spoden survived a number of close-calls in his battles against British bombers attacking the Reich and emerged from the war with 24 victories to his credit.

"ENEMY IN THE DARK" is a sobering memoir of both the wonders and perils of wartime combat flying by night.

[Miles Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting little book by a former member of the Luftwaffe's "night hunters," the fighter squadrons charged with defending Nazi Germany from Royal Air Force bombs from 1940 - 1945. The RAF couldn't operate over Germany by day, so they came over at night in huge numbers, dropping bombs on pretty much anything they could find, and the Germans had to find a way to shoot them down at a time when radar was still in its toddling stage. Spoden flew a twin-engine Messerschmitt 110 "Destroyer" with a crew of three, and in his career shot down 24 British bombers (he also shot down one American B-17, though he didn't know it until the 1960s; but that story is too good to tell here). He also encountered Hitler twice and Hermann Goering several times, but for the most part he was a very ordinary German kid (only 22 when he made ace) from a moralistic, anti-war, anti-Nazi family, doing his duty as he saw it without asking too many questions about the larger issues of the war.
Spoden wrote this book for his grandchildren, to explain to them why he fought for Hitler, and so he spends quite a bit of time explaining his actions and the moral atmosphere of Germany in the 20s, 30s and 40s; his reminiscences of combat are actually few and far between, though he manages to convey the training and mentality of fighter pilots, and the life they lead, very effectively. Sometimes I think he "protests too much" about how little he really knew about the regime he served, but the correspondence he maintained with his former enemies after the war, the interest he took in their lives, and the guilt he feels over the men he killed, seem to be quite genuine, as does his explanation as to why he fought until the bitter end -- he and his comrades were Germany's only defense against raids which sometimes killed 50,000 civilians a week. The book is at its best when he is relating anecdotes about flying, some quite funny, others horrifying, but all in all it is clearly a book written for a specific purpose and a specific audience. It would serve as a good primer to other books on this subject, or as a supplement to them if you're already versed, but as a stand-alone it is probably inadequate.