Wilde Sau
Encyclopedia
Wilde Sau was the term given by the Luftwaffe
, during World War II
, to the technique by which British night bombers were mainly engaged by single-seat fighter planes.
. A highly decorated bomber pilot, in early 1943 Herrmann was serving in a Luftwaffe staff position, studying operational practices and techniques, including counter-measures to the Allied Bombing offensive gathering apace at the time.
method wherein an interceptor was guided by ground control.
In May 1943 the British capture of a Ju 88 R-1 night fighter, Werknummer 360 043, equipped with the initial "B/C" form of the UHF-band Lichtenstein radar
, revealed its existence to the Allies, and subsequently RAF Bomber Command
were approved to deploy a new form of Window
aluminium strips sized to jam the Lichtenstein B/C radar. This brought about the need to deploy new night fighting methods that no longer relied solely on AI radar until the longer wavelength, VHF-band Lichtenstein SN-2 radar could be perfected and produced for use in German night fighters defending the Reich.
To this end fighter pilots wherever possible sought to identify and intercept enemy bombers by sight. This was to be achieved by acting against the principle of the blackout and Herrmann proposed that the attacked city was to produce as much light as possible. Being contrary to orthodoxy, this method was resisted by the city Gauleiter
s and not enforced. As a substitute searchlights were used to illuminate the sky.
Initial tests using former flying instructors experienced in blind-flying techniques suggested the ideal weather conditions were when a certain (not too thick) lower level cloud cover prevailed, since then the bomber would be silhouetted against the back-lit clouds and the high-flying German fighters could easily spot their targets.
Since the Wilde Sau technique only worked if there was adequate lighting, its application was limited to the immediate metropolitan city areas, as in most cases this was the only place where an assembly of sufficient searchlights was in place. It was therefore essential that the RAF's intended target was determined quickly. This was made more difficult to predict by the fact that the bomber stream
often flew in a zigzag course across Reich territory.
In order to remove the threat from their own Flak, aircraft were limited to certain altitude bands. This "ceasefire" was initially only practised in the Berlin airspace, and it showed that co-ordination of fire breaks was problematic. As night flying aids in a day fighter were rudimentary, an accordingly elaborate system of visual aids to navigation was established, encompassing light beacons, searchlight patterns, Flak firing combinations of various tracer colours through the clouds and parachute flares.
The Firestorm Bombing of Hamburg
proved disastrous for the Luftwaffe, after the Allies' first use of Window
effectively knocked out the 'Himmelbett' radar defence system. As a result, every other promising measure of preventing such a recurrence was considered.
Hermann's original experimental unit was therefore rapidly expanded into a full Jagdgeschwader, Jagdgeschwader 300
, who used the Wilde Sau tactic for the first time on the night of 3/4 July 1943, when 653 RAF aircraft attacked Cologne
. The German fighters, taking advantage of the illumination from searchlights, target indicator flares and ground fires claimed 12 aircraft shot down, but had to share their claims with the anti-aircraft batteries who also claimed the downings.
As agreed, to avoid fratricide, anti-aircraft batteries restricted the height of their flak and the fighters operated above that pre-agreed ceiling.
The employment of this procedure was most successful in the night of 23/24 August 1943, when Berlin was attacked. The "Wilde Sau" aircraft, under the personal leadership Geschwaderkommodore Hajo Herrmann
, claimed 57 aircraft brought down. Herrmann received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross
for this action.
Even if "Wilde Sau" were also partly accomplished by twin-engine night fighters, the bulk of the action was carried out by conventional day fighters borrowed from the day Jagdgeschwaders. This double load of daily and night operations and the resulting erratic maintenance schedules meant fighter serviceability rates dropped drastically.
, 301
and 302
, all named "Wilde Sau", applied this technique. Also attached to 30. JD was III./KG 3
which was tasked to fly above the Bomber Stream and illuminate it with flares.
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, to the technique by which British night bombers were mainly engaged by single-seat fighter planes.
Origins
The originator of this operational technique was Luftwaffe officer Major Hajo HerrmannHajo Herrmann
Hans-Joachim 'Hajo' Herrmann was a Luftwaffe bomber pilot and later after the end of World War II, focusing his activities as a lawyer on civil and criminal law. In World War II, he was a high ranking and influential member of the Luftwaffe. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the...
. A highly decorated bomber pilot, in early 1943 Herrmann was serving in a Luftwaffe staff position, studying operational practices and techniques, including counter-measures to the Allied Bombing offensive gathering apace at the time.
Implementation
In the spring of 1943 Herrmann proposed an experimental evaluation in the use of free-ranging, day fighters (and to a lesser extent night fighters) at night to counter the increasingly destructive RAF night attacks. Fighter planes were not directed as in the "Himmelbett" (four-poster bed) technique using the tactical guidance of radar ground stations to the target, but rather interception was based (after radio guidance to the general area of the bomber stream) simply on the pilot's vision and own judgement; Wilde Sau "wild boar" as opposed to the Zahme Sau ("Tame Boar")Zahme Sau
Zahme Sau was a night fighter intercept tactic introduced by the German Luftwaffe in 1943. At the indication of a forthcoming raid, the fighters were be scrambled and collected together to orbit one of several radio beacons throughout Germany, ready to be directed en masse into the bomber stream...
method wherein an interceptor was guided by ground control.
In May 1943 the British capture of a Ju 88 R-1 night fighter, Werknummer 360 043, equipped with the initial "B/C" form of the UHF-band Lichtenstein radar
Lichtenstein radar
Lichtenstein radar was a German airborne radar in use during World War II. It was available in at least four major revisions, the FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C, FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1, FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 and FuG 228 Lichtenstein SN-3.- FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C :Early FuG 202 Lichtenstein B/C...
, revealed its existence to the Allies, and subsequently RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
were approved to deploy a new form of Window
Chaff (radar countermeasure)
Chaff, originally called Window by the British, and Düppel by the Second World War era German Luftwaffe , is a radar countermeasure in which aircraft or other targets spread a cloud of small, thin pieces of aluminium, metallized glass fibre or plastic, which either appears as a cluster of secondary...
aluminium strips sized to jam the Lichtenstein B/C radar. This brought about the need to deploy new night fighting methods that no longer relied solely on AI radar until the longer wavelength, VHF-band Lichtenstein SN-2 radar could be perfected and produced for use in German night fighters defending the Reich.
To this end fighter pilots wherever possible sought to identify and intercept enemy bombers by sight. This was to be achieved by acting against the principle of the blackout and Herrmann proposed that the attacked city was to produce as much light as possible. Being contrary to orthodoxy, this method was resisted by the city Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
s and not enforced. As a substitute searchlights were used to illuminate the sky.
Initial tests using former flying instructors experienced in blind-flying techniques suggested the ideal weather conditions were when a certain (not too thick) lower level cloud cover prevailed, since then the bomber would be silhouetted against the back-lit clouds and the high-flying German fighters could easily spot their targets.
Since the Wilde Sau technique only worked if there was adequate lighting, its application was limited to the immediate metropolitan city areas, as in most cases this was the only place where an assembly of sufficient searchlights was in place. It was therefore essential that the RAF's intended target was determined quickly. This was made more difficult to predict by the fact that the bomber stream
Bomber stream
The bomber stream was a tactic developed by the Royal Air Force Bomber Command to overwhelm the German aerial defences of the Kammhuber Line during World War II....
often flew in a zigzag course across Reich territory.
In order to remove the threat from their own Flak, aircraft were limited to certain altitude bands. This "ceasefire" was initially only practised in the Berlin airspace, and it showed that co-ordination of fire breaks was problematic. As night flying aids in a day fighter were rudimentary, an accordingly elaborate system of visual aids to navigation was established, encompassing light beacons, searchlight patterns, Flak firing combinations of various tracer colours through the clouds and parachute flares.
The Firestorm Bombing of Hamburg
Bombing of Hamburg in World War II
The Allied bombing of Hamburg during World War II included numerous strategic bombing missions and diversion/nuisance raids. As a large port and industrial center, Hamburg's shipyards, U-boat pens, and the Hamburg-Harburg area oil refineries were attacked throughout the war...
proved disastrous for the Luftwaffe, after the Allies' first use of Window
Chaff (radar countermeasure)
Chaff, originally called Window by the British, and Düppel by the Second World War era German Luftwaffe , is a radar countermeasure in which aircraft or other targets spread a cloud of small, thin pieces of aluminium, metallized glass fibre or plastic, which either appears as a cluster of secondary...
effectively knocked out the 'Himmelbett' radar defence system. As a result, every other promising measure of preventing such a recurrence was considered.
Hermann's original experimental unit was therefore rapidly expanded into a full Jagdgeschwader, Jagdgeschwader 300
Jagdgeschwader 300
Jagdgeschwader 300 was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. JG 300 was formed on June 26, 1943 in Deelen as Stab/Versuchskommando Herrmann, from July 18, 1943 as Stab/JG Herrmann, and then finally redesignated on August 20, 1943 to Stab/JG 300...
, who used the Wilde Sau tactic for the first time on the night of 3/4 July 1943, when 653 RAF aircraft attacked Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. The German fighters, taking advantage of the illumination from searchlights, target indicator flares and ground fires claimed 12 aircraft shot down, but had to share their claims with the anti-aircraft batteries who also claimed the downings.
As agreed, to avoid fratricide, anti-aircraft batteries restricted the height of their flak and the fighters operated above that pre-agreed ceiling.
The employment of this procedure was most successful in the night of 23/24 August 1943, when Berlin was attacked. The "Wilde Sau" aircraft, under the personal leadership Geschwaderkommodore Hajo Herrmann
Hajo Herrmann
Hans-Joachim 'Hajo' Herrmann was a Luftwaffe bomber pilot and later after the end of World War II, focusing his activities as a lawyer on civil and criminal law. In World War II, he was a high ranking and influential member of the Luftwaffe. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the...
, claimed 57 aircraft brought down. Herrmann received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
for this action.
Limitations of this method of attack
If the cloud ceiling at the time of the attack too high, restricting the lighting effect, the optical conditions were insufficient to apply Wilde Sau. The success of the attacks was also lost with the onset of bad winter weather in late autumn 1943, when wastage through accidents and icing soared. German pilots were always at risk from their own anti-aircraft fire.Even if "Wilde Sau" were also partly accomplished by twin-engine night fighters, the bulk of the action was carried out by conventional day fighters borrowed from the day Jagdgeschwaders. This double load of daily and night operations and the resulting erratic maintenance schedules meant fighter serviceability rates dropped drastically.
Participating units
The specially established 30. Jagddivision consisting of Jagdgeschwader 300Jagdgeschwader 300
Jagdgeschwader 300 was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. JG 300 was formed on June 26, 1943 in Deelen as Stab/Versuchskommando Herrmann, from July 18, 1943 as Stab/JG Herrmann, and then finally redesignated on August 20, 1943 to Stab/JG 300...
, 301
Jagdgeschwader 301
Jagdgeschwader 301 was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. The order to form JG 301 was issued on 26 September 1943 and formed on 1 October 1943 in Neubiberg with Stab and three Gruppen as a "Wilde Sau" single-seat night fighter unit.The Geschwader was equipped with the Bf 109G and was...
and 302
Jagdgeschwader 302
Jagdgeschwader 302 was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. JG 302 was formed on 1 November 1943 in Stade with a theoretical establishment of Stab and three Gruppen known as a "Wilde Sau" single-seat night fighter unit...
, all named "Wilde Sau", applied this technique. Also attached to 30. JD was III./KG 3
Kampfgeschwader 3
Kampfgeschwader 3 "Blitz" was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II .Its units participated on all of the fronts in the European Theatre until it was disbanded in September-October 1944...
which was tasked to fly above the Bomber Stream and illuminate it with flares.
See also
- Zahme Sau ("Tame Boar")Zahme SauZahme Sau was a night fighter intercept tactic introduced by the German Luftwaffe in 1943. At the indication of a forthcoming raid, the fighters were be scrambled and collected together to orbit one of several radio beacons throughout Germany, ready to be directed en masse into the bomber stream...
- List of World War II electronic warfare equipment: Tactics
- Night fighterNight fighterA night fighter is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility...