Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

The technology of air defence operations developed quickly in WWII. The British were the first to introduce airborne radar in the Blitz of late 1940 / 41, in specialist night fighters.

This necessitated a two seat aircraft; first the Boulton Paul Defiant and then the Bristol Beaufighter and the de havilland Mosquito.

The latter two were twin engined and very heavily armed with quadruple 20mm cannon in the nose making them a deadly counter to night bombers.

The Germans responded in kind when British night bombing of German y began in earnest in 1942.

The Messerschmidt Bf110 and the Junkers Ju 88 were their most prolific and effective night fighters although a particularly fearsome aircraft appeared in small numbers the Heinkel Hu 219 "Owl", but perhaps fortunately for the RAF it never managed to achieve volume production.

All of these aircraft were radar equipped and also featured the weapon that proved most effective against RAF night bombers. Two upward firing 20mm cannon were mounted in the upper fuselage behind the cockpit. This facilitated attack from underneath the target aircraft, making it very difficult for the target aircraft to detect until a hail of cannon fire ripped into the underside of the aircraft, often triggering catastrophic explosions in the bomb bay or fuel tanks.

This arrangement was nick-named "Schrage Musik" literally 'slanting' or 'jazz' music".

A small band of German historians from the Finowfurt Air Museum answered a plea in early 2013 from Welsh businessman Ian Hill, a nephew of one of the crew of ED 328.
They tracked down the plane’s fate, found a witness to the mid-air encounter with the Luftwaffe’s Major Werner Hussman and gathered pieces from the wreckage of the downed Lancaster, deep in a forest 15 miles from Berlin near a town called Lanke.
In another twist, the historians discovered Hussman – who was awarded the Iron Cross by Adolf Hitler – was still alive and living in a retirement home nearby.
He died only recently; in late March 2014, aged 94.
Along with Ian Hill, the historians started the long process of tracing relatives of the seven crew and compiled a book that detailed the discovery of ED328.
“We historians of the aviation museum Finowfurt found out that even 68 years after this terrible war people still look for their relatives,” their spokesman Christian Wengel wrote.
“There are many reasons for that – some want to visit the grave of their relatives – others want to know how their relative died or even don’t know where their father or children ended up in the chaos of war.
“We want to make a little contribution.
“Someone eventually dies, when people stop talking about him/her.”

From a story by Kevin Naughton - 'IN DAILY' an Adelaide online Independent News service, 14 April 2014

".......Then, a breakthrough.

Another local pointed them to two books by a Dr Hans Richter – Episodes from Lobetal and Codename Koralle – that included military reports and the graphic recollection of an air crash.

Hans Richter was still alive and Wengel’s men sought him out.


When Wengel met with Dr Richter, he discovered that the then-14 year old Richter had also witnessed the crash of a Lancaster that night in 1943.

It had been shot down by decorated German pilot Major Werner Husseman.

The next day, locals had found five charred bodies and a crew member (Flt/Sgt Phillips) leaning on a tree.

Phillips had been able to parachute from the plane, but he died later on site.

Richter, 70 years later, would lead Wengel and Ian Hill to the same site.

“He was just a 14-year-old schoolboy at the time but he is still living in the area and guided us to where the plane came down in dense forest,” Hill told InDaily.

“He said the Lancaster was attacked from underneath and its fuel tanks were hit – causing it to explode in mid-air.

“His memory is so vivid. It was an extremely traumatic experience as it took place over his head.

“He said he saw a chain of light going from the German night fighter to a large black four-engined plane.

“Next there were sparks and a huge red fireball and then the plane came down in parts after exploding.

“His father was the head of the local fire brigade which had to tend to the crash site and exhumed the bodies.

“It was wonderful to learn they were laid out in the village hall and buried in the local cemetery with full military honours by the Luftwaffe and treated with respect.”