Militaria Trivia Quiz - Question 3

[Bloodstained Angel]

Question 3, 24Oct01

During WW2, the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) had a secret weapon code named schrage musik or sometimes also known as jazz music

What was it exactly ?

cheers

 

[Santos L Helper]

I just looked it up BSA, so I won't answer with my cheating. Very interesting though and quite ingenious.

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

how come this thread won't post in BF Live ?

Oh well, I hope some of the regular Historians get to see it and have a go at answering the question.

I'll post the answer this afternoon .

cheers

 

[Commissioner X]

a form of attack

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

yes, it is af orm of attack, but the question is specifically about the secret weapon.

I need the explanation / description of what exactly that secret weapon was.

cheers

 

[Gonzo]

Originally posted by Bloodstained Angel
yes, it is af orm of attack, but the question is specifically about the secret weapon.

I need the explanation / description of what exactly that secret weapon was.

cheers

It was the mounting of guns on the top of Luftwaffe aircraft that pointed almost directly upwards so that these aircraft could then attack RAF bombers on their way to Germany from beneath??

Cheers

Gonzo

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

Congradulations Gonzo

You have the correct answer.

The strange code-name schrage musik translates literally into the English 'slanting music' but the Germans never called their secret weapon anything else but 'jazz music' which has no direct German word.

The secret weapon was a pair of 20mm cannon mounted behind the cockpit of the twin-engined night fighter which could fire upwards and forward on a 30 degree angle.

In the pitch black of night, fighters found bombers by being guided to them by a combination of ground and aircraft - mounted radar. Once in the vicinity of a bomber, the night fighter could position itself directly below the bomber and fire upwards into the belly or the wing-mounted fuel tanks of the bomber and bring it down.

It sounds simple but it had a devastating effect on the Bombers of the RAF. Now a night fighter did not have to try and behave like a day fighter and aim the whole aircraft at the target just to bring its guns to bear (In pitch blackness and guided by radar, this was practically impossible for 95 % of all German Night fighter pilots) Instead all you had to do was position yourself on a parallel course underneath the Bomber and hit it where it was most vulnerable without warning.

Schrage Musik also saved lives, a night fighter could fire at the wing mounted fuel tanks of the Bomber, hence giving the crew plenty of opportunity to bail out. In the old system, a night fighter would usually aim at the biggest part of the Bomber to be sure to get a hit - that was the bomb-bay and it usually exploded, killing all crew instantly and often the Night Fighter crew would die as well because the night fighter didn't get out of the way fast enough.

The story of RAF Bomber Command, its campaigns and the German air defences that fought them is one of the most fascinating and technologically interesting stories to come out of WW2.

cheers

 

[Briedis]

Thanks BSA... I didm't know that! Interesting!

 

[TigerTank]

Another benefit was that it gave otherwise obsolete aircraft like the Ju88 and Do217 something to do.

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

something to do ?

ha ha - thats funny TT

recycled, patched-up and restored twin engined bombers formed ALL of the Luftwaffes night fighter force.

Also thier crews were re-trained bomber crews.

As an exmaple of how Germany was so un-prepared for a 'total war effort' lets look at night fighters.

During the course of the War, Britain developed and then deployed the Bristol Beaufighter to replace the Bolton Paul Defiant as a specialised night fighter, this in turn was replaced by the De Havilland Mosquito, again a highly specialised aircraft designed to shoot down Bombers in pitch blackness (both the Beaufighter and Mosquito went on to do alot of other jobs, but they were originally designed as night fighters)

In the same time Germany had no specialised night fighter designs but had to keep patching up and modifying twin engined day bombers into night fighters.

Aircraft like the Junkers Ju88 and the Mescherschmidt Me 110 were packed full of radar equipment and cannon instead of bombs - and were expected to do the job.

Germany only managed to develope one specialised night fighter from the Ground up during the course of the war - The Heinkel 219 "Owl"

It was a brilliant aircraft but arrived far too late and in far too few numbers to make a significant difference.

oh and TT - The Dornier 217 was already too obsolete for night fighter duty by the time it was required.

Most 217's if they hadn't been shot down in the Mediterraean theatres or pensioned off to the Finns, Hungarians, Swiss or Romanians finished their days as glider tugs on the russian front.

cheers

 

[Satay Mat]

BSA

on the Beaufighter....perhaps you could help me out. My Grandfather flew Beaufort Bombers over New Guinea and also was a trainer at Sale. My father says he was squadron leader of the 100 RAAF Squadron.

Can you fill me in on:

a) the production of the Beafort Bomber in Melbourne during the war.

b) the action which the 100 Squadron saw.

only if you have time of course !

Thanks !


Satay Mat

 

[Stegelator]

Originally posted by Gonzo


It was the mounting of guns on the top of Luftwaffe aircraft that pointed almost directly upwards so that these aircraft could then attack RAF bombers on their way to Germany from beneath??

Cheers

Gonzo

I was gonna say that! Really I was!

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

Thanks Satay Mat

I just had a quick sniff around the web and found http://www.raafmuseum.com.au/research/aircraft/a2series/beaufort.htm which is a good page on the Bristol Beaufort Torpedo Bomber as produced in Australia 1941-1944.

Also you might like to check out http://www.raafmuseum.com.au/research/index.htm from the same site (scroll down and click on 100 Squadron) which has a brief little note about 100 Squadron.

If you are interested in researching 100 Squadron (and its aircraft) further then you might like to contact the Researchers at RAAF Museum directly. I'm sure their is an official history of the Squadron published somewhere and available to the public.

cheers

 

[TigerTank]

I have seen pics of Do217 in nightfighter role - attractive-looking aircraft, even if not especially effective.

To be fair on Ju88, later versions were still competitive in terms of performance and manoeuvrability compared to virtually any metal-covered medium-twin of WWII (better than Beaufighter at any rate).

 

[Satay Mat]

Originally posted by Bloodstained Angel
Thanks Satay Mat

I just had a quick sniff around the web and found http://www.raafmuseum.com.au/research/aircraft/a2series/beaufort.htm which is a good page on the Bristol Beaufort Torpedo Bomber as produced in Australia 1941-1944.

Also you might like to check out http://www.raafmuseum.com.au/research/index.htm from the same site (scroll down and click on 100 Squadron) which has a brief little note about 100 Squadron.

If you are interested in researching 100 Squadron (and its aircraft) further then you might like to contact the Researchers at RAAF Museum directly. I'm sure their is an official history of the Squadron published somewhere and available to the public.

cheers

thanks BSA...top stuff !


Satay Mat