Himmelbett Box Patrol

WEATHER: Niteowl
INSERTS: None
MIN.TIME: 14:10
RADAR: Lichtenstein C-1 jam-
       med (no map!!!!)

British use of Window severed
the link between the ground stations
and the fighters, and rendered the short-
range radar on the nachtjagers impotent
as well. The Himmelbett Box system of
night fighting thus ceased to be the
dominant defensive strategy. However,
despite the advent of relatively suc-
cessful Wild Boar tactics to replace
the zoned system, Himmelbett boxes were
still used until late in the war as a
means of catching stray bombers. One
night in 1943, Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer
single-handedly foiled an RAF raid on
Stuttgart by shooting down the British
Master Bomber (the so-called "Master of
Ceremonies") and several other key
Pathfinder aircraft. The mission was
scrubbed, and the bombers dumped their
loads in some nearby woods instead of on
the city. Schnaufer's discovery of the
Master of Ceremonies on a poor-weather
evening was an accident occurring as he
began his patrol. Schnaufer went on to
become the highest-scoring night ace
with 121 <!> victories. He is credited
with possibly saving more civilian lives
than any other single combatant of World
War II. He was one of the few German pi-
lots both feared AND respected by the
British; in fact, they broadcast a birth-
day greeting to him in 1945.
ORDERS: A bombing raid on Stuttgart may
pass through your area this evening. Des-
troy as many bombers as you can.

