The Jet Night Fighters: Kurt Welter & the Story of the Messerschmitt Me 262 Night Fighters Paperback – December 5, 2019

This slim volume is a wholly excellent study of the Messerschmitt Me 262 deployed as a night fighter. The backbone is a biography of Kurt Welter, the first and only commander of the sole jet Moskito-Staffel, 10./NJG 10. Supplementing that are painstaking studies, each of which could stand on its own, of all of Kurt Welter's own claimed victories, all of the claims made by 10./NJG 10, and an exemplary appendix on all of the individual Me 262s thought to have been involved in night fighting. The claims have also been carefully compared to actual losses as documented in Allied primary records.This book is an outstanding example of a product from the select school of genuine Luftwaffe historians. These are authors that have actually gone to the trouble of researching their subject in primary sources and then creating a readable and fascinating account around what they have found.Several hoary myths and exaggerations have been either consigned to the dustbin, or shown to be without any credible foundation. As a single example of the former, the author has established beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Me 262s converted as two-seater radar-equipped night fighters were taken from one of the 262 assembly locations and railed directly to the DLH workshops at Berlin-Staaken for their conversion. They were not - as some earlier authors claimed - converted into two-seaters by Blohm und Voss at Wenzendorf and then transferred to Staaken to have radar fitted.Both German and Allied archives have been consulted in extenso, and not unexpectedly there are a number of gaps in these records. That leads very fittingly into invaluable assessments by the author of what records are available and for what periods, which is all exactly as it should be but is hardly ever seen.The material is well organized and set out so clearly and effectively that if you thought to possibly challenge one of the author's interpretations, the evidence to do so is all to hand.There are only two minor criticisms that can be levelled. The English used sometimes leaves you puzzling a second over what is meant, but it is clear enough most of the time. A final polish by a native English-speaker would have made the story flow better and aided comprehension. Also the standard of reproduction of the photos is at best adequate, but all those of the Me 262 have appeared elsewhere. However, it is not good enough to evidence each of the identity markings on some of the aircraft. Nevertheless, in comparison to what the author has achieved here these flaws are only of minute consequence.Worth every penny. Five Stars and a Very Well Done.

Some minor grammar quibbles (present tense vs past tense) overall an OUTSTANDING effort. Read Ivon Moore's review from June 2020, he nailed it.Kurt Welter's combat record has generated a great deal of controversy, but as Zapf points out every victory claim after December 1944 attributed to Welter is without provenance. Welter was not a saint, but readers can take a beat and question any notion that he was a liar. IOW some/many claims attributed to Welter might be conjecture by authors who didn't dig deeper looking for primary sources.

This book presents the most detailed account available in English of the jet night fighters flown by Germany at the end of the war. Well work reading.

Hubiese preferido una traducción al inglés del libro original escrito en alemán "Mosquitos über Berlin. Nachtjagd mit der Messerschmitt Bf 109 und Me 262", con pasta dura, enorme con 569 páginas. Sin embargo, esta versión resumida en inglés rescata lo más valiosa del trabajo del autor Andreas Zapf, de gran valor para el historiador y el investigador de la ingeniería, y quizá un valor marginal para el modelista a escala. ¡Felicitaciones al señor Zapf!

I don't think we'll ever get a more detailed account about Welter's career, this is IT. It is worth having for the Luftwaffe enthusiast's collection.

Poorly written by a non-native English speaker, evidently self edited. Low quality photos. This self published book is not worth the low pricing - it is an extremely marginal purchase. You get what you pay for and with this book you don't get much.

Was very informative

Buyer beware. I am extremely disappointed that this book has minimal photos of 262‘s, and an overwhelming amount of British Mosquito aircraft. I’m not even going to read it since almost all of it’s photos have nothing to do with the subject. IT SUCKS!!