Unteroffizier Erwin Mokrus (Page 58)

Photograph: Erwin Mokrus is the first from the left, not the second as was indicated by the caption on the back of the original photo.

Dr. Erwin Mokrus was born on 27 April 1923. Before his military service he had completed his Abitur (high school graduation) and had enrolled as a Student of Theology at the University of Göttingen. He learned to fly at A/B 51 in Weimar, then Jagdfliegerschule Zerbst [JFS 2]. He was posted to the Channel Front in March 1943 as a Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier and flew as the Kaczmarek of Oberst Herbert Ihlefeld:

Before NSG 9, I was a member of JG 27 and was stationed at Valenciennes [France] on the Channel coast. We flew the Me 109 F and Focke-Wulf 190. We had a few examples of the Fw 190 and everyone wanted to fly them but there was only a limited supply of them. They were faster whereas the Bf 109 was too slow against the Spitfire. That was all in the summer of 1943.

While Mokrus recalls spending this period with JG 27, no element of that Geschwader appears to have been in France at the time. In March 1943, Ihlefeld was commanding the operational training unit JG 103, based at Chateauroux.

From there I volunteered for the Defence of the Reich. There was a call for interested crews and individual airmen to come forward and undertake conversion from day fighting to night fighters. I wanted to go to the so-called “Wild Boar”, night fighter defence of the Reich with the Focke-Wulf 190. But I already had all the pilots’ certificates and could fly big two- and three-motor aircraft. So there was no problem for me in making the change.

Then I changed over to the Second Night Fighter Division [2. Jagddivision] in Stade (North Germany). The fighter control centre [the “SOKRATES” bunker] was in Stade as well. The Second Night Fighter Division was equipped with the Bf 110. I didn’t need a conversion from the Bf 109 to the Bf 110, I was already a C-flyer and also had the B-certificate for single-engined aircraft and several individual certificates. As far as new types went, all that was necessary was an introduction, a few take-offs and landings.

[Note: III./NJG 3 was based in Stade during the relevant period]

I flew a Junkers Ju 86 there a few times, too. We got the Ju 88 first and in October 1943 we were transferred to Pleskau on the Ilmensee. We were there over the winter, until January or February 1944. I think that we weren’t called NSG 9 then but Nachtjagdgeschwader 9, I believe. We became"Nachtschlächter" or a "Nachtschlachtgruppe" later on, after the Allied landing at Anzio-Nettuno.

Here again, Mokrus seems to be speaking of himself and a group of comrades. NSG 9 had been established before the Anzio landings but this crisis did speed up the unit's transition to front-line operational status.

Then I came officially to NSG 9, it was a little place near Torino, Italy. The place was called Caselle, that was where I had to report. The applicants for this role had been gathered together in Russia and flown in by Ju 52 via München-Riem. That was so to speak the cadre of NSG 9 that had been transferred from Russia.

Oh, we flew everything possible. We had the Caproni 414 [sic], the twin-engined Italian [plane], a kind of heavy fighter. The Fiat CR. 42 Falco, that was a “one-and-a-half decker”, a really fast, good-looking and very manoeuvrable aircraft. I even flew two or three operations on it. Of course, every pilot tried to hang on to “his” aircraft since that was the one you were properly acquainted with. And I already had [experience on] the Bf 110 and a few take-offs in the Ju 88.

We flew every night. I don’t remember individual places. At first we flew against the English and American beach head south of Rome, so that must have been in April 1944. I flew with the CR. 42 which had two cannon [12.7mm machine guns in fact] which we used to strafe the infantry positions. On the return flight, without orders and more out of high spirits and foolishness, we made low level attacks with our remaining ammunition on Allied lorry columns driving with their headlights on full. That’s described in Mr Beale’s book too. That surely meant a lot of casualties for the Allied convoys and today it makes me sorry since we had no express orders to do it.

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