This chapter recounts the successful hunt led by Oberleutnant Nabrich and Unteroffizier Habicht aboard their Chu. During this night mission, they managed to shoot down a Mosquito (mosquito),
prey difficult to reach for Luftwaffe night fighters. Translated from the original story, which appeared in English in Aircraft in Profile, No. 219, "Heinkel He 219 "Uhu"", published by Profile Publications Ltd.
At around 10 p.m. on June 10, 1944, Oberleutnant Jose Nabrich of I./NJG 1 and his teammate, Unteroffizier Fritz Habicht, were patrolling in their Uhu 9,600 m above the Zuiderzee. Ground control guided them to a Mosquito formation detected at a slightly higher altitude than theirs. Leaving Venlo, their He 219 was stripped of its armor and four ventral guns in order to give it a slight advantage over its British opponents. During the months of April and May, Nabrich and Habicht had piloted this Uhu in unsuccessful attempts to intercept Mosquitoes en route to Berlin. It was their 21st outing in two months. Before that night, all they had suffered was airsickness, German anti-aircraft artillery fire and a skirmish with a night fighter Mosquito, which had no result.
Habicht had his forehead glued to the flexible frame of his primitive radar screen when he saw a spot. An intruder was about 5 km away. It was a Mosquito moving east at high speed. The two Germans only came within sufficient firing distance near Osnabrück. Nabrich unleashed a short burst from his two MG 151 guns lodged in the wings. The Mosquito's left engine suddenly caught fire. The flames increased in intensity and the intruder, hit, began to turn, losing altitude. Its bomb load exploded, causing a gigantic glow. The crew was miraculously ejected when the Mosquito disintegrated. The two airmen opened their parachutes and were taken prisoner as soon as they landed.
The following night, this same Uhu and his crew achieved another success. Tracking the Mosquito all the way to Berlin, they had great difficulty approaching their prey. If they had had a slight altitude advantage in their previous fight, that was not the case this time around. West of Salzwedel, Habicht was able to visually identify a Mosquito. Two 20mm shells soon brought the enemy bomber into the clouds. A minute later, a terrible explosion confirmed the German victory. The maximum power demanded of the DB 603 on the right during the engagement was fatal to it, and the engine soon became an inert mass of metal. Oberleutnant Nabricht feathered the propeller and landed his Uhu at Perleberg, the only left engine running.