Night Fighter over Germany: Flying Beaufighters and Mosquitoes in World War 2

Night Fighter Over Germany is a supremely frustrating book. Graham White is a charming storyteller of the codgerly British variety, and he seems like he’d be a great guy to have a pint with. He also had one of the most terrifying jobs of World War 2, as a nightfighter intruder pilot. In a Beaufort or Mosquito, he flew over occupied Europe at night, stalking Nazi nightfighters that were themselves trying to bring down the heavy bombers. For security reasons, they flew with last-generation radar sets, and by the guidance of navigator-radar operators shouting “Right, left, he’s above us. You’re right on top of him! Don’t you see him!” It was a knife-fight by oscilloscope above enemy territory, and the Nazis had aerial radar and ground guidance to help.

Yet in this book, there’s about one chapter devoted to a mission. The rest is life in the RAF during the war and immediately after, when White was young, horny, and very drunk. The escapades get exhausting. I have to give him credit for quitting his war reserve job as an apprentice draftsman in supreme style, and I enjoyed learning that he trained at my local airbase of Falcon Field in Mesa, AZ. That said, while this book is fun enough, I wish it had a little more technical heft.