Toward the end of WWII, Northrop produced a night fighter called the P-61. It was given the name "Black Widow" after the venomous spider. Wikipedia writes that no P-61 ever engaged in combat with a German jet fighter. The following photograph of my Dad standing beside a P-61 is shown below.
It was 1946. It was taken at an airfield near Munch. On the back of the photo my Dad wrote:
"P-61 with a Jet-German Plane to its credit. Also called "Black Widow". Send more pictures in next letter."
Trying to enlarge the picture, I could only produce the following:
It is not very clear, but he is pointing to a marking on the plane that he interpreted as a "Jet-German Plane". This would seem to suggest that this P-61 took credit for a German jet fighter? The picture is a clear documentation that at least one P-61 took credit for this activity.
The 424th Night Fighter Squadron, Oberpfaffenhofen Air Depot, near Munich used the P-61. Does any one out there have information regarding this squadron of the 9th Air Force. My Dad seemed to think that this P-61 took down a jet. He was there.
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