World War II Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow (5 May 1908 – 10 September 1990) was a German night fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany.

[1] He was credited with 34 nocturnal aerial victories, including one de Havilland Mosquito, claimed in 259 combat missions, 109 of which flown at night.

Modrow then flew the postal routes to South America with the Deutsche Luft Hansa from May 1937 to August 1939.

[2][4] World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland.

With this unit he flew maritime aerial reconnaissance and supply missions into Narvik during the Norwegian campaign.

[2] On 28 May 1940, his Do 26 D-AGNT "Seeadler" and another Do 26 were moored at Rombaksfjord when they came under attack by Royal Air Force (RAF) Hawker Hurricane fighters from No.

[2] Following the 1939 aerial Battle of the Heligoland Bight, RAF attacks shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign.

Each sector named a Himmelbett (canopy bed) would direct the night fighter into visual range with target bombers.

[2][Note 1] At the time, the group was under the command of Hauptmann (Captain) Manfred Meurer and was involved in the evaluation of the then new Heinkel He 219 night fighter under combat conditions.

Of the crew of seven, only Sergeant Kenneth Dobbs, the wireless operator who bailed out, survived the crash near Caumont.

Out of more than 700 planes participating in the Nuremberg raid, 106 were shot down or crash landed on the way home to their base, and more than 700 men were missing, as many as 545 of them dead.

[13][14] In April 1944, although first tests of the He 219 proved the aircraft to be superior to the Messerschmitt Bf 110 in the night fighter role, the Ministry of Aviation (Reichsluftfahrtministerium) was debating whether to cancel the He 219 production.

425 "Alouette" Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), which crashed at 01:55 roughly 30 kilometres (19 miles) southeast of Gilze-Rijen.

Hit by a short burst of cannon fire, Downey ordered navigator Pilot Officer Ronald Arthur Wellington to bail out.

[27] Following World War II, Modrow served in the Bundeswehr until 1964, and retired holding the rank of Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel).

This number includes two de Havilland Mosquito aircraft, five Halifax, 25 Lancaster and two further four-engined bombers of unknown type.