The culmination of Germany's vaunted "Destroyer" concept, the Messerschmitt Me 410 was the intended successor of the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter. Despite entering service almost two years late, it was arguably the Luftwaffe aircraft which most closely matched Britain's magnificent de Havilland Mosquito in terms of role and performance.

Unquestionably one of the most interesting aircraft of the Second World War in appearance, the Me 410 was a true multirole aircraft and could be adapted to perform a number of offensive roles, including that of heavy bomber killer.

Equipped with the mighty Rheinmetall manufactured BK-5 autocannon which protruded from the nose of the fighter, this weapon was a development of the 50mm Kampfwagenkanone anti-tank gun found in Panzer III tanks.

With 21 shells housed in a magazine in the weapons bay of the fighter and a shell already loaded in the breach ready to fire, the pilot could usually only rely on one round being fired, before this temperamental system jammed, leaving just reduced standard armament to be used during the sortie.

A single, well-aimed shell did possess the destructive power to easily bring down an Allied bomber and could be fired at ranges where the attacking Luftwaffe aircraft were effectively impervious to the wall of return fire put up by the bomber stream. However, the additional weight and drag caused by using this powerful gun made the Me 410 incredibly vulnerable to marauding Allied fighters.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a German Messerschmitt Me 410A-1/U3 heavy fighter that was piloted by Hauptmann Eduart Tratt, who was attached to Erprobungskommando 25, then deployed to Wittmund, Germany, during February 1944. Pre-order! Ship Date: August 2026.

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 10-inches
Length: 8-inches

Release Date: ?

Historical Account: "Night Light" - In early 1943, I./ZG 1 flew against targets in the Stalingrad area, but then moved to Poltava, with attacks on Russian troop positions, supply and communications lines, and airfields. On January 30th, 1943, Tratt suffered serious injuries (and his Bordfunker Fw. Paul Rennefahrt killed) when he crash-landed his Bf 110 G-2 'RH+YK' after suffering engine damage North of Rowenki.

When recovered, Tratt next commanded a special testing unit, Erprobungskommando 25, undertaking the operational testing and evaluation of new weapons for use against the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) bomber offensive. With the increasing day bombing campaign over the Reich by the USAAF 8th Air Force, the Luftwaffe evaluated various means for its fighters to bring down more bombers during its incursions over occupied Europe. Erprobungskommando 25 was formed to test many and varied technical innovations to achieve that goal.

One of these was the Me 410A-1/U4 (bomber destroyer) armed with a 50 mm BK-5 gun mounted underneath the fuselage. The gun, weighing some 900 kg, severely restricted maneuverability, though carrying some 21 rounds and having a recoil pressure of about seven tons.

Hauptman Tratt claimed 2 B-17s during the summer of 1943, on 21 May 1943 with Epr. Kdo. 25, and one North of Baltrum on June 13th, 1943, while Tratt briefly commanded Kdo.I./JG 1.

On October 11th, 1943, Hauptmann Tratt was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of the reformed II./ZG 26, flying the new heavy fighter versions of the Messerschmitt Me 410 from Hildesheim.

He led the unit on Reichsverteidigung (Defence of the Reich) duties. As late 1943 ground on interceptions were infrequent, but by early 1944 the Zerstorer day fighters found the odds increasingly stacked as the massed American escort fighter accompanied the bombers all the way deep into Germany. During Tratt's tenure in command, II./ZG 26 sustained increasingly heavy losses to these fighter escorts. He claimed a P-38 south of Loningen on November 13th, 1943, and on November 29th he shot down a B-17 bomber near Borkum as his 30th victory. On 10 February he claimed a P-38 near Ettenbrock, and on 11 February he claimed another 3 P-38 fighters, shot down in the Oberstein area.

He recorded his final and 38th victory on February 20th, 1944; a B-17 of the 452nd Bomb Group, 42-37951 "Mavoureen", which was also attacked by Oberleutnant Durkopp of 6./ZG 26.

Tratt was shot down and killed (with his gunner Ofw. Gillert) single-handedly attacking B-17's of the 91st Bomb Group near Nordhausen on February 22nd, 1944, flying a Messerschmitt Me 410B-1/U2/R4. S/Sgt R L Jackson, a right waist gunner of the 401st BS, 91st BG claimed a fighter that day which may have been Tratt.