It was common for Nachtschlachtgruppen to be formed piece-by-piece and NSGr. 8’s 1. Staffel was set up by Luftflotte 5 on its own authority in February 1944; it had a strength of five Ar 66 and seven pilots on the 20th of that month, rising to 21 and 20 respectively by the 28th (20 aircraft was then the standard complement of a Nachtschlachtstaffel). In May, 4./SG 5 was disbanded and its personnel went to a new 2./NSGr. 8, taking over aircraft made available by I./SG 5’s conversion from the Ju 87 to the Fw 190. The Stab and 3. Staffel followed on 6 July, taking over the Ar 66s released by the 1. Staffel’s own transition to the Ju 87. These measures were to be completed by 10 August and the Gruppe was allocated the unit code 6J+. The final step, on 1 August, was for the Quartermaster General to formalise the establishment of 1./NSGr. 8.

The 1. Staffel saw a Ju 87 D-5, W.Nr. 131802, 10% damaged in a crash landing at Nautsi, Finland during a non-operational flight on 13 October and wireless operator Uffz. Werner Rakel was injured while a day later the crew of Ofw. Egon Barry and Ofhr. Alfons Riddler also suffered injuries. In the wake of Finland’s armistice with the Soviet Union, the unit was withdrawn to Banak in northern Norway and by January 1945 elements were stationed at Elvenes and Bodø. The Gruppe was ordered on the 11th to transfer to Wunsdorf where it would come under Lfl. Reich, ostensibly with a view to operating on the Western Front after a short rest and refit. However Luftflotte 6 noted the same day that it was intended to base NSGr. 8 at Werneuchen, about 27 km NE central Berlin. Ground elements were to move by sea to a railhead while 31 Ju 87s were reported leaving Ørlandet for Eggemoen on the 16th; from there they were to go to Aalborg in Denmark before carrying on to Wunsdorf.

The Soviet offensive launched on 12 January 1945 would carry them from the Vistula to the Oder in the space of three weeks. The Germans suffered a catastrophic loss of territory, troops and equipment, the Luftwaffe having to evacuate many airfields and abandon or destroy huge numbers of aircraft from both training and operational units, which could not be flown out due either to unserviceability or lack of fuel. Those which could be got away crowded on to bases in eastern Germany, presenting easy targets for strafers and impeding the Luftwaffe’s own operational flying. According to Lfl. 6’s diary, NSGr. 8 was being brought up to Neuhardenberg (56 km WNW of central Berlin and about 18 km from the Oder) on the 30th. Next day the Red Army crossed the frozen River Oder at Kienitz and a Ju 87 of NSGr. 8 (W.Nr. 131801) was shot up there on that date, its crew emerging unscathed from an emergency landing near the town although the aircraft itself was destroyed.

The Soviets would establish more bridgeheads in the coming days, notably at Göritz on 2 February, but did not immediately move against Berlin, preferring first to clear German forces from Pomerania (the region bordering the Baltic between the Vistual and the Oder). Fighting on the Oder Front over the next two months was characterised by Soviet efforts to establish additional crossings and to consolidate and expand their positions on the west bank. The German struggle to contain and reverse these moves set the context for the operations of NSGr. 8 and the other Nachtschlacht units deployed along the front.

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