Australian Mosquito Intruder Ace: Squadron Leader Charles Scherf DSO DFC* RAAF was the leading RAAF Intruder Pilot 1939-45

Charles Scherf was a grazier who began pilot training in 1941 in Australia and was posted to 418 Squadron RCAF in 1943. He mastered the difficult flying procedures for operational sorties over Occupied Europe and began hunting German night fighters in the Mosquito fighter, unaided by radar, reliant on personal ability of himself and his navigator. Night intruding without radar proved unsuccessful so 418 began making daylight sorties and began to reap successes. Scherf was among those on 418 who made some epic sorties across Europe, described in this account of his wartime flying, culminating in some remarkable flight along the Baltic coast. Scherf returned to Australia, was court-martialled for low flying, and left the RAAF to return to his catle station. He was killed in a car accident in 1949. This is an account of his life, with emphasis on his wartime experiences, including details from his family, official records and personal reports. Charles Scherf was the leading Australian intruder pilot of world War 2.