Walter Nowotny

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Walter Nowotny
7 December 1920(1920-12-07) – 8 November 1944 (aged 23)

Walter Nowotny
Nickname Nowi, Tiger of Wolchowstroj
Place of birth Gmünd
Place of death Hesepe
Allegiance Flag of Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Service/branch Luftwaffe
Years of service 1939-1944
Rank Major
Unit JG 54, JG 101 and Kommando Nowotny
Commands held I./JG 54, JG 101, Kommando Nowotny
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillianten

Major Walter "Nowi" Nowotny (December 7, 1920 – November 8, 1944) was an Austrian-born German fighter ace of World War II with 258 confirmed victories in 442 missions, 255 victories over Russian pilots. By many considered as greatest fighter pilot of all time, by considering relation of his victories to his sorties.

Contents

[edit] Early life

He was born in Gmünd, a small town in Lower Austria. He joined the Luftwaffe in October 1939 and undertook his training near Vienna at Jagdfliegerschule 5. The new Leutnant was posted to 9./JG 54[1] in February 1941, assigned to the Eastern Front.

[edit] World War II

Flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109 he shot down his first two enemy aircraft (both Polikarpov I-153 biplanes) over Saaremaa on July 19, 1941, and was shot down the same day by Alexandr Avdeev and spent three days in a dinghy in the Gulf of Riga. At year's end he was credited with ten victories.

In 1942, Nowotny continued to increase his successes, shooting down five aircraft on a single day in July and seven on 2 August. He was shot down again on 11 August and sustained moderate injuries in a crash-landing. In September, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz, having achieved 56 victories. He was made Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 54 on 25 October.

In January 1943, JG 54 started converting to the Focke-Wulf 190 fighter. With the new aircraft "Nowi" scored at an unprecedented rate, often averaging more than two planes a day for weeks on end. He scored his 75th victory in March and his 100th in June — shooting down forty-one aircraft that month. In August, he was promoted to Oberleutnant, made Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 54, and shot down forty-nine aircraft. On 1 September, he scored ten victories in two sorties. He claimed his 200th victory on 8 September and had Eichenlaub added to his Knight's Cross, was promoted to Hauptmann and had the Schwerter added a few weeks later.

On 14 October 1943, Nowotny became the first pilot ever to reach 250 victories, and his Knight's Cross was augmented with diamonds (the Brillanten). He was the eighth recipient of the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves, Swords, and Diamonds, and was withdrawn from combat and given a long series of propaganda activities. He had shot down 255 enemy aircraft: 196 in 1943 alone.

[edit] Death

Walter Nowotny's grave at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
Walter Nowotny's grave at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna

Nowotny was Geschwaderkommodore of JG 101, a training unit, from April 1944. In September 1944, he was made commander of the specialist unit dubbed Kommando Nowotny, flying the new Messerschmitt Me 262 out of airfields near Osnabrück. The unit had not only the enemy to contend with, they also had to work through the "teething" phase of the Me 262 and also develop the tactics appropriate for a Jet unit. Two Rotten of Me 262 were prepared to take-off on 8 November 1944, Erich Büttner and Franz Schall at Hesepe, and Nowotny and Günther Wegmann at Achmer. But only two Me 262 managed to take-off. Büttner had a punctured tire during taxing and Nowotny's turbines initially refused to start. Nowotny had achieved three victories in his temperamental aircraft (two B-24s and a P-51) before he was killed in a crash following his Me 262 being shot down by USAAF Capt. Ernest Fiebelkorn (20th Fighter Group) and 1st Lt. Edward "Buddy" Haydon (357th Fighter Group) east of Hesepe. His Me 262 A-1a (W.Nr. 110 400) "White 8" was seen to dive vertically out of the clouds and crash at Epe, 2.5 kilometres east of Hesepe. His last words were "I'm burning, oh my God, my God, I'm burning!!"

Walter Nowotny was buried at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna in a grave of honor sponsored by the city of Vienna, which was still part of Nazi Germany then. Upon an initiative of the Austrian Green Party and debates in the Vienna Landtag, a resolution supported by Social Democrats and Greens was passed to remove the status of honor in 2003.

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organization
  • Berger, Florian. Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges (in German). Wien, Austria: Selbstverlag Florian Berger, 1999. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
  • Held, Werner. Der Jagdflieger Walter Nowotny Bilder und Dokumente. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag, 1998. ISBN 3-87943-979-6.

[edit] See also

Military offices
Preceded by
Oberstleutnant Erich von Selle		 Commander of Jagdgeschwader 101
April 1, 1944-September 10, 1944		 Succeeded by
Major Hans Knauth
Preceded by
none		 Commander of Kommando Nowotny
September 26, 1944 – November 8, 1944		 Succeeded by
Major Erich Hohagen