Walter Nowotny

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Further reading Broucek, Peter: "Nowotny Walter". In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Vol. 7, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1978, ISBN 3-7001-0187-2, p. 172.

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Walter Nowotny (7 December 1920 – 8 November 1944) was an Austrian-born fighter ace of the Luftwaffe in World War II. He is credited with 258 aerial victories—that is, 258 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft—in 442 combat missions. Nowotny achieved 255 of these victories on the Eastern Front and three while flying one of the first jet fighters, the Messerschmitt Me 262, in the Defense of the Reich. He scored most of his victories in the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and approximately 50 in the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Nowotny scored an "ace in a day" on multiple occasions, shooting down at least five airplanes on the same day, including two occurrences of "double-ace in a day" (scored at least ten kills) in mid-1943. Nowotny joined the Luftwaffe in 1939 and completed his fighter pilot training in 1941, after which he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 54 "Grünherz" (JG 54) on the Eastern Front. Nowotny was the first pilot to achieve 250 victories – 194 in 1943 alone – earning him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds on 19 October 1943. For propaganda reasons, he was ordered to cease operational…Citește mai mult

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Early life Walter Nowotny was born in Gmünd, a small town in Lower Austria. His father, Rudolf Nowotny, was a railway official; his two brothers, Rudolf and Hubert, became officers in the Wehrmacht. Hubert Nowotny was killed in action in the Battle of Stalingrad. From 1925 to 1935, his family lived in Schwarzenau until his father was relocated to Mistelbach, north of Vienna. Walter attended the primary school (Volksschule) in Schwarzenau before graduating to the Bundesoberrealschule in Waidhofen an der Thaya. During these years, he also sang in the Cistercian monastery boy's choir in the Zwettl Abbey. Due to his father's relocation, Nowotny transferred to the secondary school (Oberschule) in Laa an der Thaya. In his teens, Nowotny was interested in all kinds of sports. In 1935, he played football for the school team in Waidhofen, and in 1937, took first place in the javelin throw and third place in the Lower Austrian 1,000 metres (0.62 mi) track and field championships. Nowotny also visited the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Nowotny had joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP—National Socialist German Workers' Party) in 1938 with a membership number 6,382,781. In the same year, he joined the Hitler Youth where he became…Citește mai mult

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Luftwaffe career Nowotny's military basic training began at the 2. Flieger-Ausbildungsregiment 62 in Quedlinburg (1 October 1939 – 15 November 1939) and continued at the Luftkriegschule 5 in Breslau-Schöngarten (16 November 1939 – 30 June 1940). He was promoted to Fahnenjunker-Gefreiter on 1 March 1940 and shortly afterwards, on 1 April 1940, to Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier. On 1 July 1940, Notwotny was promoted again, to the rank of Fähnrich. He completed his pilot training and received the Pilot Badge on 19 August 1940. Nowotny also trained as a fighter pilot at the Jagdfliegerschule 5 in Wien-Schwechat (1 August 1940 – 15 November 1940), the same school that Hans-Joachim Marseille had attended one year earlier. One of his teachers at the Jagdfliegerschule 5 was the Austro-Hungarian World War I ace Julius Arigi. Here Nowotny befriended Karl Schnörrer and Paul Galland, the younger brother of General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland. After graduation from the Jagdfliegerschule 5, Nowotny was transferred to the I./Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Merseburg on 16 November 1940, flying fighter cover for the Leuna industrial works.

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Nowotny was posted to the Ergänzungsstaffel (Training/Supplement Squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54) on 1 December 1940. JG 54 at the time was under the command of Major Hannes Trautloft. Nowotny was transferred again, this time to the 9. Staffel (9th squadron) of JG 54 (9./JG 54), the so-called Teufelsstaffel (Devils' Squadron) where he was further trained by veterans from the front line (23 February 1941 – 25 March 1941). From 25 March 1941 to 10 March 1942, Notwotny flew with the Stabsstaffel of the Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe JG 54 where he was promoted to Leutnant on 1 April 1941, effective as of 1 February 1941. Nowotny flew a Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-7 (Werknummer 1173—factory number) "White 2" on his 24th operational mission on 19 July 1941 and claimed his first two enemy aircraft, both Polikarpov I-153 biplanes of Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily (VVS—Military Air Forces) KBF's 12 OIAE/61 BAB, over Saaremaa. He was shot down in the same engagement by Aleksandr Avdeyev, also in a I-153 fighter. According to Soviet archives, no Soviet aircraft was lost in the engagement. Nowotny spent three days in a dinghy in the Gulf of Riga – on one occasion almost being run down by a Soviet destroyer…Citește mai mult

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Diamonds Nowotny was promoted to Hauptmann on 21 September 1943, effective as of 1 October, following his 225th victory. On 9 October in aerial combat south of Nevel, he was credited with JG 54s 6,000th aerial victory. Five days later, Nowotny became the first pilot to reach 250 victories, following his 442 combat missions. Nowotny was celebrating this feat in the Ria Bar in Vilna when he received a phone call from Hitler himself, announcing that he had been awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten), making him the eighth of 27 men to be so honored. The Brillanten (Diamonds) were presented by Hitler at the Wolfsschanze, near Kętrzyn (German: Rastenburg) on 19 October 1943. Nowotny immediately went on a short vacation to Vienna before returning to his front-line unit. On 29 October 1943, Nowotny presented the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross to Oberfeldwebel Otto Kittel. In the days following, Nowotny flew as wingman to Karl Schnörrer, helping him accumulate further victories. On 11 November, Anton Döbele was killed in a mid-air collision with an Il-2 Sturmovik. The next day, 12 November 1943,…Citește mai mult

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In September 1944, Nowotny was made commander of a specialist unit dubbed Kommando Nowotny, flying the newly developed Messerschmitt Me 262 out of airfields near Osnabrück. The unit not only had to contend with the enemy, but also with working through the 'teething' phase of the Me 262 and developing the tactics appropriate for a jet unit. On 7 October, Nowotny downed a B-24 Liberator bomber, his first aerial victory on the Western Front. Generals Alfred Keller and Adolf Galland had scheduled an inspection at Achmer Airfield for the afternoon of 7 November 1944. Galland had already visited Kommando Nowotny several times and was deeply concerned over the high attrition rate and meager success achieved by the Me 262. After inspecting the two airfields at Achmer and Hesepe, he stayed in the Penterknapp barracks discussing the problems of the past few weeks. Several pilots openly expressed their doubts as to the readiness of the Me 262 for combat operations.

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The next morning, 8 November 1944, the Generals arrived again at Nowotny's command post and Keller declared that the aces of the past years had become cowards and that the Luftwaffe had lost its fighting spirit. Shortly after, news reached the command post of a large bomber formation approaching. Two Rotten of Me 262 were prepared for take-off, Erich Büttner and Franz Schall at Hesepe, and Nowotny and Günther Wegmann at Achmer. At first only Schall and Wegmann managed to take off because Büttner had a punctured tire during taxiing and Nowotny's turbines initially refused to start. With some delay, Nowotny took off and engaged the enemy on his own, Schall and Wegmann having since retired from the action after sustaining battle damage. Nowotny radioed that he had downed a B-24 Liberator and a P-51 Mustang before he reported one engine failing and made one final garbled transmission containing the word "burning". Helmut Lennartz recalled:

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"I remember Nowotny's crash very well. Feldwebel Gossler, a radio operator with our unit, had set up a radio on the airfield. Over this set I and many others listened to the radio communications with Nowotny's aircraft. His last words were, "I'm on fire" or "it's on fire". The words were slightly garbled.

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It remains unclear whether Nowotny was killed due to engine failure or whether he was shot down by United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Captain Ernest C. Fiebelkorn (20th Fighter Group) and 1st Lieutenant Edward "Buddy" Haydon (357th Fighter Group) east of Hesepe. In recent years, United States military historians proposed that Nowotny's victor may have been P-51D pilot Lieutenant Richard W. Stevens of the 364th Fighter Group. Many witnesses observed Nowotny's Me 262 A-1a (Werknummer 110 400) "White 8" dive vertically out of the clouds and crash at Epe, 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) east of Hesepe. Nowotny was given a state funeral in Vienna. The guard of honour was composed of his friend Karl Schnörrer, Oberst Gordon Gollob, Major Rudolf Schoenert, Hauptmann Heinz Strüning, Major Josef Fözö and Major Georg Christl. The eulogy was delivered by Generaloberst Otto Deßloch. Nowotny was buried at the Vienna Central Cemetery in a grave of honour sponsored by the city of Vienna. Following an initiative by 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 honour in 2003. Nowotny's grave remains a frequent target of both far-left…Citește mai mult

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According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Nowotny was credited with 258 aerial victories. Spick also lists Nowotny with 258 aerial victories claimed in 442 combat missions. Nowotny achieved 255 of these victories on the Eastern Front and three while flying one of the first jet fighters, the Me 262, in the Defense of the Reich. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 256 aerial victory claims, plus four further unconfirmed claims. This figure of confirmed claims includes 255 aerial victories on the Eastern Front and one victory on the Western Front flying the Me 262 jet fighter.

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Awards Order of the Cross of Liberty 1st Class Ehrenabzeichen der finnischen Luftwaffe Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds Eastern Front Medal Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Fighter Pilots in Gold (17 May 1942) with pennant "400" Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe on 20 July 1942 as Leutnant and pilot Wound Badge (1939) in Black Golden Hitler Youth Badge Viennas city ring of honor (11 January 1944) Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (23 July 1941) 1st Class (19 August 1941) German Cross in Gold on 21 August 1942 as Leutnant in the I./Jagdgeschwader 54 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds Knight's Cross on 4 September 1942 as Leutnant and pilot in the 9./Jagdgeschwader 54 293rd Oak Leaves on 4 September 1943 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 1./Jagdgeschwader 54 37th Swords on 22 September 1943 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the I./Jagdgeschwader 54 8th Diamonds (19 October 1943) as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the I./Jagdgeschwader 54