Luftwaffe 1946

Yes, I knew about that too. They were extremely vulnerable when taking off and landing. But here we go back to a very bad problem with the Luftwaffe. Fighters protecting fighters does not sound good to me at all... It happened during the battle of Britain: what were the Me-110s worth for if they did not play their escort duties? Light Me-109 protecting FW-190s and heavy Me-109s? FW-190s protecting Me-262? That can work actually, if you use the light fighters against fighters (109s vs Spitfires, 109Es vs Mustangs) and the heavy fighters against bombers, which are more effective by the way (110s vs ? airfields?, 109G vs bombers)... But in Germany's circumstances in those years (lack of fuel, damaged industry), it doesn't seem like a good idea... But I could be wrong. Any opinions?

 

No problem, Erich! I knew you´d come back with a great answer. Thanx for that!Excellent!

I managed to find this in the net:

Galland: "Several bombers were called out as shot down, and Nowotny radioed that he was approaching. The flight leader on the ground, Hans Dortenmann, requested permission to take off to assist, but Nowotny said no, to wait. The defensive anti-aircraft battery opened fire on a few Mustangs that approached the field, but they were chased away, from what I could understand, and the jets were coming in. One Me-262 had been shot down (note: piloted by Franz Schall), and Nowotny reported one of his engines was damaged. He was flying on the right engine alone, which made him vulnerable. I stepped outside to watch his approach to the field, when an enemy fighter pulled (Nowotny's slayer) away not far from us."

At that very same moment Lt. RW. Stevens of the 364 FG which was patrolling the area, caught-up with a Me 262-flown by Nowotny who was returning to Hesepe. He knew the jet was approaching the field, and would shortly be in the Flak-alley. He swiftly closed in due to the Nowotny speed loss from the engine failure. When in the gun-range he opened fire. He recorded some hits on the jet, but sensing all that flak is just waiting for him to come in to range, he decide that he would be satisfied with a Me 262 - damaged. He put his trusty Mustang in a shallow dive to gain speed and he immediately went back to seek cover in those low hanging clouds. Meanwhile Major Nowotny was fighting a lost battle. His Me 262 was partly paralyzed from the engine loss, and he made one last radio transmission. Last words of Nowotny heard over the radio were: "I´m burning! My god, my god! I´m burning!". Then his fighter rolled and stalled-probably on the port side. His altitude was low, so when hitting the ground he briefly bounced back in the air losing one of the engines, and upon hitting the ground his Me 262 furiously exploded.

Galland: "I heard the sound of a jet engine, and we saw this 262 coming down through the light clouds at low altitude, rolling slightly and then hitting the ground. The explosions rocked the air, and only a column of black smoke rose from behind the trees. We took off in a car and reached the wreckage, and it was Nowotny's plane. After sifting through the wreckage, the only salvageable things found were his left hand and pieces of his Diamonds decoration."

The crash site at Epe (2.5 km east of Hesepe) is littered with the remains of the Meserschmitt scattered in an wide area. A local remembers that a engine was lying on the road beside the crash site. A small memorial was erected near the ¨grave¨ of this exceptional pilot. R. Stevens reported having chased and damaged a Me 262 at Epe.

From:

http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/nowotny/nowotny.htm

The Nowotny grave:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~ejnoomen/nowotny.html

Signed photos by Luftwaffe aces:

http://www.leisuregalleries.com/lluftwaffe.html

Have a nice weekend, you all!

 

Thanks, Kai! I hope you have a nice one too! I will be here, at home, in bed and in the computer. I am sick, as always...

Really nice sites! It is a very tragic tale. In his memory:

 

All I can say about the Luftwaffe in 1946 is