AFEW DAYS AFTER Issuing His Blitzbomber Edicl, Adolf Hitler
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FEW DAYS AFTER issuing his reconnaissance aircraft, the Me he had lost control of his aircraft: AaovE This dramatic combat photograph from a P-51 Blitzbomber edicl, Adolf Hitler 262's main prey, were unarmed. "I pulied back on the stick with ali shows an Me 262 as it relented a little. He agreed to At that timo little was known about my strength, but the '262 refused to presses home an attack on A allow testing of the fighter the effects of com pressi b il ity on come out of its dive. Finally, in another Mustang. version of the Me 262 to continue, aircraft control. If Thierfelder had desperation, I jettisoned my canopy; BELOW Leutnant Karl "Quax" provided that it did not delay the followed a reconnaissance aircraft this caused a change of trim, and the Schnorrer flew as Walter entry into service of the bomb- when it dived to escape, he couid aircraft came out of the dive by itself. Nowotny's wìngman. carrier. In mid-July 1944, Ekdo 262 have exceeded the Me 262's safe I landed without my canopy and with had commenced flying operational limiting Mach number of 0-83 and the skinning of the wings rippled; the tests of the Me 262 in the fighter lost control. At full throttle in a 20° '262 was a write-off." role. Initially the targets were the Ione descent from 26,000ft, an Me 262 Other Me 262 pilots reported Allied reconnaissance aircraft which couId reach its compressibility similar narrow escapes, but they overflew the unit's base. threshold before it descended were the lucky ones. Others plunged Within days of commencing through 7,000ft. It required a into the ground, seemingly for no operational test flights, Ekdo 262 lost considerable backward pressure on reason. The available evidence its commander in circumstances that the control column to prevent the suggests that Werner Thierfelder, the are far from ctear. Luttwaffe records dive from steepening uncontrollably. wodd's first jet fighter unit leader, state that Hauptmann Werner Cutting the throttles had no effect, for might have fallen to this cause. Thierfelder's Me 262 was "shot the clean-lined jet fighter conttnued Thierfelder's successor was Major down", and crashed near Landsberg to gain speed in the dive. Walter Nowotny a capable young with the pilot stili on board. But a Me 262 pilot Karl "Quax" fighter pilot credited with 255 search of Bhtish and American Schnòrrer experienced the victohes on the Eastern Front. records reveais no engagement phenomenon when he followed an On July 25, an RAF which links with this loss. enemy reconnaissance aircraft reconnaissance de Havilland Furthermore, the Allied long-range diving to escape, Suddenly he found Mosquito of 544 Sqn had an 70 Aeroplane. June 200^ mESSERSCHmin me 262 Database inconclusive brush with an Me 262 near Munich. Flight Lieutenant A.E. Wall opened the throttles and pushed down the nose of the Mosquito to build up speed, curving sleeply to port as he did so. The jet fighter easily overhauied the reconnaissance aircraft, but Wall found little difficulty in out-turning his assailant. The '262 made three fihng runs on the Mosquito, without scoring hits, before Wali escaped into cloud. During the following month, Nowotny's pilots ciaimed five kills; a Mosquito on the 8th, a B-17 on the ABOVE Between a rock and a hard place — an Me 262 16th, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning on committed to landìng made easy pickings for Allied fighters. the 24th, and a reconnaissance LEFT In August 1944 fighter ace Walter Nowotny took Spitfire and a reconnaissance command of Ekdo 262, renamed Kommando Nowotny. Mosquito on the 26th. (13,000ft) during their attacks, to A Messerschmitt company "The attack on the airfield began Enter the Blitzbomber reduce the risk of losses and so help document dated August 10,1944, at 1 lOGhr with the dropping of anti- Towards the end of June 1944 the preserve the small force for the stated that by then ten prototype Me personnel bombs by a jet-propelied first Me 262 Blitzbomber unit, counter-invasion role. The Me 262 262s and 112 production aircraft aircraft flying at 3,000ft. In this raid, Erprobungskommando Schenk, carried no high-altitude bombsight, had been built. On that date six three pilots were injured and one formed at Lechfeld under the so accuracy was poor and the prototypes had either been lost or officer and six airmen suffered command of Major Wolfgang Schenk. attacks achieved little. In mid-August otherwise discarded from the test wounds of minor degree. At noon, the The conversion of pilots to fly the the German retreat out of France was programmo. The raids on the second attack came and it was Wide new bomber took almost a month, in full swing and the fighter-bomber factories accounted for 21 Me 262s; of the mark. The third attack resulted and on July 20 the unit moved to unit, now redesignated Ist Gruppo of 11 more were wrecked in accidents in a number of deaths among Chàteaudun near Odéans in France. Kampfgeschwader 51, withdrew to or in action. The remaining 84 personnel of the RAF Wing on the With nine aircraft fitted with pre• Chièvres in Belgium, The Luftwaffe aircraft were disposed as follows: other side of the airfield and some production engines, the unit was efforts to keep secret the deployment Dutch civilians living in the vicinity ready to mount the worid's first jet to France had been completely l,/KG51 (high-speed bombers) 33 suffered sehous injuries." bomber operations. The continuing successful. Allied Intelligence Ekdo 262 (fighters) 15 Three days later another Canadian regard for the Me 262 in the high- documents make no mention of Me Rechlin test centre 14 unit, 401 Squadron, exacted revenge. speed bomber role after the Allied 262 fighter-bombers taking pad; in Retained at Messerschmitt Sqn Ldr Rod Smith was leading a landings in Normandy had succeeded operations over France at that timo. for flight triais 11 patrol of Spitfire IXs in the Nijmegen might seem to run counter to Hitler's Only on August 28 did an Allied Retained at Junkers area, when he sighted an Me 262 stated aim to use the type duhng the fighter first make contact with one of for engine triais 1 approaching him head-on and about initial hours of an invasion. Allied the elusive jet fighter-bombers. That At Blohm und Voss 500ft below. The Spitfires piied after Intelligence ofticers, however, had afternoon Major Joseph Myers, flying for conversion to two-seaters 10 the Me 262 and the latter evaded successfully convinced their German a Republic P-47 of the 78th Fighter violently before it was finally shot counterparts that the Normandy Group, caught up with one of these With the stabilisation of the down, killing the I./KG51 pilot. landings were a feint, to draw forces aircraft and forced it down near battlefront in the West eady in From this and other encounters, away from the Pas de Calais where Brussels. The German pilot escaped September 1944, l,/KG51 Allied fighter pilots learned that ttie main invasion wouid come later. without injury. redeployed to airfieids at Rheine and although they couId not match the If the Allies did launch a second Dunng July 1944 there had been Hopsten just inside Germany. With Me 262 in terms of maximum invasion operation, Erprobungs- heavy air attacks on the factohes the 13,000ft minimum-altitude hohzontal speed, if they had an kommando Schenk was to be ready producing Me 262 components; embargo now lifted, the unit mounted altitude advantage they couId convert Io meet it. Leipheim was hit on the 19th and pinpoint attacks against Allied this into sufficient speed to overhaul Schenk's high-speed bombers flew Regensburg on the 21 st. The number positions, Typical of these raids was the jets. A further advantage enjoyed spasmodic operations against Allied of Me 262s delivered to the Luftwaffe that on Grave airfield, home of 421 by Allied fighter pilots was the newly ground forces. The pilots had strict was 28 in June, rising to 59 in July (RCAF) Squadron with Spitfires, on introduced predictor gunsight (Gyro orders not to descend below 4,000m but falling to 20 in August. October 2. The unit reported: Gunsight II in the RAF, K-14 in the L Me 262A-1a fighters of the training unit Ergànzungsjagdgeschwader 2 operating from Lechfeld in October 1944. Note the Kettenkrad tractor used to move the aìrcraft, an ìmmaculate example of which is exhìbìted in the Deutsches Museum in Munich. kfopìane, lune 200^ 71 SERUICE HISTORV USAAF) which automatically calculated the deflection angle needed to engagé a turning or a Crossing target. The device greatly increased the eftectiveness of Allied air-to-air gunnery, especially duhng fast manceuvring combats against German jets. First Fighter Gruppe Deployed In September 1944 the Fiihrer rescinded his order that ali new Me 262s shouid go only to Blitzbomber units. That month production Jumo 004 engines became available in quantity, and 91 Me 262s were delivered to the Luftwaffe. Kommando Nowotny [as Ekdo 262 was renamed) recelved 23 new aircraft with production engines. With a strength equivalent to a fighter Gruppe, it was declared operational on September 30. Four days later the unit moved to the fonfl/ard airfieids at ABOVE A B-17 returns from a Achmer and Hesepe in western mìssìon with heavy damage Germany to commence operations. to the port wing, probably inflicted by a single hit from In the event the Me 262's initial the Me 262*s 30mm cannon.