The night fighter (B) variants were variously armed with four cannons and two MK 108 20mm cannons inclined to the rear of the cockpit in Schräge Musik installation for attacking night bombers, a set of SG 500 Jagdfaust with twelve rifled mortar barrels inclined in the nose housing for attacking day bombers (which were not effective, especially since they created considerable drag and instability in the aircraft), or even a 50mm MK 114 gun or forty-eight R4M rockets for attacking bombers. The final dimensions of the Me 262 and its many variants were finally established, and these were to be used as the production models that were expected to begin to be available by 1943.
Another pilot who flew the Me 262 at night had his own opinion on the fighter in that capacity. Oberst Hajo Herrmann flew in the Spanish Civil War as a bomber pilot, a role he continued to fulfill throughout World War II until 1943, when he created the Wilde Sau (Wild Boar) night fighters, using Fw 190 and Me 109 fighters against the RAF bombers as the cities below were illuminated by the lights below and a glow of the fires created by the bombings.
“I tested out and flew the Me 262 in daytime, and then after a few hours of flight time, I was able to fly the jet at night. This first flight was a single-seat fighter. There were no great problems, and I landed. I was very impressed with the aircraft’s performance. I had already created JG-300, and we had proven successful in operating as a night fighter unit using single engine day fighters.
“The next time I flew was in the two-seat night fighter, which was actually a converted trainer. I had a radar operator in the back. Although this was not a combat mission, just night familiarization. Although I loved the jet and saw great promise for it, I felt that it was too easily seen by British gunners, because there was no way you could hide that long bright red and orange flame that trailed behind the fighter. At night, this was like telling the British that you were arriving [and] to be ready.”{25}
Likewise, Hitler had no intention of releasing the Me 262 as a night fighter, at least not in large numbers. Even giving them to the fighter arm at all was a difficult maneuver, but there were a few men who decided to do their own examinations and try to select the best new aircraft for their respective spheres of combat. The night fighters were no exception, as stated by former flight instructor–turned–night fighter pilot Jorg Czypionka:
“The famous night fighter Kurt Welter… was already two years or so in the Wilde Sau, and he was very successful there, and he had even downed some Mosquitoes… Kurt talked to some people to get a faster aircraft, and this was the 262 or Arado 234 jet. He told me that he went to Rechlin to try those aircraft out, without any authorization, and he found the Ar 234 unsuitable, because this was a Plexiglas cockpit, and it reflected the searchlights and the lights upon landing.
“He found it irritating. He was perhaps not the most gifted pilot, but he was a good shooter, this is what I think. Then he eventually tried the 262 one night, an armed aircraft, and shot down a couple of Mosquitoes over Berlin. This had been watched by Göring, who asked him to come to his place the next day, and he was given permission to found a small unit using the 262. This was at the end of 1944.”{26}
Night fighter ace Oberleutnant Kurt Welter claimed twenty Mosquitoes and two four-engine bombers shot down by night, and another two Mosquitoes by day flying the Me 262. Welter’s night kills were achieved in a standard Me 109G, with most of his kills being in the single-seat Me 262 fighter. Even though Welter had tested a prototype Me 262 fitted with FuG 218 Neptun radar, he never achieved any kills in that version.
The Me 262 had emerged as a promising weapon. The experts, technicians, and test pilots praised it, and the combat pilots who first pioneered its use also wrote their reports, although most of these came from the bomber units. The fledgling fighter units, beginning with Kommandos Thierfelder and later Nowotny, were to soon carve their names into history.
Despite the great promise of a new age in technology that allowed Hitler to continue his propaganda crusade, other factors were to interfere with the final production schedule. Hitler, more than others, despite his megalomania and hubris, was truly to become the Me 262’s worst enemy, to the frustration of the very men who were being blamed for the bombing of Germany: the fighter pilots.
CHAPTER 7
A Questionable Political Decision
In 1943 I wondered if Hitler was more concerned about winning the war than just surviving it. By 1944 I knew that even Hitler knew the war was lost.
All of these grand versions of this revolutionary weapon and hopes for a change in Germany’s fortunes were still in the future, since the Me 262 project was consistently delayed due to the inability of the Luftwaffe and Air Ministry under Erhard Milch to recognize the potential of the jet aircraft. This failure to comprehend the wartime necessity of a supreme potential air superiority weapon when one was so badly needed is incomprehensible, even today, and it was not limited just to Hitler’s subjects.
Following his suicide, Udet was succeeded by Erhard Milch, who, despite having an affinity for technology, preferred to concentrate production on existing aircraft of all types, which reduced costs and allowed for the production figures to be uninterrupted—a factor Hitler always examined. In November 1943, Luftwaffe Oberst Siegfried Kneymeyer became head of the Luftwaffe’s research and development department for technical air armament. He realized that what was necessary was the abandonment of the bomber construction program and the need was to concentrate solely on fighter development; he was especially supportive of the Me 262.
Ironically, Göring even agreed with him, and Milch was brought in to assist with the details. Despite the great developments to date, those who knew nothing of the necessities of the war, such as Martin Bormann, Heinrich Himmler, and Goebbels, persuaded Hitler to maintain the bomber program, as the retaliation raids against Britain were still one of Hitler’s top priorities. Göring showed his weakness when he failed to stand against those within the inner circle and defend the fighter project. This silence must have been perceived as tacit acceptance, and therefore Hitler believed that his chief lieutenants were in agreement with him.
However, despite these events unfolding behind the scenes, Generalleutnant Adolf Galland, then the young and enigmatic General of the Fighters, was convinced of the need for the aircraft following his test flight. In his own words (which are perhaps some of the most famous in aviation history) he stated:
“On May 22, 1943, before my first flight in the Me 262, I was in Lechfeld for a preview of the jet, which was fantastic, a totally new development. This was 1943, and I was there with Professor Willi Messerschmitt, [Generalfeldmarschall Erhard] Milch, Hitler, and other engineers responsible for the development. I spoke with Fritz Wendel and Horst Geyer, and after my first flight I discussed my opinion of the jet, which at that time was a tail-dragging model, in my book The First and the Last, and this has become a very well-known story. I knew that this aircraft was not just our last hope in the air war. I could see the future of aviation for the next century right in front of me. I had felt its power, and it was quite intoxicating.