CHAPTER 13
Kommando Nowotny
I remember when we first sat in these jets. We looked at each other and smiled.
Kommando Nowotny was formed on the heels of the defunct Kommando Thierfelder on September 26, 1944, in Achmer and Hesepe with Stab/Kommando Nowotny from Stab III./ZG 26, 1./Kommando Nowotny from 9./ZG 26, 2./Kommando Nowotny from 8./ZG 26, and 3./Kommando Nowotny, giving the unit a strength of three Staffeln and a Stab flight. Galland was the man who was given the responsibility of organizing the unit and proving his point that the Me 262 could, if properly equipped and led, be able to achieve remarkable results. This was his chance to prove Göring and Hitler wrong, and he explained his decisions and method:
“After Thierfelder was killed in July, I was looking for the right type of pilot, someone daring and successful who could lead by example of his courage and determination, and Nowotny had all of these qualities. He was young, successful, energetic, intellectually gifted, and very brave.{1} According to his fellow pilots in his old unit, JG-54, and his former commanding officer Oberst Hannes Trautloft, he was absolutely fearless in battle. Thierfelder’s death, despite the unit’s initial successes, endangered the program.
“I had to find a replacement immediately, although Horst Geyer took over operational command for a while. However, in order to get Hitler interested in considering the fighter option, I needed a named hero, someone successful and highly decorated, liked by Hitler and one he recognized and hopefully admired.
“I received a telephone call from Hitler within a week of placing Nowotny in command of the test unit at Achmer, which was in September.{2} [The actual date was September 26, 1944, when “Nowi” took over operational command. Eder and Galland corroborated the date.] It seemed that Hitler was giving the jet fighter idea another lease on life, since his favorite Austrian fighter pilot next to [Hermann] Graf was in command. I knew that this situation had to be a success for Hitler to take his hands off the project, and I felt completely confident in my choice.
“I allowed Nowotny to choose his pilots and basically run the unit as he saw fit. He had requested his support fighters to come from his old unit, and Trautloft had my permission to send III./JG-54 to Achmer. It had transitioned from the Me 109 to the Fw 190D. This was a much better aircraft for engaging the enemy heavy bombers, and, in the hands of a good pilot, could tackle the Mustangs and Spitfires. [The Fw 190D unit transferred from III./JG-54 was commanded by Hauptmann Robert “Bazi” Weiss, and his staffeln leaders were Hauptmann Böttlander, and Oberleutnants Willi Heilmann, Peter Crump, and Hans Dortenmann.]
“With the Diamonds and over two hundred fifty victories, Nowotny was the right man for the job, and I liked him very much personally. [Nowotny had 255 confirmed, and thirty-two unconfirmed kills, which were listed as “probables” on the Eastern Front. Ironically, every single claim he made was verified. He scored his last three kills in the jet on November 8, 1944, the same day he was killed by Haydon at Achmer.] More important was the fact that Hitler liked him very much also. He reminded me very much of Hans-Joachim Marseille, only more mature. I saw to it that he was promoted to major, and he was only twenty-four years old, but more than qualified to be a geschwaderkommodore.
“Nowotny had been reassigned in February 1944 as a fighter instructor for JG-101 in France for a while following his being wounded, as Trautloft had ordered him into a rest period after his magnificent career in Russia. He had become perhaps too brave, or reckless, depending upon to whom you spoke. The one thing about Trautloft was that he really cared about his men, and Walter was one of his favorites.
“Being an Austrian, good-looking and well spoken, he was one of Hitler’s favorite pilots. Perhaps only [Hans-Ulrich] Rudel, [Hermann] Graf and [Erich] Hartmann were held in equal esteem. In fact, although I was not there, I was informed that Hitler had initially ordered ‘Nowi,’ as we called him, off flight status. He and I discussed this briefly on the last day of his life.”{3}
On October 3, 1944, Kommando Nowotny attained operational status with a complement of about forty Me 262-1As. Over the next month and a half, the unit operated against Allied aircraft, mostly the bomber formations raking the Reich from west to east, while at the same time trying to establish proper tactical doctrine for the unit. It also had to deal with many technical problems plaguing the unproven Me 262, which Galland explained:
“This was not a comforting thought for pilots expecting to go into battle outnumbered fifty to one on a very good day. The unit at Achmer had been doing great things since July 1944 under Werner Thierfelder, proving the value of the jet in combat. This success allowed us to push the issue to Hitler again, building upon that success once we began to get more 262s in the field.”{4}
The unit was the first to realize that a dedicated protection squadron of single-piston-engine, single-seat fighters like the Me 109 and Fw 190 were a necessity for the jets, as the Me 262 could not maneuver or accelerate well at low speeds and thus was a sitting duck for any allied fighters nearby during takeoff and landing. Galland worked with Nowotny on tactics, standard operational procedures, staffing, and even maintenance issues. The powers in Berlin wanted results, and time was definitely not on Galland’s side. Nowotny, having a great affinity for his old unit, had requested III./JG-54 to be assigned as his air cover, with all the aircraft, even his own Me 262 bearing the Green Heart on the fuselage, JG-54’s emblem. Galland described the role they played:
“III./JG-54’s mission was to engage enemy fighters and protect the jets from being ambushed on takeoff and landing, directly engaging the enemy fighters who made a habit of doing just that. Many times we would have American or British fighters flying around the air bases to ambush the jets returning from a mission, or strafe them on the ground.”{5}
October 4, 1944, saw JG-7 engage American bombers and fighters, with Hauptmann Georg-Peter Eder shooting down a B-17G from the 97th Bomb Group (serial number 44-8586) and another from the 2nd Bomb Group (44-8043). The 2. Staffelkapitän, Hauptmann Alfred Teumer was killed upon trying to land a jet with engine damage, and he was replaced by Oberleutnant Franz Schall.
October 6 was another big day for the Germans and the Eighth Air Force. The 357th Fighter Group was out in force patrolling the known jet corridors along the Rheine airfields. Their mission was to ambush any jets they could locate, clearing the path for the forthcoming bombers pounding targets in northern Germany. The 1st Bomb Division of B-17s from the 379th Bomb Group would hit Stargard, Stettin, Neubrandenburg, Stralsund, Kappeln, and Freienwalde. The 2nd Bomb Division of B-24s from the 489th Bomb Group was sent to Hamburg and other regions in that quadrant, while the 3rd Bomb Division B-17s from the 94th, 385th, 100th, 447th, and 490th Bomb Groups plotted their routes to Berlin, Spandau, and Tegel. Every unit in the Eighth Air Force provided fighter cover for the mission.{6}