“Well, as I had already flown with JG-7 and had some victories and a lot of experience, I was asked if I would like to go back to flying. I told them that Weissenberger and Sinner had ruled me unfit to fly. Galland said, ‘I have straightened all that out. I am forming my own unit, want to come along?’ You know I said yes; it was better than flying a bed. I grabbed my cane, my uniform, and carry bag, and they helped me get into a car. That was how I joined. I never even saw paperwork. That’s what having a general involved can do for you I guess.
“I became the technical officer, so it was my job to try and get everything we needed to keep the jets flying, from fuel, ammunition, tires, paint, even wiring. Most people do not know this, but the 262 had a problem electrically. For some reason, once we mounted the rockets on, and wired them into the cockpit, sometimes after the firing the wires would melt. It took a little time, but I finally had a gefreiter, who was an electrician by trade, who worked in the hospital, just happened to stop by and drop off some mail I had received.
“When asked what the problem was, I told him. He solved the problem; it was so simple I wanted to kick my own ass. He simply said double the gauge of the wire to handle the flow, and use solder mounts. That was it. We solved the problem. Steinhoff saw that he was promoted and Galland endorsed it. We had him assigned to our unit, and he became our master electrician. He actually had to wire a 262 from scratch, as there were no wiring diagrams, and he did a lovely job. [This was Krupinski’s jet, as described previously.]
“Flying with JG-7 was a freedom I had never experienced when I was with JGs-51, 2, or EKG-2. But flying with JV-44 was almost like a paid holiday, minus the danger. Galland just wrote up the missions, and unless we had an alarm due to incoming aircraft, we flew freely; it was a great pleasure.”
Franz Stigler also commented about how ending the war with JV-44 was unlike anything he had previously experienced during the war: “I would have to say that Galland ran a loose ship when it came to JV-44. This is not to say that discipline did not exist—just the contrary. But everyone in the unit was so seasoned, so experienced for the most part, that a direct order never had to be given. The respect we had for Galland and the senior officers made it unthinkable not to do everything within our power, and to the best of our ability, to accomplish every task.
“Working together, and accomplishing the near impossible was a standard event in all Luftwaffe units. But in Galland’s outfit, there was never any tension. There was nothing but a relaxed atmosphere, which, given the dangers of the business at that stage in the war, was really what made it work so well. I think that our focus being upon just flying and nothing else was what gave us our success.”{11}
Thus ended the operations of the last active jet fighter unit of World War II. The fighting and dying were over, but a new war, a scramble for technology, was just beginning, and the Me 262 was at the top of the list for Allied experts.
CHAPTER 24
Operations Lusty and Paperclip: The Postwar Scramble for Jets
What we collected from the Germans was incredible. I only wish the Soviets had not gathered as much as they did.
Before the war had ended, the British and Americans had already organized massive teams of technical experts to follow in the wake of the Allied ground advance. Knowing that their current ally, the Soviet Union, was not the most reliable friend in the future postwar arrangement, and also fearing that the Germans would destroy their technology before it could be captured, spurred these men on. Operations Lusty and Paperclip were separate yet also quite similar programs. Both programs will be briefly examined, with commentary from the participants as to the necessity and effectiveness of both programs.
Karl Baur, who was so involved with the Me 262 development, was truly a gifted man. He held a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Technology in Stuttgart and was a qualified glider and powered aircraft pilot, becoming instructor qualified as well as a test pilot. His knowledge, passion, and experience came not from the drawing board alone; he brought practical experience from the cockpit with him. He also knew that only the Western Allies should be the inheritors of German technology.
Baur, along with many other specialists, including Ludwig Hofmann, joined the entourage under the care of Col. Harold E. Watson. Their sole mission in life was to train American pilots on flying the captured jets, in particular the Me 262. German technology was the primary driving force in the Allied decision to push harder and further into German territory, with a few captured Me 262s and the overrunning of the V-buzz bomb sites following the invasion on June 6, 1944. Of particular interest, the first fully intact and operational Me 262 to fall into American hands came with a pilot, as stated in the following report as submitted by Merle Olmsted:
“Sometime during April, date unknown, the 357th Group pilots had the rare opportunity to meet and talk to an Me 262 pilot. The Monthly Intelligence Summary contained this item: The pilots and intelligence officers of the 357th Fighter Group were fortunate to receive a visit from Major Englander of the P/W & X Detachment during the month. The major stopped in on his way back to London from the 2nd Air Division. Accompanying Major Englander was one Hans Fay, one-time Luftwaffe pilot and until recently an acceptance pilot of the German Me 262s.
“An informal meeting of all pilots and I.O.s was called, Lt. Col. Evans presiding. The first part of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of tactics used against the Me 262s by our pilots who had encountered them. After the critique Major Englander took over the meeting and gave the background on Hans Fay.
“It seems that Fay, an anti-Nazi, had for some time considered joining the Allied fight against Hitler’s gang, but naturally enough, decided to wait until his hometown in Germany had been liberated by the Allies, thereby protecting his family from S.S. and Gestapo reprisals. When he learned that his home had been freed, he selected an Me 262 fresh from the assembly line, took off, and a short time later landed safely in Allied territory surrendering his aircraft and himself to the American forces.
“After this summation, Major Englander acted as interpreter for the many questions asked of Fay. All facets of the subject were covered in the question bee. Fay was very cooperative to everyone’s satisfaction. Colonel Dregne, on behalf of all attending, expressed appreciation to Major Englander for the visit. This was the only operational unit in the 8th AF that had the benefit of the session with the major and Hans Fay. Fay was not only a valuable source of information, but he had brought the Allies their first flyable Me 262, Werke number 111711, landing it at Frankfurt’s Rhein-Maine airdrome, on 30 March, and surrendering to U.S. troops.”{1}
The Operation Lusty personnel had already been selected, and teams were given known locations to investigate, but their interest was heightened when on February 24, 1945, an Ar 234B suffered a flameout in one of its engines when a P-47 forced it down into a hard landing near Segelsdorf. The jet was captured and was the first Ar 234 to fall into Allied hands still largely intact. This was perhaps the one circumstance that aided the American acquisition teams in getting a handle on just how critical keeping these machines out of Soviet hands was.