Book

The Jet Night Fighters: Kurt Welter & the Story of the Messerschmitt Me 262 Night Fighters

2019

Synopsis

Most of the Luftwaffe’s aces are well known and their lives – pre-war, war, and post-war – are usually well documented. Equally well documented are their wartime careers and their claims and confirmed victories. The higher these pilots were decorated, the better the documentation about them usually is.However, there are “exceptions to the rule” and one such exception is Kurt Welter. The pure dates of his short life – he died at the age of 33 years – as well as his general service record are known.Also known is his final assignment to 10./NJG 11 and his former position as commanding officer with “Kommando Welter”. Both positions make him a legend and a myth because these units being the only ones which have ever taken the Messerschmitt Me 262 into nocturnal combat missions.But that is also where the “urban legend” of Kurt Welter starts. Mainly because so little is really known about these units, so few men were assigned to them that could provide a solid background for researchers, so little hard evidence is left in the archives.

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