Colin Heaton - The Me 262 Stormbird

Without Norman Melton and his assistance over many years, I would not be writing this so easily. I would certainly never have received my education and become an author. Thanks to my agent, Gayle Wurst of Princeton International Agency for the Arts, who, in conjunction with my wife and previous coauthor of other books, Anne-Marie Lewis, has indulged and educated me on many of the pitfalls within my profession, therefore keeping me focused on the target.

Special thanks to Kurt Schulze for allowing me to make copies of the massive collection of reports and interviews from the Ray Toliver collection, and special thanks to the late Ray Toliver for his many years of support, access to his records and photographs, and also Trevor Constable for being part of the process that sparked my interest so long ago.

I would also like to thank Lt. Col. Robert Schmidt, USAF, and Kurt Schulze for their great friendship and assistance, and for introducing me to Jorg Czypionka. As Robert and I attended the German Fighter Pilot reunions over the years and became better acquainted with the men mentioned in this book, I reflect upon those days with great fondness. Kurt gave me many contacts over the last twenty years who provided additional assistance.

I also wish to thank Steven Daubenspeck at Zenith Press for suggesting the Me 262 book concept and senior editor Richard Kane at Zenith for supporting the concept. I want to mention Scott Pearson, editor at Zenith, who is really the best editor to work with. This book was their idea, and I hope that I have done their suggestion justice. Thanks to my best friend from our army days, Greg Kopatch, who always supported me in all of my wildest endeavors. I would like to jokingly remind him that I “finally got that plaque.” Only he will understand what that means.

A very special thanks to Albert Wunsch III, Esquire. Without his assistance on many levels, this project’s completion would not have been possible. And thanks to the late Jeffrey L. Ethell, who worked with Ray Toliver and me collecting the data that made this book and many others past, present, and future come to life.

I should also thank the following American air warriors who have since left us, who over the course of many years provided me with invaluable information, granted interviews, responded to letters, submitted photographs, and opened up contacts for me from both sides of the war: Gen. James H. Doolittle, Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, Col. Hubert Zemke, Brig. Gen. James M. Stewart, Col. Donald Blakeslee, and Gen. Benjamin O. Davis, just to name a few.

Finally, I need to thank all of the German Me 262 jet pilots of the Luftwaffe , who over the years provided interviews and letters and detailed their experiences. I also wish to thank the American and British aviators who gave me their perspectives. These men made the history, and fellows like us are just very lucky to have recorded it.

First published in 2012 by Zenith Press, an imprint of MBI Publishing Company,

400 First Avenue North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

© 2012 Zenith Press

Text © 2012 by Colin D. Heaton

All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purposes of review, no part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from the Publisher. The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge.

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ISBN-13: 978-0-7603-4263-3

Digital Edition: 978-1-61058-434-0

Softcover Edition: 978-0-76034-263-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Heaton, Colin D.

The ME 262 Stormbird : from the pilots who flew, fought, and survived it /Colin D. Heaton. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-7603-4263-3 (hbk.)

1. Messerschmitt 262 (Jet fighter plane) 2. Germany. Luftwaffe. Jagdgeschwader 7—History. 3. Fighter pilots—Germany—Biography. 4. World War, 1939-1945—Aerial operations. I. Title. II. Title: Messerchmidt 262 Stormbird.

UG1242.F5.H43 2012

940.54’4943—dc23

2011044702

Credits:

All photographs are from the author’s collection unless noted otherwise.

Front cover: Me 262 photos Jim Larsen ; Bomber photo U.S. Air Force

Me 262 schematics by Igor Mikhelevich courtesy of Onno Van Braam

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Karger was the youngest ace in U.S. Air Force history at age nineteen.

This loss was never recorded by the Luftwaffe , although it may have been a training aircraft, or an Ar 234, as several were lost.

Actually a B-25.

┼ Actually a B-24.

Damaged during bombing raid by ground fire, crashed near Amersee.

Impacted at Landesberg, Werner Thierfelder killed, probably flak.

Crashed near Biberbach due to engine failure.

Crashed at Lechfeld due to battle damage, cause unclear.

Shot down by Spitfires over Nijmegen.

P-51s shot him down over Achmer.

P-51s shot him down over Achmer.

P-51s shot him down over Achmer.

Landed out of fuel at Bramsche, no major damage.

Nose wheel collapsed upon landing, flew again two days later.

Collided with Spitfire over Nordhorn, Schreiber claimed kill, landed. Slightly wounded.

P-51s jumped Oberfähnrich Willi Banzhaff over Zwolle during bomber intercept.

Lennartz was shot up by fighters near Bremen during a mission to intercept a bomber formation.

Damaged by fighters near Alhorn, possibly downed by Capt. Charles B. Yeager.

Schall bailed out, two separate P-51s chased his empty jet, each thinking they had a kill, and each claiming a kill.

Baudach bailed out, unhurt, just as Schall did.

Kill shared by 1st Lt. Edward R. Haydon of the 357th Fighter Group and Capt. Ernest Fiebelkorn of the 20th Fighter Group.

Damaged on takeoff from strafing. Plane repaired.

Pilot died two days later.

Hauptmann Kornagel landed after combat, 30 percent damage, repaired.

Jet probably damaged by defensive fire, pilot killed.

Hit by friendly flak while engaging bombers, pilot killed.

Hit by friendly flak while engaging bombers, pilot killed.

Hit by friendly flak while engaging bombers, force landed at Obertraubling, pilot uninjured.

At Schwabstadt.