W alter Nowotny is the name of a man who went down in history as a World War II fighter pilot. His life, like a flash, ended as soon as it began. If not for the fact that Navotny fought on the side of the Nazis, one could consider him a hero worthy of eternal memory.
Early years
W alter Novotny was born on December 7, 1920 in the Austrian city of Gmünde. His father served on the railroad. W alter grew up as an adherent of a he althy lifestyle, in his youth he was seriously involved in sports, having established himself as a capable athlete.
At the time the guy graduated from high school, Europe was already "five minutes" away from a big fire. The war was about to start. And the young man voluntarily joins the ranks of the Luftwaffe. He wanted to fly, he dreamed of piloting the Ju-87, but this wish did not come true.
So what did W alter Nowotny become famous for in the end? What did he fly "for his laurels"? The instructor, "training" the young fighter and the future ace, saw in him the talent of a fighter and put him on the appropriate aircraft. And, it must be said, in the forecastsnot wrong. W alter lived up to all his expectations, becoming an outstanding fighter pilot.
World War II
After graduating from the fighter school in Schwechat in 1941, W alter Nowotny was enlisted in the First Air Fleet, stationed in East Prussia. Took part in the Soviet-German military campaign from its first days.
Novotny opened his victorious score over the waters of the Gulf of Riga on July 19, 41st, shooting down three Soviet Chaikas (I-153). This operation was not easy for him - the pilot had to land his plane on the water and hold out for three days.
Over the next year, another 50 enemy aircraft became victims of the Austrian, and by June 1943 there were already 100 in total. At that time, the Luftwaffe soldier was the commander of the first squadron of the fifty-fourth fighter squadron and the owner of the Knight's Cross. The next seventy-two "iron birds" of the enemy were shot down in a similar number of days. Roughly speaking, Novotny destroyed one enemy aircraft every day.
The most "fruitful" for the pilot was the first of September 1943, when in 17 minutes he shot down 7 Soviet aircraft, and then for the next 9 another 3 enemy. For these battles, young W alter received several honorary awards from his command at once.
The last victory of the hero of this article, who rose to the rank of major, on the Soviet-German front dates back to November 14, 1943. It was already the 255th Soviet aircraft shot down by him. In total, he has 258 of them.(for 442 sorties).
The Austrian W alter Novotny turned out to be such an ace. What plane this outstanding German virtuoso flew on is interesting to many. It should be answered that he was one of the first to "bridle" the reactive "bird". He won a little over 200 victories over the enemy at the helm of the FW 190, and the rest - while driving the Messerschmitt Bf 109.
Novotny's partners
A few words deserve the people who helped W alter Novotny in his victorious operations. These are Karl Schnorrer, Anton Debele and Rudolf Rademacher. Schnorrer's comrades called him "Quax" by analogy with the cartoon character who always got into accidents. This colleague of Novotny initially constantly had problems during the landing. But on the other hand, he was the only one of the four pilots who survived (although he lost his leg). On account of Schnorrer 46 downed aircraft. His partner Debele scored 94 air victories and died in November forty-three. And Rademacher, who destroyed 126 enemy aircraft, said goodbye to life after the war - the device he piloted crashed.
A noble act by W alter Nowotny
In addition to the fact that W alter Novotny became the first person in the world to cross the line of 250 downed aircraft (later his record was broken, and he became only the fifth among Luftwaffe pilots), this man distinguished himself by another, one might say heroic and undoubtedly a noble act. He decided on a bold protest, writing a letter to Hitler personally, in which he criticized the intention to shoot 47 captured pilots who attempted to escape from the camp, wherethey were contained.
It is not known whether this letter had any effect (Hitler did not officially respond to the letter), but the act itself suggests that Novotny knew how not only to fight well, but also to respect the enemy. He was also a fearless man.
Last flight
On November 8, a German plane took off from the Amher Airfield to intercept an American bomber raid. From behind the clouds came the sounds of shooting, one of the "Americans" fell. And then the radio operator heard the unintelligible words "I'm on fire" or "The plane is on fire." So, at the age of 24, the legendary Luftwaffe pilot W alter Nowotny died. His photo forever preserved the image of a young smiling guy who, unfortunately, happened to become a cog in a big bloody meat grinder and leave this world without starting to truly live.
