Death of Walter Nowotny - Leader of first jet unit in history | 258 victories - 8th November 1944

On 8th November 1944, Major Walter ‘Nowi’ Nowotny, veteran German ace and leader of ‘Kommando Nowotny’, took off alone on a mission to intercept an American bomber formation in the Osnabrück area. During this flight, Nowotny claimed a B-17 shot down and another one damaged, while also claiming a P-51 destroyed. At some point as he returned to base at Achmer, Nowotny’s Me 262 ‘White 8’ suffered an engine failure on the port side; whether this was caused by combat or by mechanical failure is unclear. Soon after, several American P-51 Mustangs dived on Nowotny’s jet as he led them over Vörden airfield. Probably approaching to land, Nowotny was most likely surprised by Edward ‘Buddy’ Haydon’s unseen P-51D, which caused him to pitch up in reaction and induce an accelerated stall, made worse by unequal thrust due to flying on one engine. Haydon reported Nowotny thrashing around in the cockpit as he crashed into the ground a few kilometres east of Hesepe airfield. The 23-year-old Nowotny had 258 victories