# Walter Ehle

Walter Ehle (28 April 1913 – 18 November 1943) was a Luftwaffe night fighter ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Walter Ehle claimed 39 aerial victories, 35 of them at night.

## Early life and career

Ehle was born on 28 April 1913 in Windhuk in German South West Africa, present-day Windhoek is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Namibia.

## World War II

At the start of the war Ehle flew with 3./ZG 1 and was credited with three daylight kills before the unit was redesignated 3./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1) and he became a night fighter.

### Night fighter career

Following the 1939 aerial Battle of the Heligoland Bight, RAF attacks shifted to the cover of darkness, initiating the Defence of the Reich campaign. By mid-1940, Generalmajor (Brigadier General) Josef Kammhuber had established a night air defense system dubbed the Kammhuber Line. It consisted of a series of control sectors equipped with radars and searchlights and an associated night fighter. Each sector named a Himmelbett (canopy bed) would direct the night fighter into visual range with target bombers. In 1941, the Luftwaffe started equipping night fighters with airborne radar such as the Lichtenstein radar. This airborne radar did not come into general use until early 1942.

### Group commander

Ehle was appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of II. Gruppe of NJG 1 on 6 October 1940, succeeding Hauptmann Heinrich Graf von Stillfried und Rattonitz. His sixth night victory was a Bristol Blenheim shot down on 2 June 1942, and he had 16 victories in total by the end of 1942.
On 18 November 1943 Walter Ehle's Messerschmitt Bf 110 crashed near St. Trond, Belgium. As he was landing his airfield lights were extinguished; his aircraft crashed and he and his crew, Ofw. Leidenbach (Bordfunker—radio/wireless operator) and Uffz. Derlitzky (Bordschütze—aerial gunner), perished. He was succeeded by Major Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin as commander of II. Gruppe of NJG 1.
Major Ehle was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 29 August after 31 victories and at the time of his death he was credited with 39. He shot down a total of 38 enemy aircraft of which 35 were at night.

## Summary of career
### Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier, Ehle was credited with 39—four daytime and 35 nighttime—aerial victories. Foreman, Parry and Mathews, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 34 nocturnal victory claims. Mathews and Foreman also published Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, listing Ehle with 34 claims, including three as a Zerstörer pilot, plus three further unconfirmed claims.
Chronicle of aerial victories :
| This and the ♠ (Ace of spades) indicates those aerial victories which made Ehle an "ace-in-a-day", a term which designates a fighter pilot who has shot down five or more airplanes in a single day.  This and the – (dash) indicates unwitnessed aerial victory claims for which Ehle did not receive credit.  This and the ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed in Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945 and in Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims. |||||||
| Claim (total) | Claim (nocturnal) | Date | Time | Type | Location | Serial No./Squadron No. |
| – 3. Staffel of Zerstörergeschwader 1 – |||||||
| 1 | | 6 September 1939 | 05:15 | PZL P.11 | Warsaw | |
| 2 | | 8 September 1939 | — | PZL.37 Łoś | Radzymin | |
| 3 | | 1 June 1940 | — | Spitfire | vicinity of Dunkirk | |
| – 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – |||||||
| 4 | 1 | 21 July 1940 | 01:38 | Wellington | 12 km (7.5 mi) northwest of Munster | |
| – Stab II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – |||||||
| 5 | 2 | 9 February 1941 | 23:35 | Wellington | 15 km (9.3 mi) west of Nunspeet | Wellington T2702/No. 15 Squadron RAF |
| 6 | 3 | 11 May 1941 | 00:57 | Wellington | 5 km (3.1 mi) west of Westerhever | |
| 7 | 4 | 30 June 1941 | 01:52 | Wellington | 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Bremen | |
| 8 | 5 | 30 June 1941 | 02:45 | Stirling | 2 km (1.2 mi) northwest of Ellerbeck | |
| 9 | 6 | 2 June 1942 | 02:34 | Blenheim | north-northeast of Brussels | Wellington DV763/No. 16 Operational Training Unit |
| 10 | 7 | 7 August 1942 | 02:40 | Halifax | 2 km (1.2 mi) southwest of Gruitrode | |
| 11 | 8 | 12 August 1942 | 03:12 | Wellington | northwest of Leuven | |
| 12 | 9 | 28 August 1942 | 23:02 | Wellington | east of Wihogne | |
| 13 | 10 | 28 August 1942 | 23:51 | Wellington | northeast of Liège | |
| 14 | 11 | 29 August 1942 | 02:52 | Wellington | Grez-Doiceau | |
| 15 | 12 | 2 September 1942 | 04:13 | Stirling | Nossegem (incorrectly spelled "Osseghem" in the reference book) | Stirling N3714/No. 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF |
| 16 | 13 | 3 September 1942 | 01:59 | Lancaster | 22 km (14 mi) southwest of Liège | |
| 17 | 14 | 7 September 1942 | 04:55 | Wellington | 7 km (4.3 mi) south of Tilburg | |
| 18 | 15 | 17 September 1942 | 01:08 | Stirling | south of Tirlemont | |
| 19 | 16 | 11 April 1943 | 03:45 | Stirling | 1 km (0.62 mi) south of Tongerlo | Stirling BK760/No. 7 Squadron RAF |
| 20 | 17 | 13 May 1943 | 02:44 | Lancaster | 3 km (1.9 mi) north of Roermond | |
| 21♠ | 18 | 26 May 1943 | 01:51 | Halifax | 1 km (0.62 mi) south of Jülich | Halifax JB837/No. 77 Squadron RAF |
| 22♠ | 19 | 26 May 1943 | 01:52 | Stirling | 2 km (1.2 mi) south of Jülich | Stirling EF361/No. 7 Squadron RAF |
| 23♠ | 20 | 26 May 1943 | 01:52 | Stirling | 6 km (3.7 mi) south of Jülich | Stirling BF534/No. 15 Squadron RAF |
| 24♠ | 21 | 26 May 1943 | 01:55 | Stirling | 8 km (5.0 mi) south of Jülich | Stirling EH887/No. 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF |
| 25♠ | 22 | 26 May 1943 | 02:35 | Wellington | 3 km (1.9 mi) north of Nederweert | Wellington HE699/No. 166 Squadron RAF |
| 26 | 23 | 30 May 1943 | 00:37 | Halifax | 9 km (5.6 mi) southeast of Aachen | |
| 27 | 24 | 30 May 1943 | 01:05 | Halifax | 6 km (3.7 mi) northeast of Jülich | |
| 28 | 25 | 17 June 1943 | 01:18 | Lancaster | south-southwest of Jülich | |
| 29 | 26 | 22 June 1943 | 02:39 | Halifax | 4 km (2.5 mi) northwest of Bortel | |
| 30 | 27 | 29 June 1943 | 02:33 | Stirling | 40 km (25 mi) west-southwest of Diest | Stirling EE880/No. 149 Squadron RAF |
| 31 | 28 | 28 July 1943 | 01:26 | Lancaster | west-southwest of Bremervörde | |
| 32 | 29 | 18 August 1943 | 01:44 | Lancaster | north-northwest of Peenemünde | |
| 33 | 30 | 18 August 1943 | 01:46 | Lancaster | north-northwest of Peenemünde | |
| — | 31? | 28 August 1943 | 02:00 | Stirling | northwest of Nuremberg | |
| 34 | 32 | 31 August 1943 | 03:45 | Lancaster | Giesenkirchen | |
| — | 33? | 3 November 1943 | 14:25 | B-17 | | |
| — | 34? | 3 November 1943 | 19:40 | Lancaster | 30 km (19 mi) west-northwest of Cologne | |

### Awards

* Aviator badge
* Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold
* Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords (14 April 1939)
* Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
* German Cross in Gold on 20 October 1942 as Hauptmann in the II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1
* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 August 1943 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of the II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1