Walter Nowotny Major Walter " Nowi " Nowotny ( 7 December 1920 – 8 November 1944 ) was an Austrian - born German fighter ace of World War II . He is credited with 258 aerial victories — that is , 258 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft — in 442 combat missions . Nowotny achieved 255 of these victories on the Eastern Front and three while flying one of the first jet fighters , the Messerschmitt Me 262 , in the Defense of the Reich . He scored most of his victories in the Focke - Wulf Fw 190 , and approximately 50 in the Messerschmitt Bf 109 . Nowotny joined the " Luftwaffe " in 1939 and completed his fighter pilot training in 1941 , after which he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 54 " Grünherz " ( JG 54 ) on the Eastern Front . Nowotny was the first pilot to achieve 250 victories – 194 in 1943 alone – earning him the coveted " Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub , Schwertern und Brillanten " ( Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves , Swords and Diamonds ) on 19 October 1943 . For propaganda reasons , he was ordered to cease operational flying . Reinstated to front - line service in September 1944 , Nowotny tested and developed tactics for the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter . He was credited with three victories in this aircraft type before being killed in a crash following combat with United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) fighters on 8 November 1944 . After his death , the first operational jet fighter wing , Jagdgeschwader 7 " Nowotny " , was named in his honour . Early life . Walter Nowotny was born in Gmünd , a small town in Lower Austria . His father , Rudolf Nowotny , was a railway official ; his two brothers , Rudolf and Hubert , became officers in the Wehrmacht . Hubert Nowotny was killed in action in the Battle of Stalingrad . From 1925 to 1935 , his family lived in Schwarzenau until his father was relocated to Mistelbach , north of Vienna . Walter attended the primary school ( " Volksschule " ) in Schwarzenau before graduating to the " Bundesoberrealschule " in Waidhofen an der Thaya . During these years , he also sang in the Cistercian convent choir in the Zwettl Abbey . Due to his father ' s relocation , Nowotny transferred to the secondary school ( " Oberschule " ) in Laa an der Thaya , where he received his diploma ( " Abitur " ) in May 1938 . In his teens , Nowotny was interested in all kinds of sports . In 1935 , he played football for the school team in Waidhofen , and in 1937 , took first place in the javelin throw and third place in the lower Austrian track and field championships . Nowotny also visited the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin . For his then mandatory Labour Service ( " Reichsarbeitsdienst " ) , he joined the Luftwaffe on 1 October 1939 . Luftwaffe career . Nowotny ' s military basic training began at the " 2 . Flieger - Ausbildungsregiment 62 " in Quedlinburg ( 1 October 1939 – 15 November 1939 ) and continued at the " Luftkriegschule 5 " in Breslau - Schöngarten ( 16 November 1939 – 30 June 1940 ) . He was promoted to " Fahnenjunker - Gefreiten " on 1 March 1940 and shortly afterwards , on 1 April 1940 , to " Fahnenjunker - Unteroffizier " . On 1 July 1940 , Notwotny was promoted again , to the rank of " Fähnrich " . He completed his pilot training and received the Pilot Badge on 19 August 1940 . Nowotny also trained as a fighter pilot at the " Jagdfliegerschule 5 " in Wien - Schwechat ( 1 August 1940 – 15 November 1940 ) , the same school that Hans - Joachim Marseille had attended one year earlier . One of his teachers at the " Jagdfliegerschule 5 " was the Austro - Hungarian World War I ace Julius Arigi . Here Nowotny befriended Karl Schnörrer and Paul Galland , the younger brother of " General der Jagdflieger " Adolf Galland . Paul Galland claimed 17 aerial victories with Jagdgeschwader 26 ( JG 26 ) on the channel front before he was shot down and killed by a Royal Air Force ( RAF ) Supermarine Spitfire on 31 October 1942 . After graduation from the " Jagdfliegerschule 5 " , Nowotny was transferred to the " I . / Ergänzungs - Jagdgruppe Merseburg " on 16 November 1940 , flying fighter cover for the Leuna industrial works . With Jagdgeschwader 54 . Nowotny was posted to the " Ergänzungsstaffel " ( Training / Supplement Squadron ) of " Jagdgeschwader 54 " ( JG 54 ) on 1 December 1940 . JG 54 at the time was under the command of " Major " Hannes Trautloft . Nowotny was transferred again , this time to the 9th " Staffel " of JG 54 ( 9 . / JG 54 ) , the so - called " Teufelsstaffel " ( Devils ' Squadron ) where he was further trained by veterans from the front line ( 23 February 1941 – 25 March 1941 ) . From 25 March 1941 to 10 March 1942 , Notwotny flew with the " Stabsstaffel " of the " Ergänzungs - Jagdgruppe " JG 54 where he was promoted to " Leutnant " on 1 April 1941 , effective as of 1 February 1941 . Nowotny flew a Messerschmitt Bf 109 E - 7 " White 2 " on his 24th operational mission on 19 July 1941 and claimed his first two enemy aircraft , both Polikarpov I - 153 biplanes of " Voenno - Vozdushnye Sily " ( VVS — Military Air Forces ) KBF ' s 12 OIAE / 61 BAB , over Saaremaa . He was shot down in the same engagement by Alexandr Avdeev , also in a Polikarpov I - 153 . According to Soviet archives , no Soviet aircraft was lost in the engagement . Nowotny spent three days in a dinghy in the Gulf of Riga – on one occasion almost being run down by a Soviet destroyer – until finally being washed ashore on the Latvian coast . For the rest of his combat career , the superstitious Nowotny always wore the trousers ( German : " Abschußhose " roughly " shoot down pants " sometimes also referred to as " victory pants " ) that he had worn during those three days in the Gulf of Riga – with one exception , his last sortie , at Achmer on 8 November 1944 , when he was killed flying the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter . Nowotny quickly recovered from his ordeal and on 31 July claimed a Beriev MBR - 2 flying boat north - west of Saaremaa and an Ilyushin DB - 3 bomber south of the island . In 1942 , Nowotny increased his tally of victories and claimed his 30th and 31st kills on 11 July over the Wolchow bridgehead , which earned him the " Luftwaffe Honor Goblet " on 14 July 1942 . Nowotny shot down a further five aircraft on a single day ( 32nd – 36th victories ) on 20 July and seven ( 48th – 54th victories ) on 2 August . After having downed three enemy aircraft on 11 August , " Leutnant " Nowotny carried out three victory passes over the airfield , despite having sustained combat damage to his own Bf 109 " Black 1 " . In the subsequent landing , his aircraft somersaulted and he sustained moderate injuries . Walter Nowotny was awarded the " Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross " ( Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes ) on 4 September , after 56 aerial victories . The " Ritterkreuz " earned him a home leave to Vienna . Here , the brothers Hubert and Walter met for the last time before Hubert was killed at Stalingrad . " Leutnant " Nowotny was made " Staffelkapitän " of 1 . / JG 54 on 25 October , replacing " Oberleutnant " Heinz Lange . In January 1943 , JG 54 started converting to the agile Focke - Wulf 190 fighter . With the new aircraft , Nowotny scored at an unprecedented " kill " rate , often averaging more than two planes a day for weeks on end . As of 1 February 1943 , Nowotny , Karl Schnörrer , – Nowotny ' s wingman since late 1942 – Anton Döbele and Rudolf Rademacher , formed a team known as the " chain of devils " ( " Teufelskette " ) or the " Nowotny Schwarm " , which during the course of the war was credited with 524 combined kills , making them the most successful team in the Luftwaffe . Nowotny scored his 69th to 72nd victory on 16 March . He reached the century mark on 5 June 1943 , on his 344th combat mission . By 24 June , he would accumulate a further 24 victories increasing his total to 124 . On 21 August , Nowotny was made " Gruppenkommandeur " of I . / JG 54 . In August alone , he shot down 49 aircraft – a number matched exactly by Jagdgeschwader 52 ' s ( JG 52 ) Erich Hartmann – bringing Nowotny ' s total to 161 victories . On 1 September , he scored ten victories in two sorties , which took his tally to 183 . Seventy - two hours later , that number had risen to 189 , earning him the " Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves " ( Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub ) on 8 September . The award was to be personally presented by the " Führer " , Adolf Hitler , on 22 September 1943 . However , by this date Nowotny had claimed his double century ( 200 ) on 8 September , and , on 15 September , his 215th victory , making him the highest - scoring pilot in the Luftwaffe to that time . Two Lavochkin La - 5 s and a Yakovlev Yak - 9 on 17 September brought his score to 218 victories , earning him Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords " ( Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern ) " on 22 September 1943 . The planned " Oakleaves " ( " Eichenlaub " ) presentation thus became a " Swords " ( Schwerter ) ceremony . Diamonds . Nowotny was promoted to " Hauptmann " on 21 September 1943 , effective as of 1 October , following his 225th victory . On 14 October 1943 , he became the first pilot to reach 250 victories , following his 442 combat missions . Nowotny was celebrating this feat in the Ria Bar in Vilna when he received a phone call from Hitler himself , announcing that he had been awarded the " Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub , Schwertern und Brillanten " ( Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves , Swords and Diamonds ) , making him the eighth of 27 men to be so honored . The " Brillanten " ( Diamonds ) were presented by Hitler at the " Wolfsschanze " , near Kętrzyn ( German : Rastenburg ) on 19 October 1943 . Nowotny immediately went on a short vacation to Vienna before returning to his front - line unit . On 29 October 1943 , Nowotny presented the " Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes " ( Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross ) to " Oberfeldwebel " Otto Kittel . In the days following , Nowotny flew as wingman to Karl Schnörrer , helping him accumulate further victories . On 11 November , Anton Döbele was killed when he rammed an Il - 2 Sturmovik . The next day , 12 November 1943 , Schnörrer was severely injured after bailing out at low altitude . Schnörrer was replaced as Nowotny ' s wingman by " Unteroffizier " Ernst Richter . With Richter , Nowotny claimed his final two aerial victories on the Eastern Front on 15 November 1943 . In total , Nowotny had claimed 255 confirmed kills plus a further 50 unconfirmed , before he was taken off combat duty . Nowotny was sent on a propaganda tour in Germany , which included the presentation of the " Ritterkreuz des Kriegsverdienstkreuzes " ( Knight ' s Cross of the War Merit Cross ) to the railroad engineer August Kindervater on 7 December 1943 – Nowotny ' s 23rd birthday . Shortly before Christmas , he visited the Focke - Wulf production site at Bad Eilsen , where he was met by Professor Kurt Tank . The mayor of Vienna , " Dipl . - Ing . " Hanns Blaschke awarded Nowotny the city ' s ring of honor on 11 January 1944 , the presentation taking place a week later . It was a token that Nowotny accepted reluctantly , feeling that he did not deserve it . His next official visit was the " Büromaschinenfabrik " ( office machinery factory ) at Zella - Mehlis , before he briefly returned to " Jagdgeschwader 54 " . Nowotny was made " Geschwaderkommodore " of " Jagdgeschwader 101 " ( JG 101 ) and commander of the " Jagdfliegerschule 1 " , a " Luftwaffe " fighter pilot training school at Pau in southern France , in April 1944 . Kommando Nowotny and death . In September 1944 , Nowotny was made commander of a specialist unit dubbed " Kommando Nowotny " , flying the newly developed Messerschmitt Me 262 out of airfields near Osnabrück . The unit not only had to contend with the enemy , but also with working through the ' teething ' phase of the Me 262 and developing the tactics appropriate for a jet unit . Generals Alfred Keller and Adolf Galland had scheduled an inspection at Achmer for the afternoon of 7 November 1944 . Galland had already visited " Kommando Nowotny " several times and was deeply concerned over the high attrition rate and meager success achieved by the Me 262 . After inspecting the two airfields at Achmer and Hesepe , he stayed in the Penterknapp barracks discussing the problems of the past few weeks . Several pilots openly expressed their doubts as to the readiness of the Me 262 for combat operations . The next morning , 8 November 1944 , the Generals arrived again at Nowotny ' s command post and Keller declared that the aces of the past years had become cowards and that the " Luftwaffe " had lost its fighting spirit . Shortly after , news reached the command post of a large bomber formation approaching . Two " Rotten " of Me 262 were prepared for take - off , Erich Büttner and Franz Schall at Hesepe , and Nowotny and Günther Wegmann at Achmer . At first only Schall and Wegmann managed to take off because Büttner had a punctured tire during taxiing and Nowotny ' s turbines initially refused to start . With some delay , Nowotny took off and engaged the enemy on his own , Schall and Wegmann having since retired from the action after sustaining battle damage . Nowotny radioed that he had downed a B - 24 Liberator and a P - 51 Mustang before he reported one engine failing and made one final garbled transmission containing the word " burning " . Helmut Lennartz recalled : " I remember Nowotny ' s crash very well . " Feldwebel " Gossler , a radio operator with our unit , had set up a radio on the airfield . Over this set I and many others listened to the radio communications with Nowotny ' s aircraft . His last words were , " I ' m on fire " or " it ' s on fire " . The words were slightly garbled . It remains unclear whether Nowotny was killed due to engine failure or whether he was shot down by United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) Captain Ernest Fiebelkorn ( 20th Fighter Group ) and 1st Lieutenant Edward " Buddy " Haydon ( 357th Fighter Group ) east of Hesepe . In recent years , United States military historians proposed that Nowotny ' s victor may have been P - 51D pilot Lieutenant Robert W . Stevens of the 364th Fighter Group . Many witnesses observed Nowotny ' s Me 262 A - 1a " Werk Nummer " 110 400 ( factory number ) " White 8 " dive vertically out of the clouds and crash at Epe , east of Hesepe . The Wehrmacht announced his death on 9 November 1944 in the daily Wehrmachtbericht . Nowotny was given a state funeral in Vienna . The guard of honor was composed of his friend Karl Schnörrer , " Oberst " Gordon Gollob , " Major " Rudolf Schoenert , " Hauptmann " Heinz Strüning , " Major " Josef Fözö and " Major " Georg Christl . The eulogy was delivered by " General der Jagdflieger " Adolf Galland and " Generaloberst " Otto Deßloch . Nowotny was buried at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna in a grave of honor sponsored by the city of Vienna , which was still part of Nazi Germany . Following an initiative by the Austrian Green Party and debates in the Vienna Landtag , a resolution supported by Social Democrats and Greens was passed to remove the status of honor in 2003 .