Kurt Welter

Neptun radar-equipped Me 262B-1a/U1 in the South African National Museum of Military History.

On 2 November 1944, Welter was transferred to II. Gruppe/Nachtjagdgeschwader 11 (NJG 11), a reformation of his former unit. Here he was given command of a special Kommando subordinate to II./NJG 11, set up on 11 November 1944 at Erprobungsstelle Rechlin's southern Lärz airbase (2 November 1944 – 28 January 1945), and dedicated to performing nocturnal interception with the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter of RAF Mosquitos attacking the Berlin area. According to some sources, Oberleutnant Welter added a Lancaster to his growing list of Mosquitos on the night of 12 December 1944, the first night victory by a jet fighter.[11] Other sources state that his first aerial victory flying the Me 262 was claimed either on the night of 2 January 1945[12] or 5 January 1945.[13] On 28 January 1945, the unit initially known as Sonderkommando Stamp, named after its founder Major Gerhard Stamp and then Sonderkommando Welter, was re-designated 10. Staffel/NJG 11 and transferred to the airfield at Burg near Magdeburg (28 January 1945 – 12 April 1945). The unit was equipped with Me 262 jet fighters, and tasked with intercepting Mosquito bomber aircraft of No. 8 Group RAF in the Berlin area. The Me 262 were not fitted with radar and used the aid of ground control and the searchlight defences, partially a Wilde Sau form of night combat. Welter had claimed three aerial victories while flying the Me 262 by early February 1945.[14]

Thereafter, Welter made a string of questionable air combat claims against Mosquito aircraft in the Berlin area – three on the night of 21 February 1945 (no Mosquitoes recorded lost),[15][Note 2] and another three on the night of 2 March 1945 (one Mosquito damaged in aerial combat).[16] 10./NJG 11 made further claims against Mosquito aircraft attacking Berlin on the nights of 21 March 1945 (three claims; one Mosquito lost),[17] 23 March 1945 (three claims; one Mosquito lost, another damaged in aerial combat),[18] 24 March 1945 (two claims; one Mosquito damaged in aerial combat),[19] 27 March 1945 (two claims; two Mosquitos lost),[20] 30 March 1945 (four claims; one Mosquito lost and another damaged in aerial combat),[21] 2 April 1945 (one claim; one Mosquito lost),[22] 3 April 1945 (two claims; one Mosquito lost and another damaged in aerial combat),[22] and 19 April 1945 (two claims, no Mosquitos lost).[23] The last known aerial combat claim by Welter occurred on the night of 3 April 1945, when a Mosquito of No. 139 Squadron RAF, was shot down over Berlin.[22] Welter was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) on 11 March 1945 for 48 victories.[5][24]

Much of the controversy surrounding Welter's claims for success in nocturnal aerial combat with the Me 262 stems from a memorandum written by Welter on 29 May 1945 for his British captors. In this memorandum Welter stated that between December 1944 and the end of January 1945, as the sole pilot of Kommando Welter, he flew seven Me 262 sorties and achieved three victories against Mosquito aircraft and two victories against Lancaster aircraft. Welter further stated that from the formation of 10./NJG 11 on 28 January 1945 to the end of the war, 10./NJG 11 flew around another 63 operational sorties and claimed a further 38 victories against Mosquito aircraft at night and five victories against Mosquito aircraft by day; his share being 20 Mosquitos at night and two during the day. Thus, according to the memo, a total of 25 Mosquitoes and two Lancasters were claimed in aerial combat by Welter, flying the Me 262 with the Kommando/Staffel, while other pilots of the Staffel claimed a further 21 kills (of which three were achieved with the two-seater Me 262).[25] Official Luftwaffe documents show that by 4 April 1945, 10./NJG 11 had claimed 34 aerial victories, of which only one was claimed in a two-seater Me 262.[26][Note 3] Research of RAF records show that at most 15 Mosquitoes could have been possibly destroyed by Kommando Welter—10./NJG 11.[26]

Officially Kurt Welter was credited with 63 victories in 93 missions, of which 56 victories were achieved at night and seven by day. Among his claimed 63 victories are up to 33 Mosquitos.[27] Thus, there remains some controversy about the exact number of victories achieved while flying the Me 262, with only three of the Mosquito kills coinciding with RAF records; the rest might be overclaiming.[28]

Welter survived the war and was employed at a sugar factory.[29] He was killed on 7 March 1949 in Leck in Schleswig-Holstein waiting at a level crossing, when logs falling from an improperly loaded passing train crushed his car.[5]

Foreman, Matthews and Parry, authors of Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims 1939 – 1945, list 58 nocturnal victory claims, numerically ranging from 1 to 59, omitting the tenth claim.[30] In addition to the nocturnal victory claims, authors Lorant and Goyat of Jagdgeschwader 300 "Wilde Sau" list five further day-time claims.[31]

• Dienstauszeichnung 4th Class (1938)
• Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 24 April 1944 as Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel and pilot[70][Note 4]
• Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for night fighter pilots in Gold
• German Cross in Gold on 10 May 1944 as Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel in the 5./JG 301[71]
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (5 October 1943)[72]
  • 1st Class (28 October 1943)[72]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 18 October 1944 as Leutnant and pilot in the 10./JG 300[73][Note 5]
  • 769th Oak Leaves on 11 March 1945 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 10./NJG 10[73][76][77]