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, and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. 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 A map of part of the Kammhuber Line. The 'belt' and night fighter 'boxes' are shown. 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 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 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 northwest of Munster – Stab II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 – 5 2 9 February 1941 23:35 Wellington west of Nunspeet Wellington T2702/No. 15 Squadron RAF 6 3 11 May 1941 00:57 Wellington west of Westerhever 7 4 30 June 1941 01:52 Wellington northeast of Bremen 8 5 30 June 1941 02:45 Stirling 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 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 southwest of Liège 17 14 7 September 1942 04:55 Wellington south of Tilburg 18 15 17 September 1942 01:08 Stirling south of Tirlemont 19 16 11 April 1943 03:45 Stirling south of Tongerlo Stirling BK760/No. 7 Squadron RAF 20 17 13 May 1943 02:44 Lancaster north of Roermond 21♠ 18 26 May 1943 01:51 Halifax south of Jülich Halifax JB837/No. 77 Squadron RAF 22♠ 19 26 May 1943 01:52 Stirling south of Jülich Stirling EF361/No. 7 Squadron RAF 23♠ 20 26 May 1943 01:52 Stirling south of Jülich Stirling BF534/No. 15 Squadron RAF 24♠ 21 26 May 1943 01:55 Stirling south of Jülich Stirling EH887/No. 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron RAF 25♠ 22 26 May 1943 02:35 Wellington north of Nederweert Wellington HE699/No. 166 Squadron RAF 26 23 30 May 1943 00:37 Halifax southeast of Aachen 27 24 30 May 1943 01:05 Halifax northeast of Jülich 28 25 17 June 1943 01:18 Lancaster south-southwest of Jülich 29 26 22 June 1943 02:39 Halifax northwest of Bortel 30 27 29 June 1943 02:33 Stirling 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 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