Tegel, 118
Tegernsee, 202
Teumer, Alfred, 117
Theobald, T. N., 162
Thierfelder, Werner, 20, 70, 72, 73, 115, 117
Third Reich, 20, 34, 152, 204, 207, 210, 221
Thunderbolt, 152
Thuringia, 176
Tichenor, Felix H., 226
Toliver, Raymond, 182
Touch Me Not, 147
To War with the Yoxford Boys, 111
Towering Titan, The, 161
Tracy, Dick, 161, 227, 228, 229, 231, 232, 236
Trautloft, Hannes, 6–7, 51, 68, 70–71, 115, 116, 141
Truman, Harry, 220
Truver, Edward F., 196
Tuskegee Airmen, 145
Udet, Ernst, 34, 38, 39, 40, 46, 61
Ugly Duckling, 193
Ullrich, 144
Ulm, 199
Ultra Project, 37
University of Gottingen, 9
Unrau, 79
Untershönegg, 196
U-110, 37
USAAF Intelligence Service, 215
U.S. Air Force, 219
U.S. Army Air Corps, 5
U.S. Special Forces, 219
Vienna, 131
Vining, James, 193
V-1 project, 37
Voigt, Waldemar, 11, 47
Voss, J. R., 124
Wagner, Herbert, 12
Waldmann, Hans, 143
Wall, A. E., 78
Walter, Hellmuth, 10
Warner, Jack A., 163
Warsitz, Erich, 37
Watson, Harold E., 214
Weaver, Chuck, 186
Weber, Gilman L., 133, 163
Weert, 138
Wegmann, Günther, 127, 143
Weihs, Hans-Dieter (“Hadi”), 143
Weiss, Robert “Bazi,” 116
Weissenberger, Theodor, 111
Welter, Kurt, 44, 59, 60, 90, 91
Wendel, Fritz, 17, 19–20, 21, 31, 36, 47, 48, 62
White 8, 128
White 11, 194
White Flight, 195
Whittle, Frank, 4, 9
Wilhelm Wilkenloh, 138
Wilkins, 121
Willis, L. E., 134
Windisch, 144
Winker, Eberhard, 122
Winks, Robert P., 84, 113
Wittbold, 167
Wörner, Ernst, 146
Wray, J. B., 122, 137–138
Wright Field, 216
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, 219
Wright, Roland, 111
Wübke, Hein, 182
Yalta Agreement, 220
Yalta Conference, 216
Yeager, Charles E. “Chuck,” 123
“Yellow 7,” 162
Zarnke, G. A., 163
Zemke, Hub, 76
Zentralabteilung (ZA), 4
Zentralfriedhof, 131
Zöllner, Alloys, 122
Zweizig, James A., 163
Acknowledgments
The people involved in making this book come to life are far too numerous to list. Suffice to say that the primary contributors are mentioned and quoted within these pages. Those who must be noted here are historians Barrett Tillman and Jon Guttman, both of them outstanding and unselfish in their assistance. I continue to learn much from them. Many years ago, Arno Abendroth provided Me 262 data on production numbers, unit losses, work numbers, and other materials that proved critical for this project. Without his information, this would be an incomplete work.
Without Norman Melton and his assistance over many years, I would not be writing this so easily. I would certainly never have received my education and become an author. Thanks to my agent, Gayle Wurst of Princeton International Agency for the Arts, who, in conjunction with my wife and previous coauthor of other books, Anne-Marie Lewis, has indulged and educated me on many of the pitfalls within my profession, therefore keeping me focused on the target.
Special thanks to Kurt Schulze for allowing me to make copies of the massive collection of reports and interviews from the Ray Toliver collection, and special thanks to the late Ray Toliver for his many years of support, access to his records and photographs, and also Trevor Constable for being part of the process that sparked my interest so long ago.
I would also like to thank Lt. Col. Robert Schmidt, USAF, and Kurt Schulze for their great friendship and assistance, and for introducing me to Jorg Czypionka. As Robert and I attended the German Fighter Pilot reunions over the years and became better acquainted with the men mentioned in this book, I reflect upon those days with great fondness. Kurt gave me many contacts over the last twenty years who provided additional assistance.
I also wish to thank Steven Daubenspeck at Zenith Press for suggesting the Me 262 book concept and senior editor Richard Kane at Zenith for supporting the concept. I want to mention Scott Pearson, editor at Zenith, who is really the best editor to work with. This book was their idea, and I hope that I have done their suggestion justice. Thanks to my best friend from our army days, Greg Kopatch, who always supported me in all of my wildest endeavors. I would like to jokingly remind him that I “finally got that plaque.” Only he will understand what that means.
A very special thanks to Albert Wunsch III, Esquire. Without his assistance on many levels, this project’s completion would not have been possible. And thanks to the late Jeffrey L. Ethell, who worked with Ray Toliver and me collecting the data that made this book and many others past, present, and future come to life.
I should also thank the following American air warriors who have since left us, who over the course of many years provided me with invaluable information, granted interviews, responded to letters, submitted photographs, and opened up contacts for me from both sides of the war: Gen. James H. Doolittle, Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, Col. Hubert Zemke, Brig. Gen. James M. Stewart, Col. Donald Blakeslee, and Gen. Benjamin O. Davis, just to name a few.
Finally, I need to thank all of the German Me 262 jet pilots of the Luftwaffe, who over the years provided interviews and letters and detailed their experiences. I also wish to thank the American and British aviators who gave me their perspectives. These men made the history, and fellows like us are just very lucky to have recorded it.
Copyright
First published in 2012 by Zenith Press, an imprint of MBI Publishing Company,
400 First Avenue North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA
© 2012 Zenith Press
Text © 2012 by Colin D. Heaton
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ISBN-13: 978-0-7603-4263-3
Digital Edition: 978-1-61058-434-0
Softcover Edition: 978-0-76034-263-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Heaton, Colin D.
The ME 262 Stormbird : from the pilots who flew, fought, and survived it /Colin D. Heaton. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-7603-4263-3 (hbk.)
1. Messerschmitt 262 (Jet fighter plane) 2. Germany. Luftwaffe. Jagdgeschwader 7—History. 3. Fighter pilots—Germany—Biography. 4. World War, 1939-1945—Aerial operations. I. Title. II. Title: Messerchmidt 262 Stormbird.
UG1242.F5.H43 2012
940.54’4943—dc23
2011044702
Credits: