Walther Wever (pilot)

Template:Short description Template:Template other Walther Wever (16 January 1923 – 10 April 1945) was a Luftwaffe flying ace during the Second World War. The son of former Chief of the Luftwaffe General Walther Wever, Wever served during 1943 on the Eastern Front and from 19 June 1943 until 10 April 1945 he claimed 44 aerial victories in 250 combat missions. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Career

Wever was born on 16 January 1923 in Munich in the Weimar Republic, the son of General der Flieger Walther Wever.Template:Sfn Following flight training in mid-1943 he was posted to 3. Staffel (3rd squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing). At the time, 3. Staffel was commanded by Hauptmann Heinz Lange and was subordinated to I. Gruppe (1st group) of JG 51 headed by Major Erich Leie and stationed at an airfield named Orel-Slobodka located approximately west-southwest of Oryol on the Eastern Front.Template:Sfn Wever claimed his first aerial victory on 19 June south of Karachev, approximately west of Oryol. Depending on source, the aircraft shot down was either a Yakovlev Yak-4 light bomber, an Yakovlev Yak-4 fighter, or a Douglas A-20 Havoc bomber.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Notable landmarks during his career included his 10th kill on 1 September 1943 followed four days later by shooting down three Il-2 Sturmoviks in five minutes. On 29 March 1944 he claimed a further five aerial victories, making him an "ace-in-a-day". Then on 24 June, he claimed his 40th aerial victory.

Squadron leader

On 7 May 1944, Weaver was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 3. Staffel of JG 51, succeeding Lange who was transferred.Template:Sfn Wever had already briefly led the Staffel from 15 to 30 August 1943 when Lange had been temporarily tasked with the leadership of I. Gruppe of JG 51.Template:Sfn On 21 June, bombers of the Eighth Air Force on a shuttle bombing mission of Operation Frantic, attacked oil refineries south of Berlin before heading for the Poltava Air Base. The bombers were intercepted by elements of JG 51 led by Major Fritz Losigkeit. In this encounter, two of the escorting North American P-51 Mustang fighters were shot down, including one by Wever.Template:SfnTemplate:Refn One of the P-51 fighters crashed near the Luftwaffe airfield at Babruysk where III. Gruppe of JG 51 was based. In its cockpit, a map of the Poltava Air Base was found. The Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of III. Gruppe, Hauptmann Diethelm von Eichel-Streiber, sent the map to the headquarters of Luftflotte 6 (6th Air Fleet). This intelligence led to an attack by Luftwaffe bombers which destroyed 44 parked Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers and damaged further 26.Template:Sfn On 10 July, Wever was shot down and wounded in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 410413—factory number) by Soviet Anti-aircraft artillery.Template:Sfn Command of 3. Staffel was then passed to Oberleutnant Günther Josten.Template:Sfn

Although he lost a foot, Wever continued to fly and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 28 January 1945 for reaching the final total of 44 victories. He was then transferred to Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7—7th Fighter Wing), the first jet fighter wing, where he received further training on the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. On 10 April 1945, having not scored another kill, Wever was shot down and killed in action by Allied fighters near Neuruppin. That day, the Luftwaffe lost a number of Me 262 pilots, including Hauptmann Franz Schall. The Americans dubbed this day the "great jet massacre".Template:Sfn

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier, Wever was credited with 44 aerial victories all but one claimed on the Eastern Front in 250 combat missions.Template:Sfn Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 44 aerial victory claims with 43 claimed on the Eastern Front and one on the Western Front.Template:Sfn

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 35 Ost 43231". The Luftwaffe grid map () covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about . These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area in size.Template:Sfn

Chronicle of aerial victories
This and the ♠ (Ace of spades) indicates those aerial victories which made Wever 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 ? (question mark) indicates information discrepancies listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike, Balke, Bock, Mathews and Foreman.
Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location
– 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" –Template:Sfn Eastern Front — 4 February – 31 December 1943
1	19 June 1943	07:30	Yak-1?Template:Refn	PQ 35 Ost 43231Template:Sfn southwest of Tschaikowka	13	5 September 1943	17:55	Il-2 m.H.Template:Refn	PQ 35 Ost 25462Template:Sfn west-northwest of Mariampol
2	1 August 1943	17:10	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost 54732Template:Sfn vicinity of Znamenskoje	14	5 September 1943	17:59	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost 25466Template:Sfn west-northwest of Yelnya
3	2 August 1943	08:08	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost 53472Template:Sfn northeast of Orsha	15	14 September 1943	12:20	Il-2 m.H.	northeast of DukhovshchinaTemplate:Sfn
4	2 August 1943	18:32	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost 54751Template:Sfn southwest of Tschaikowka	16	14 September 1943	15:09	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 26393Template:Sfn vicinity of Beloi
5	3 August 1943	11:46	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost 54554Template:Sfn south of Dudorovskiy	17	30 September 1943	09:56	Il-2 m.H.	east of TuberizurTemplate:Sfn
6	3 August 1943	12:32	Boston	PQ 35 Ost 53292Template:Sfn north-northeast of Kromy	18	30 September 1943	09:57	Il-2 m.H.	east of TuberizurTemplate:Sfn
7	14 August 1943	17:57	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost 51852Template:Sfn east of Bohodukhiv	19	30 October 1943	07:15	Il-2 m.H.	southwest of KrijewkaTemplate:Sfn
8	20 August 1943	14:20	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 51524Template:Sfn vicinity of Kirkowka	20	30 November 1943	12:40	Yak-9	northeast of ZhlobinTemplate:Sfn
9	30 August 1943	17:43	Il-2 m.H.	west of YelnyaTemplate:Sfn	21	15 December 1943	12:45	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 25 Ost 93438Template:Sfn south-southwest of Zhlobin
10	30 August 1943	18:05	Il-2 m.H.	north of YelnyaTemplate:Sfn	22	15 December 1943	13:05	Yak-9	PQ 35 Ost 03311Template:Sfn south of Zhlobin
11	1 September 1943	18:08	Il-2	west of YelnyaTemplate:Sfn	23	23 December 1943	13:55	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost 03127Template:Sfn west of Gorodets
12	5 September 1943	17:54	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost 25465Template:Sfn west-northwest of Yelnya
– 3. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" –Template:Sfn Eastern Front — 1 January – 10 July 1944
24	4 January 1944	12:40	Yak-9	PQ 25 Ost N/96693Template:Sfn northwest of Vitebsk	35♠	29 March 1944	16:39	Yak-9	PQ 35 Ost N/04462Template:Sfn south of Chavusy
25	6 January 1944	10:39	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost N/06783Template:Sfn southeast of Kamary	36	28 May 1944	07:08	Yak-7	PQ 25 Ost N/96366Template:Sfn northwest of Dretun
26	6 January 1944	10:40	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost N/06786Template:Sfn southeast of Kamary	37	21 June 1944	12:53	P-51	PQ 25 Ost N/23881Template:Sfn vicinity of Halászi
27	12 January 1944	11:54	La-5	PQ 25 Ost N/96962Template:Sfn northwest of Vitebsk	38	22 June 1944	07:35	Yak-9	PQ 25 Ost N/96599Template:Sfn west of Kėdainiai
28	14 January 1944	09:11	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost N/05132Template:Sfn southeast of Kamary	39	23 June 1944	14:00	Yak-7	PQ 35 Ost N/05896Template:Sfn east-southeast of Ulla
29	14 January 1944	09:12	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost N/05121Template:Sfn west-southwest of Liozna	40	24 June 1944	18:00	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 25 Ost N/96585Template:Sfn north of Ulla
30	14 January 1944	13:57	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost N/05133Template:Sfn southeast of Kamary	41	25 June 1944	11:55	Yak-7	PQ 35 Ost N/05375Template:Sfn
31♠	29 March 1944	12:10	La-5	PQ 35 Ost N/04481Template:Sfn east of Stara Bychow	42	25 June 1944	12:04	Il-2 m.H.	PQ 35 Ost N/05382Template:Sfn
32♠	29 March 1944	12:24	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost N/04451Template:Sfn southwest of Chavusy	43	29 June 1944	16:25	La-5	PQ 25 Ost N/94134Template:Sfn north-northeast of Byerazino
33♠	29 March 1944	16:22	Pe-2	PQ 35 Ost N/04289Template:Sfn east of Chavusy	44	30 June 1944	13:24	La-5	PQ 25 Ost N/94317Template:Sfn south-southeast of Byerazino
34♠	29 March 1944	16:30	Pe-2	PQ 35 Ost N/04442Template:Sfn northeast of Stara Bychow

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st ClassTemplate:Sfn
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 17 April 1944 as Leutnant and pilotTemplate:SfnTemplate:Refn
• German Cross in Gold on 20 March 1944 as Leutnant in the I./Jagdgeschwader 51Template:Sfn
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 28 January 1945 as Leutnant and pilot in the 3./Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders"Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn