Skilfully thwarting the determined efforts of P-51 escort fighters, Major Walter Nowotny, flying his Me262 A-1A ‘White 8’, successfully attacks a B-24 Liberator from the USAAF 392nd Bomb Group high over the town of Bramsche, Lower Saxony, 7 October 1944.

With at least 255 victories to his credit on the Eastern Front, Major Walter ‘Nowi’ Nowotny had deservedly received the highest of accolades culminating in October 1943 when he was awarded the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds for becoming the first pilot ever to notch up 250 victories. Fearing that his loss in action would damage morale, Nowotny was ordered to stand down from combat flying.

Nevertheless , with the Luftwaffe increasingly stretched and desperate for skilled pilots, in September 1944 he was posted back to front-line action; this time commanding a specialist trials unit, ‘Kommando Nowotny’, equipped with Messerschmitt’s radical new jet – the Me262. Based near Osnabruck in Lower Saxony, Nowotny’s task was simple but vital: to test, develop and adapt tactics best suited to the new fighter.

It didn’t take long for his experience to pay off. On 7 October his unit intercepted a formation of B-24 Liberators engaged on a raid attacking Kassel. In a scene dramatically recreated by artist Richard Taylor, Nowotny has taken full advantage of his jet’s high speed to swoop through the escorting P-51s in the skies high above the town of Bramsche to successfully attack a B-24 from the 392nd Bomb Group. It was his 256th victory.

Tragedy, however, soon followed. On Thursday 8 November 1944, after further victories over a P-51 and another B-24, his engine is believed to have caught fire. Whilst returning to base at Achmer he crashed and was killed. With 258 victories to his credit he was still only 23.

In tribute to all those who flew the revolutionary Me262, Richard’s powerful painting has been faithfully reproduced as a Limited Edition print.