1. Walther Dahl was a German pilot and a fighter ace during World War II.
21 Facts About Walther Dahl
1. 2.
Walther Dahl was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany.
3.
On 18 January 1938, Walther Dahl was promoted to Leutnant of the Reserves with an effective date as of 1 January 1938.
4.
On 28 October 1938, Walther Dahl quit his service with the Heer and joined the Schutzpolizei on 29 October 1938.
5.
On 1 May 1939, Walther Dahl resigned and joined the Luftwaffe and becoming a fighter pilot.
6.
In May 1941 Walther Dahl was posted to Jagdgeschwader 3 and claimed his first victory on 22 June during the first day of the invasion of the Soviet Union.
7.
Walther Dahl had taken over command from Hauptmann Georg Michalek who was transferred.
8.
On 20 July 1943, Walther Dahl was given command as Gruppenkommandeur of III.
9.
Walther Dahl led the unit until taking command of Jagdgeschwader 300 on 27 June 1944.
10.
Walther Dahl drove the attack to point-blank range behind the Liberators of the 492nd Bomb Group before opening fire.
11.
On this mission, Walther Dahl was credited with his 72nd aerial victory, a B-24 shot down in the vicinity of Quedlinburg.
12.
On 28 February 1945, Walther Dahl was credited with his 100th aerial victory.
13.
Walther Dahl was the 98th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark.
14.
Walther Dahl ended the war flying the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter with III.
15.
On 27 March 1945, Walther Dahl claimed two P-47 Thunderbolt fighter kills.
16.
Walther Dahl's 129th and last victory was a USAAF P-51 Mustang near Dillingen an der Donau on 26 April 1945.
17.
Walther Dahl was promoted to Oberst on 30 April 1945.
18.
Walther Dahl was taken prisoner of war by US forces in Bavaria at the end of World War II in Europe.
19.
Walther Dahl was married to Regina Walther Dahl, a journalist with the National Zeitung, a weekly extreme right newspaper published by Gerhard Frey.
20.
Walther Dahl was a spokesman for the German People's Union, a nationalist political party founded by Frey.
21.
Walther Dahl died on 25 November 1985 of heart failure in Heidelberg.