Messerschmitt Me.262. Part six.

During the last days of the war, Me.262s of the JG.7 were employed in ground attack missions, in an attempt to support German troops on the eastern front. During the Battle of Berlin, Luftwaffe pilots claimed six lorries and seven Soviet aircraft destroyed in a single raid, at the cost of three Me.262s. On the evening of 27th April 1945 thirty-six Me.262s strafed successfully 65 Soviet lorries but they were intercepted by low-flying Il-2s that were patrolling looking for German tanks. German pilots claimed to have shot down six Il-2s for the cost of three Me.262s. Between 28th April and 1st May 1945 Soviet fighters and anti-air troops shot down at least ten more Me.262s from the JG.7. Anyway, the JG.7 managed to stay operational until the end of the war and, in fact, on 8th May, at around 4:00pm Oblt. Fritz Stehle of 2./JG.7, while flying a Me.262 on the Erzgebirge attacked a formation of Soviet fighters, claiming to have shot down a Yak-9, but most probably shoting down a P-39, making it the last Luftwaffe's air victory of the war.
In spite of its deficiencies, the Me.262 clearly marked the beginning of the end of piston-engined aircraft as effective fighting machines. Once it was airborne, it could accelerate to speeds over 850km/h (530mph) which was about 150km/h (93mph) faster than any Allied fighter operational over Europe.
The Me.262's top ace was Hptm. Franz Schall with 17 confirmed kills including six four-engined bombers and ten P-51 Mustang fighters. Another fighter ace, Oblt. Kurt Welter claimed 25 Mosquitoes plus two four-engined bombers shot-down by night plus additional Mosquitoes by day. However, most of Welter's claims were achieved by eye. On the third place Oblt. Heinrich Bär could be placed as he shot down 16 enemy aircraft while flying the Me.262 out of his total score of 240 enemy aircraft shot down.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Me_262
2. Osprey - Aircraft of the Aces 20 - German Night Fighter Aces Of World War II
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters