Kurt Welter was born on 25 February 1916 at Köln-Lindenthal. He joined the still secret Luftwaffe on 1 October 1934 and trained as a pilot. Welter served as an instructor up to 10 August 1943 when he was transferred, with the rank of Oberfeldwebel, to Blindflugschule 10. On 2 September 1943, Welter was transferred to 5./JG 301. With this unit he performed Wilde Sau missions intercepting raiding Allied bombers in single-seat fighter aircraft by night. On the night of 22/23 September, Welter shot down two Allied four-engine bombers on what was his first Wilde Sau mission. He shot down a further two on his third mission on the night of 3/4 October. By the beginning of April, he had recorded 17 victories in only 15 missions! Welter was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 10 May. Leutnant Welter was transferred to 5./JG 300 on 7 July 1944. In July, he was to claim two USAAF B-17 four-engined bombers and three P-51 fighters shot down by day. From 25 July 1944, Welter served with 1./NJG 10 performing Wilde Sau missions. He claimed four RAF Lancaster four-engine bombers shot down on the night of 29/30 August to record his 24th through 27th victories. Welter transferred to 10./JG 300 on 4 September 1944. 10./JG 300 was established to counter incursions by RAF Mosquito twin-engined bombers. In September, Welter was to claim seven Mosquitos shot down, including one by ramming! It is thought that during his service with 1./NJG 10 and 10./JG 300, Welter recorded 12 victories in only 18 missions. Welter was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 18 October for 34 victories. On 2 November 1944, Welter was transferred to II./NJG 11. Here he was given command of a unit, set up on 11 November 1944, dedicated to the interception, by night, of RAF Mosquitos. On 28 January 1945, the unit, initially known as Sonderkommando Stamp after its founder and then Sonderkommando Welter, was redesignated 10./NJG 11. The unit was equipped with Me 262 jet fighters. Welter claimed 25 Mosquitos and two four-engined bombers shot down by night and two further Mosquitos by day flying the Me 262. Whilst Welter had tested a prototype Me 262 fitted with Neptun radar, the majority of Welter’s 20 plus night victories were achieved in standard radarless aircraft. Welter was awarded the Eichenlaub (Nr 769) on 9 March 1945 for 48 victories. Having survived the war, Welter was killed on 7 March 1949 at Leck in Schleswig-Holstein waiting at a level crossing, when  logs falling from an improperly loaded passing train crushed his car.
    Kurt Welter was credited with 63 victories in 93 missions. He recorded 56 victories at night, including 33 Mosquitos.
 

No	Date	Time	A/c Type	Unit	Location / Comments
1.	22.9.1943	23:04	Lancaster	5./JG 301	Hannover, 5000m / 1st combat mission
2.	22.9.1943	23:12	B-24	5./JG 301	Hannover, 4000m
3.	3.10.1943	22:29	Halifax	5./JG 301	SW Hessen, 4000m
4.	3.10.1943	22:41	Halifax	5./JG 301	ENE Hessen, 4000m
5.	22.10.1943	21:04	Viermot	5./JG 301	4km NW Kaasel, 4500m
6.	22.10.1943	21:14	Viermot	5./JG 301	18km N Kassel, 4500m
7.	22.10.1943	21:24	Viermot	5./JG 301	28km N Kassel, 4500m
8.	2.1.1944	2:55	Viermot	5./JG 301
9.	6.1.1944	3:46	Viermot	5./JG 301
10.	6.1.1944	4:11	Viermot	5./JG 301
11.	28/29.1.1944	-	Halifax	5./JG 301
12.	20.2.1944	3:27	Lancaster	5./JG 301
13.	20.2.1944	4:16	Lancaster	5./JG 301
14.	18/19.3.1944	-	Lancaster	5./JG 301
15.	18/19.3.1944	-	Lancaster	5./JG 301
16.	24.3.1944	22:44	Lancaster	5./JG 301
17.	24.3.1944	22:50~	Lancaster	5./JG 301	15th combat mission
18.	18.7.1944	10:47	P-51	5./JG 300	Füssen area, 7000m / in the day-time
19.	18.7.1944	10:55	P-51	5./JG 300	Schongau area, 4500m / in the day-time
20.	19.7.1944	9:37	P-51	5./JG 300	Memmingen, 7000m / in the day-time
21.	19.7.1944	9:43	B-17	5./JG 300	S Königsbrünn, 6000m / in the day-time
22.	20.7.1944	11:15	B-17	5./JG 300	Reichenbach, 5500m / in the day-time
23.	26.8.1944	22:38	Mosquito	10./JG 300	Nienburg area, 9500m
24.	30.8.1944	2:05	Lancaster	10./JG 300	CJ-BJ, 4800m
25.	30.8.1944	2:10	Lancaster	10./JG 300	BJ-CJ, 3900m
26.	30.8.1944	2:12	Lancaster	10./JG 300	BJ-CJ, 4800m
27.	30.8.1944	2:15	Lancaster	10./JG 300	BJ-CJ, 4800m
28.	11.9.1944	22:58	Mosquito	10./JG 300	FG 4, 8000m
29.	12.9.1944	23:16	Mosquito	10./JG 300	Hopsten-Bramsche, 8300m
30.	12.9.1944	23:25	Mosquito	10./JG 300	Tangerhütte, 8000m
31.	13.9.1944	17:42	Mosquito	10./JG 300	Salzwedel, 5000m
32.	16.9.1944	2:03	Mosquito	10./JG 300	Berlin, 8500m
33.	16.9.1944	2:30	Mosquito	10./JG 300	Gardelegen, 8500m
34.	18.9.1944	23:05	Mosquito	10./JG 300	HT-JT, 8000m / 40th combat mission
?	1944	-	Mosquito	Kdo Welter	Berlin / two Mosquitos in one night mission
?	1944	-	Mosquito	Kdo Welter	Berlin / two Mosquitos in one night mission
?	12/13.12.1944	-	Lancaster	10./NJG 11
?	12.1944	-	E/a	10./NJG 11
?	12.1944	-	E/a	10./NJG 11
?	2/3.1.1945	-	Mosquito	10./NJG 11	Mosquito of 139 Sqn, RAF flown by F/Lt Howard
?	5/6.1.1945	-	Mosquito	10./NJG 11	Mosquito of 571 Sqn, RAF flown by F/O Henry
?	10/11.1.1945	-	Mosquito	10./NJG 11
?	1945	-	Mosquito	10./NJG 11	in the day-time
?	1945	-	Mosquito	10./NJG 11	in the day-time
?	30/31.3.1945	-	Mosquito	10./NJG 11	Mosquito of 692 Sqn flown by F/Sgt Camprey
?	30/31.3.1945	-	Mosquito	10./NJG 11
?	30/31.3.1945	-	Mosquito	10./NJG 11
?	30/31.3.1945	-	Mosquito	10./NJG 11

Victories : 63?
Awards : Ehrenpokal (20 March 1944)
                Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (10 May 1944)
                Ritterkreuz (18 October 1944)
                Eichenlaub (9 March 1945)
Units : JG 301, JG 300, NJG 10, Kdo Stamp, Kdo Welter, NJG 11