Bernhard Vechtel (31 July 1920 – 21 August 1975) was a fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II.

Vechtel was credited with 108 aerial victories in a total of 860 combat missions, all on the Eastern Front.

Vechtel was born on 31 July 1920 in Vohren, present-day part of Warendorf, at the time in the Province of Westphalia in the Weimar Republic.

Gruppe was commanded by Hauptmann Johann Knauth and based at an airfield in Vyazma on the Eastern Front.

[4] World War II in Europe had begun on Friday, 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland.

[5] On 30 July 1942, the Soviet Kalinin Front launched the First Rzhev–Sychyovka Offensive Operation with the objective to crush the Rzhev salient held by the 9th Army.

[6] Vechtel claimed his first aerial victory on 2 August 1942 over an Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft northeast of Rzhev.

[7][8] In March 1943, the Gruppe had just completed conversion from the Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2 to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-4 and was based at Smolensk.

In that combat area, Army Group Centre had launched Operation Büffel, a series of retreats eliminating the Rzhev salient.

[10] In August 1943, JG 51 fought in the Soviet Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation where his Gruppe supported the 8th Army.

[15] Following the German retreat, the Gruppe moved to an airfield at Lida, which is 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of Minsk, on 3 July.

Gruppe moved to Modlin Airfield located approximately 35 kilometers (22 miles) northwest of Warsaw.

[20] On 1 September, Vechtel was shot down and wounded by anti-aircraft artillery in his Bf 109 G-6 (Werknummer 163631—factory number) 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) northwest of Wyszków.

On 2 May, he refused to fly to Flensburg and led a Schwarm close to his hometown Warendorf near Münster.