Reinhard Seiler

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Reinhard Seiler

Reinhard Seiler
Born (1909-08-30)30 August 1909
Rawitsch, Province of Posen
Died 6 October 1989(1989-10-06) (aged 80)
Grafengehaig, Bavaria
Allegiance Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Service/branch Luftwaffe
Years of service 1935–1945
Rank Major
Unit Condor Legion, JG 54, JG 104
Commands held I./JG 54, JG 104
Battles/wars

Spanish Civil War
World War II

Awards Spanienkreuz in Gold mit Schwertern und Brillanten
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Major Reinhard Seiler (30 August 1909 – 6 October 1989) was German Spanish Civil War and World War II Luftwaffe Ace, commander of Jagdgeschwader 104 and a winner of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership - for the fighter pilots, it was a quantifiable measure of skill and combat success. Reinhard Seiler was credited with exactly 100 victories during World War II, over the course of about 500 combat missions. He recorded an additional 9 victories during the Spanish Civil War.

Childhood and early career

Seiler was born on 30 August 1909 in Rawitsch, in the Province of Posen at the time a Prussian province in the German Empire and now in Poland.[1] He joined the fledgling Luftwaffe in 1935. After completing his pilot training, he was sent to Spain with the Condor Legion, and served from 1938–1939 with 2./JGr 88 (2nd Squadron of Jagdgruppe 88).[2] During that time he established himself as one of the top aces in the Condor Legion, returning to Germany with 9 victories, and in June 1939 he was awarded the Spanish Cross in Gold with Diamonds.

World War II

After his return, on May 1939, he was appointed the Staffelkapitän (Squadron leader) of the newly established 1./Jagdgeschwader 70 (JG 70—70th Fighter Wing) based near Nürnberg, being declared operational in July 1939.[Note 1] As war opened in September 1939 it was kept back on Home Defence duties. Soon after, on 15 September, the Gruppe was re-designated I./Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing)—with Seiler's unit now renamed 1./JG 54—and transferred to the Western Front to cover the southernmost region of the French border. He scored his first victory of the war on 10 January 1940, shooting down a French reconnaissance Potez southwest of Freiburg.[3] He scored a second victory on 7 April west of Strasbourg. However he scored no further in the subsequent Battle of France, when his unit covered the Panzer advance through the Ardennes forests and later over the Dunkirk bridgehead. Pulled out early, back to occupied Netherlands as the campaign wound down, I./JG 54 was then one of the first units to re-occupy the Pas de Calais, in early August 1940 in anticipation of the upcoming Battle of Britain. On a bomber escort mission over Dover on 5 August 1940 Oberleutnant Seiler scored his third victory (a Spitfire), but was bounced by a Hurricane squadron, shot down and severely injured. Taking to his parachute over the English Channel, he was rescued and hospitalised, but was out of action for over 6 months.[4]

War against the Soviet Union

Promoted to Hauptmann (Captain) in December, he returned to his command of 1./JG 54 in the spring of 1941, as the Luftwaffe prepared for the upcoming invasion of Russia - Operation Barbarossa. JG 54 was tasked with providing the fighter cover for Army Group North and its advance toward Leningrad. On the opening day of the campaign (22 June 1941) he shot down 3 aircraft, thereby doubling his score, and as his unit leap-frogged to new airbases across the Baltic States[5] over the next few weeks his score continued to rise. By the end of September, he had 33 victories and his unit had finally settled down, establishing itself at Siverskaya, (about 60 kilometers (37 mi) south of Leningrad). He had been awarded the Ehrenpokal on 20 August recognising his leadership and combat success.

With the loss of Arnold Lignitz on 30 September (shot down over Leningrad), Hauptmann Seiler was assigned to command III Gruppe (also based at Siverskaya), as Barbarossa entered its critical phase. Despite surrounding the city, it could not be taken so Hitler decided instead to besiege it. For the next three years, JG 54 would stay, essentially, encamped outside the city interdicting the supply lines and intercepting the frantic attempts of the Russians to lift the siege in offensive after offensive.

Seiler himself remained as Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 54 for nearly one and a half years. He was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 15 October then the Knight's Cross on 20 December 1941, having flown 200 missions. In spring 1942 Geschwaderkommodore (Wing Commander) Hannes Trautloft had the idea for fighter interceptions of Soviet night-harassment raids on moonlit nights. A great success, they claimed 56 victories for no losses. Seiler was the most successful pilot in these missions, scoring 16 night-victories between March and June 1942[6] and he was also promoted to Major in June. Throughout 1942, JG 54 continued to cover the north: the Leningrad siege and Demyansk fronts. In December though, Seiler took his III./JG 54 to Smolensk in the centre, and then soon after in early 1943 rotated back to the west as part of Adolf Galland's mis-guided plan to swap units between the western and eastern fronts in exchange for I./Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG 26—26th Fighter Wing).[7]

Defence of the Reich

Re-equipping instead onto Bf 109G-4s, they spent 6 weeks on the Channel Front. Unused to operating at higher altitudes and in large formations, JG 26 Geschwaderkommodore Josef Priller refused to declare the unit ready for operations. Finally in March, they were transferred back to Oldenburg in northern Germany for further training and to stay on Defence of the Reich duties. Fittingly perhaps, with the unit's first successes on 17 April, unit commander Seiler scored his one and only Viermot (4-engine bomber) kill. However, he was already under orders to return to the Leningrad Front, as on 15 April he had been made the new Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 54, flying the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. He was replacing the phenomenally successful Hans Philipp who had just become the 2nd pilot to reach 200 victories, and who was himself being rotated back to Germany for Reich Defence command duties.

Back on the Eastern Front

Unseasonably bad weather limited operations for the next few months and then all attention was turned to the main 1943 offensive - Operation Zitadelle against the Kursk salient. Seiler's I./JG 54 was transferred in June to Orel to join the fighter cover over the northern attack. On the opening day of the offensive, 5 July, he scored 5 victories to take his tally to 97. The following day he scored a further two kills. Eager to reach the magic 'century', he chased and shot down an Airacobra of 30th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (30 GIAP). However immediately afterward he was himself shot and forced to bail out badly wounded over enemy territory east of Ponyri, midway between Orel and Kursk.[8] Although rescued by German troops and sent back to the Reich for successful hospital treatment, he was declared unfit for further combat duties.

In recognition of his long service and command in JG 54, he was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 2 March 1944. Later in the year, on 8 August, he was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of the fighter-pilot training unit Jagdgeschwader 104 and served in this position until it was disbanded on 28 April 1945, just days before the end of World War II.

Released in 1946, Reinhard Seiler passed away on 6 October 1989, at the age of 80, in the town of Grafengehaig near Kulmbach, in Bavaria. Over approximately 500 missions, he was credited with 109 air victories, including 9 in Spain and just 4 in the west. The remaining 96 victories were scored over the Russian Front.

Awards

Reference in the Wehrmachtbericht

Date Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording Direct English translation
Friday, 19 June 1942 Hauptmann Seiler, Gruppenkommandeur in einem Jagdgeschwader, hat an der Ostfront in einer Nacht drei sowjetische Transportflugzeuge und ein Jagdflugzeug abgeschossen.[14] Hauptmann Seiler, group commander in a fighter wing, shot down three transport aircraft and one fighter aircraft during one night on the Eastern front.

Notes

  1. ↑ For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organization

References

Citations
  1. ↑ Luftwaffe 39-45 Historia website.
  2. ↑ Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries website.
  3. ↑ Weal 2001, p.18.
  4. ↑ Weal 2001, p.25.
  5. ↑ Luftwaffe Air Units: Single–Engined Fighters website.
  6. ↑ Weal 2001, p. 54.
  7. ↑ Weal 2001, pp. 85–86.
  8. ↑ Bergstrom 2007, p.48.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Thomas 1998, p. 312.
  10. ↑ Obermaier 1989, p. 62.
  11. ↑ Patzwall and Scherzer 2001, p. 441.
  12. ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 398.
  13. ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 79.
  14. ↑ Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939-1945 Band 2, p. 167.
Bibliography
  • Bergström, Christer (2007). Kursk – The Air Battle, July 1943 Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing ISBN 1-90322-388-1
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 – Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtsteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. 
  • Forsyth, Robert (2011). Aces of the Legion Condor. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-347-8. 
  • Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1941 – 1945] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7. 
  • Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.
  • Schaulen, Fritjof (2005). Eichenlaubträger 1940 – 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe III Radusch - Zwernemann (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 3-932381-22-X.
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. 
  • Thomas, Franz (1998). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 2: L–Z] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2300-9. 
  • Weal, John (1995). Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Aces of the Russian Front. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-518-7.
  • Weal, John (1996). Bf 109D/E Aces 1939–41. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-487-3
  • Weal, John (2001). Aviation Elite Units #6: Jagdgeschwader 54 ‘Grünherz’. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-286-5 incl colour profile of his aircraft (#15)
  • Weal, John (2001b). Bf 109 Aces of the Russian Front. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-084-1. 
  • Weal, John (2006). Bf 109 Defence of the Reich Aces. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-879-0.
  • Weal, John (2007). More Bf 109 Aces of the Russian Front. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-177-9.  incl. colour profiles of his aircraft (#27 & #30, & p. 67)
  • Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 2, 1. Januar 1942 bis 31. Dezember 1943 [The Wehrmacht Reports 1939–1945 Volume 2, 1 January 1942 to 31 December 1943] (in German). München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2. 

External links

Military offices
Preceded by
none: new unit		 Squadron Leader of 1./JG 70
15 July 1939 – 15 September 1939 		Succeeded by
unit renamed 1./JG 54
Preceded by
none: new unit		 Squadron Leader of 1./JG 54
15 September 1939 – 5 August 1940 		Succeeded by
Oblt Gerhard Ködderitzsch
Preceded by
Oblt Adolf Kinzinger		 Squadron Leader of 1./JG 54
28 June 1941 – 30 September 1941 		Succeeded by
Oblt Dr Heinz Lange
Preceded by
Hptm Arnold Lignitz		 Group Commander of III./JG 54
1 October 1941 – 15 April 1943 		Succeeded by
Maj Jürgen Harder
Preceded by
Maj Hans Philipp		 Group Commander of I./JG 54
15 April 1943 – 6 July 1943 		Succeeded by
Hptm Gerhard Homuth
Preceded by
Obstlt Hans Trübenbach		 Commander of Jagdgeschwader 104
8 August 1944 – 28 April 1945 		Succeeded by
none: unit disbanded
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