Reinhard Seiler
Reinhard Seiler
Born	(1909-08-30)30 August 1909 Rawitsch,Province of Posen,German Empire
Died	6 October 1989(1989-10-06) (aged 80) Grafengehaig,Bavaria,West Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/ branch	Luftwaffe
Years of service	1935–1945
Rank	Major (major)
Unit	Condor Legion,JG 54,JG 104
Commands	I./JG 54,JG 104
Battles / wars	See battles Spanish Civil War World War II Battle of France Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa Siege of Leningrad Battle of Kursk Defence of the Reich
Awards	Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords and Diamonds Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Reinhard Seiler (30 August 1909 – 6 October 1989) was a Nazi GermanLuftwaffeMajor andace of theSpanish Civil War andWorld War II, commander ofJagdgeschwader 104 and a winner of theKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves; for the fighter pilots, it was a quantifiable measure of skill and combat success. Reinhard Seiler was credited with 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.

Seiler was born on 30 August 1909 inRawitsch, in theProvince of Posen, at the time aPrussian province of theGerman Empire and now inPoland. He was the son ofJustizoberwachtmeister, a police officer at court. He joined the newly createdLuftwaffe in 1935 and was promoted toLeutnant (second lieutenant) on 20 April 1937.^[1] After completing his pilot training, he was sent to Spain with theCondor Legion, and served with 2.Staffel (2nd squadron) ofJagdgruppe 88 (J/88—88th Fighter Group).^[2]

On 26 August 1937, the Condor Legion attacked ships in the harbor ofGijón. Flying fighter escort to the bombers, Seiler claimed his first aerial victory when he shot down aPolikarpov I-15 fighter.^[3] He claimed his second aerial victory on 4 September, aPolikarpov I-16 shot down overAsturias.^[4] On 30 October, command of the Condor Legion transferred fromGeneralmajorHugo Sperrle toGeneralmajorHellmuth Volkmann. Volkmann reorganized J/88, placing 2.Staffel under the command ofOberleutnant (First Lieutenant)Joachim Schlichting. Seiler claimed his third aerial victory on 29 November.^[5]

When Seiler returned to Germany, he was credited with nine aerial victories and was one of the leading fighter pilots of the Condor Legion. For his service in Spain, he was awarded theSpanish Cross in Gold with Diamonds (Spanienkreuz in Gold mit Schwertern und Brillanten). He was promoted toOberleutnant on 1 April 1939.^[1]

After his return from Spain, Seiler was appointed theStaffelkapitän (Squadron leader) of the newly established 1.Staffel ofJagdgeschwader 70 (JG 70—70th Fighter Wing) on 15 July 1939. TheStaffel was based atHerzogenaurach, equipped with theMesserschmitt Bf 109 D-1 and subordinated to the I.Gruppe (1st group) ofJagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing) under the command ofMajor Ernst Freiherr von Berg.^[6]

World War II in Europe began on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forcesinvaded Poland. Seiler's unit was kept back and on 13 September, it formed the nucleus of the newly created IGruppe ofJagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54—54th Fighter Wing) which had been placed under command ofMajor Hans-Jürgen von Cramon-Taubadel. In consequence, Seiler's 1.Staffel was renamed 1.Staffel of JG 54. On 1 November, theGruppe was transferred toBöblingen to patrol the southernmost region of the French-German border.^[7]

He scored his first victory of the war on 10 January 1940, shooting down a French reconnaissancePotez southwest of Freiburg.^[8] He scored a second victory on 7 April west ofStrasbourg. However he scored no further in the subsequentBattle of France, when his unit covered thePanzer advance through theArdennes forests and later over theDunkirk 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 thePas de Calais, in early August 1940 in anticipation of the upcomingBattle of Britain. On a bomber escort mission over Dover on 5 August 1940, Seiler claimed his third aerial victory, shooting down aSupermarine Spitfire over theEnglish Channel. He was then shot down in hisMesserschmitt Bf 109 E-4 and severely injured.^[9] Taking to his parachute over the English Channel, Seiler was rescued and hospitalized, but was out of action for over 6 months.^[10][11] On 1 December 1940, Seiler was promoted toHauptmann (captain).^[1]

Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of theSoviet Union, began on 22 June 1941. In the fortnight prior, JG 54 had been moved to an airfield in Lindenthal near Rautenberg,East Prussia, present-day Uslowoje inKaliningrad Oblast. Tasked with supportingArmy Group North in its advance through theBaltic states towardsLeningrad, the unit began combat operations shortly afterwards.^[12]

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 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 atSiverskaya, (about 60 kilometers (37 mi) south of Leningrad). He had been awarded theHonor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 20 August recognizing his leadership and combat success.

On 1 October 1941, Seiler was appointedGruppenkommandeur (group commander) of III.Gruppe of JG 54. He replacedHauptmannArnold Lignitz who had been posted asmissing in action after he had been shot down overLeningrad the day before. Command of his former 1.Staffel was then passed toOberleutnantHeinz Lange. At the time, III.Gruppe was also based at Siverskaya.^[13]

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 asGruppenkommandeur of III./JG 54 for nearly one and a half years. He was awarded theGerman Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) on 15 October then theKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 20 December 1941, having flown 200 missions. In spring 1942Geschwaderkommodore (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^[14] 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 toSmolensk in the centre, and then soon after in early 1943 rotated back to the west as part ofAdolf 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).^[15]

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 26GeschwaderkommodoreJosef Priller refused to declare the unit ready for operations. Finally in March, they were transferred back toOldenburg in northern Germany for further training and to stay onDefence of the Reich duties. Fittingly perhaps, with the unit's first successes on 17 April, unit commander Seiler scored his one and onlyViermot (4-engine bomber) kill. However, he was already under orders to return to the Leningrad Front. On 1 May, Seiler was made the newGruppenkommandeur of I.Gruppe of JG 54, flying theFocke-Wulf Fw 190. He replacedHauptmannGerhard Koall who temporarily led theGruppe afterMajorHans Philipp was transferred to take command ofJagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1—1st Fighter Wing) fighting inDefence of the Reich.^[16]

Unseasonably bad weather limited operations for the next few months and then all attention was turned to the main 1943 offensive -Operation Citadel against theKursk 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 aBell P-39 Airacobra fighters from the 30 GvIAP (Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment—Gvardeyskiy Istrebitelny Aviatsionny Polk). However immediately afterward he was himself shot and forced to bail out badly wounded over enemy territory east ofPonyri, midway between Orel and Kursk.^[17] He was the 44th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark.^[18] He was declared unfit for further combat duties.

In recognition of his long service and command in JG 54, Seiler was awarded theKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) on 2 March 1944.^[19] The presentation was made byAdolf Hitler on 4 April 1944 at theFührerhauptquartier (Führer Headquarter) at theBerghof inBerchtesgaden. Also present at the award ceremony wereGerhard Barkhorn, for the Swords to his Knight's Cross, andErich Hartmann,Walter Krupinski,Kurt Bühligen,Horst Ademeit,Hans-Joachim Jabs, Dr.Maximilian Otte,Bernhard Jope andHansgeorg Bätcher from the bomber force, and the Flak officerFritz Petersen, all destined to receive the Oak Leaves.^[20]

Later in the year, on 8 August, he was appointedGeschwaderkommodore of the fighter-pilot training unitJagdgeschwader 104 and served in this position until it was disbanded on 28 April 1945, just days before the end of World War II.

Released from Allied captivity in 1946, Seiler died on 6 October 1989 at the age of 80, in the town ofGrafengehaig nearKulmbach, in Bavaria.^[21]

According to US historianDavid T. Zabecki, Seiler was credited with 100 aerial victories during World War II.^[22] Spick lists Seiler with 9 aerial victories during the Spanish Civil War and further 100 during World War II.^[23] Mathews and Foreman, authors ofLuftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched theGerman Federal Archives and found documentation for 109 aerial victory claims, plus three further unconfirmed claims. This number includes 9 claims during the Spanish Civil War, 96 on the Eastern Front, and 4 on the Western Front, including one four-engined bomber.^[24]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ =Planquadrat), for example "PQ 00254". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15minutes oflatitude by 30 minutes oflongitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km²). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size.^[25]

• Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords and Diamonds (6 June 1939)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (20 January 1940)^[58]
  • 1st Class (30 July 1940)^[58]
• Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (20 August 1941)^[2]
• German Cross in Gold on 15 October 1941 asHauptmann in the 1./Jagdgeschwader 54^[59]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 20 December 1941 asHauptmann andGruppenkommandeur of the III./Jagdgeschwader 54^[60][61]
  • 419th Oak Leaves on 2 March 1944 asMajor andGruppenkommandeur of the I./Jagdgeschwader 54^[60][62]

• 1909 births
• 1989 deaths
• People from Rawicz
• Condor Legion personnel
• Military personnel from the Province of Posen
• Spanish Civil War flying aces
• German World War II flying aces
• Recipients of the Gold German Cross
• Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing German-language text
• CS1 interwiki-linked names
• CS1 German-language sources (de)