Johannes Seifert

Johannes "Hannes" Seifert (6 October 1915 – 25 November 1943) was a German Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership - for the fighter pilots it was a quantifiable measure of skill and success.

Military career
Seifert was born on 6 October 1915 at Pinneberg, Holstein. After service flying the Bf 110 during the Polish campaign Oberleutnant Seifert was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 26 as Staffelkapitän of 3 Staffel in March 1940. His first claim was a Dutch Air Force Fokker D.XXI on 10 May 1940 near Rotterdam. His success continued through the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain, and at the end of the year he had eight victories. Along with JG 2, JG 26 was tasked with defending the west as the rest of the Luftwaffe went east for the invasion of Russia. On 17 July 1941, Seiffert was made Gruppenkommandeur, I./JG 26 - a position he would hold for nearly two years. Although essentially a defensive role, as the Royal Air Force (RAF) tried to exert more pressure over France there were regular opportunities for air combat and Seifert continued to score regularly. He had raised his total to 24 by the start of 1942. In June 1942, Hauptmann Seifert was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his leadership and 36 victories. In the furious air battles over the Dieppe landings in August 1942 Seifert shot down a Spitfire for his 41st victory.

In January 1943, his unit was withdrawn to Germany to re-equip and re-train on the new Fw190A fighter. At the same time, Seifert led the transfer of I./JG 26 to the Eastern Front, as the first part of a misguided idea by High Command to rotate the fighter gruppen between the Western and Eastern Fronts. The style of combat between the two fronts was quite different and overall the experiment was not a success; I./ JG26 was the only gruppe of JG 26 to serve in Russia. The unit was involved in the fighting around Demyansk and then the withdrawal from in front of Moscow (Operation Büffel. From February to mid March I./JG 26 claimed 126 Soviet aircraft, while only losing nine pilots in combat themselves. Seifert led from the front, personnally claiming 11 victories during the Eastern Front tour of duty.

In June 1943, Seifert had to leave his command of I./JG 26 when transferred to a Luftwaffe staff position in Bulgaria and given promotion to Major. Unknown to Seifert his mother had invoked the 'last surviving son' ruling as his younger brother, Gerhard, had been killed in action, and was thus allowed to be removed from active combat duties. However after a personal appeal to Adolf Galland, commander of the Jagdwaffe and his former C.O. at JG26, he returned to France in September 1943, now as Gruppenkommandeur II./JG 26.

By now the American 8th Air Force was exerting increasing pressure with its daylight bomber raids. On 25 November 1943, Seifert led 6. and 8./JG 26 against the USAAF P-38s of the 55th Fighter Group over Lille. During combat Seifert’s Fw 190A-6 (WNr 470006, << -) collided with a P-38, and crashed. Presumably knocked out or severely injured in the collision, Seifert hadn't made an effort to bale out and his body was found in the wreckage still strapped in.

Posthumously promoted to the rank of Oberstleutnant, Johannes Seifert flew some 439 combat missions. Of his 57 victories, 46 victories were over the Western Front, including 3 four-engine heavy bombers and 32 Spitfires, and 11 victories over the Eastern front, including 6 Il-2 Sturmoviks.

Awards

 * Flugzeugführerabzeichen
 * Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe
 * Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (30 December 1940)
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class
 * 1st Class
 * German Cross in Gold (25 February 1942)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 7 June 1942 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the I./Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter"