Georg Seelmann

Georg Seelmann (4 February 1917 – 18 September 1989) 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
At the start of the war Unteroffizier Seelmann was posted with Jagdgeschwader 51 (Fighter Wing 51), however was soon transferred, in October, to 2./JG 77 based near the Polish border. His first victory came in the campaign against France, when he shot down a Morane 406 near Charleroi. Against the RAF, he doubled his score shooting down a Spitfire on 7 September. Following the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe fighter units were consolidated, and on 21 November 1940 I./JG 77 was renamed IV./JG 51 and Seelman's 2./JG 77 became 11./JG 51. In March 1941 Leutnant Seelmann was appointed a Staffelführer (flight leader) of 11./JG 51, then full Staffelkapitän when Hptm Franz Hahn was injured in September 1941.

His unit was then sent, along with most of the Luftwaffe, to the Eastern Front and JG51 was tasked to support Army Group Centre on its drive on Moscow. In these initial weeks, Seelmann was particularly successful over the poorly trained and led Russian pilots. He quickly reached his 20th victory on 16 July and then his 30th on 9 August. But it wasn't all one-way, and on 30 August a Russian bomber rammed Seelmann's Bf109F2 (W.Nr 9647) forcing him to bale out 16 km behind enemy lines. He successfully evaded capture and made his way back to his unit. For his success (37 victories), Seelmann was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 6 October, joining the rapidly growing list of honoured pilots in the new Gruppe.

As winter set in and flying conditions deteriorated, he was posted to Ergänzungsgruppe JG51 - the Geschwader's training squadron - as an instructor. These individual training squadrons were merged in January 1942 as the new Ergänzungruppe-Jagdgruppe Ost. He finally returned to front-line duty on 1 August 1942, back as the Staffelkapitän (Squadron Leader) for 11./JG 51, still based in front of Moscow. Conditions had changed though and the Russian pilot quality had markedly improved. Just 2 days later, on 3 August, he was shot down by return fire from Russian bombers. Baling out badly wounded from his burning Bf109F2 (W.Nr 12652, 'White 5') he spent a month in hospital before returning to his unit. However just a month later he was posted as Staffelkapitän of 4./JG 51 on 8 October 1942.

With the Allied landings in North Africa in November (Operation Torch), II./JG 51 was one of the units sent to augment the over-extended Mediterranean Front, based initially in Sicily, then Tunisia. However at the end of March 1943 his wounds still troubled him, and as the Tunisian battles reached their peak, he had to resign his role as an active StaKa. After further recuperation, in summer 1943 he was instead transferred to a non-combat role as the Staffelkapitän for the training squadron 1./JG 103, where he ended his successful combat career.

In just three years of combat, Georg Seelmann flew 550 missions and was credited with 39 victories. He died on 18 September 1989, aged 72.

Awards

 * Flugzeugführerabzeichen
 * Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class
 * 1st Class
 * Wound Badge (1939)
 * in Black or Silver
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 6 October 1941 as Leutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 11./Jagdgeschwader 51