Waldemar Semelka

Waldemar Semelka (8 January 1920 – 21 August 1942) 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 combat success. Waldemar Semelka was killed on 21 August 1942 over Stalingrad, Soviet Union. During his career he was credited with 75 (or 65  ) aerial victories.

Military career
Upon completing his flight training Oberfähnrich Semelka was posted to 4./JG 52 (4th squadron of the 52nd Fighter Wing). He scored his first victory in the opening hours of Operation Barbarossa - the German invasion of the Soviet Union - on 22 June 1941, downing an I-15 biplane fighter. Perhaps due to its poor performance during the Battle of Britain, JG 52 was split up as gap-filler units and scattered up and down the front: II/JG 52 was seconded to JG 27, tasked with covering the Stukas supporting the drive onto Smolensk and Moscow.

Under the patient leadership of his squadron commander, the future great ace Johannes Steinhoff, Semelka (now commissioned as a Leutnant) along with his fellow pilots of 4./JG 52, started to score regularly. This included three victories on 23–24 September at the start of Operation Typhoon, the attack on Moscow. His Gruppe was stationed in Kalinin and so close to the front line that their airbases were shelled by Russian artillery, and ground crew had to defend against enemy attacks. After enduring the shockingly cold Russian winter for several months, II/JG 52 was finally withdrawn to East Prussia for rest and refit in January 1942. At that time Semelka had a respectable 17 victories to his name.

His Gruppe returned to the east at the end of April, now under the command of Hptm Steinhoff, and finally in the same sector as the rest of the Geschwader. It immediately joined the assault of Sevastopol and the reduction of the Izyum 'bulge'. For the month of June 1942 Semelka was transferred temporarily to command 5.Staffel from an injured Siegfried Simsch. Returning to 4./JG 52 on 1 July, he was awarded the Ehrenpokal on 6 July as the second summer offensive got properly underway - Fall Blau, the charge to the Caucausus. Initially II/JG 52 was covering the march on the Maikop oilfields. Right across the sector there was very intensive air combat and German pilots were racking up phenomenal scores. By this time, Semelka's own score moved on past 50 victories. On 25 July he was given temporary command of the 4th Staffel when his Staffelkapitän, Gerhard Barkhorn was injured.

On 18 August he shot down five fighters, in two missions over the Black Sea coast near Novorossiysk. The next day, Steinhoff led II/JG 52 to the Stalingrad sector to cover the imminent storming of the city. On 21 August, in their first operational sorties, Semelka shot down three fighters, bringing his total to 65. However, later that same day he was reported missing to the south of Stalingrad. It is possible he was shot down and killed by return fire from Pe-2 bombers of 86 BAP.

Waldemar Semelka flew over 240 missions and scored 65 victories (some sources say 75 victories ), all over the Eastern Front. At the time of his death he was the third-highest scorer in II/JG 52. He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross a fortnight after his death on 4 September 1942, and the German Cross in Gold on 7 September 1942.

Awards

 * Flugzeugführerabzeichen
 * Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe
 * Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (6 July 1942)
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class
 * 1st Class
 * German Cross in Gold (21 August, or 7 September 1942 )
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 4 September 1942 as Leutnant and pilot in the 4./Jagdgeschwader 52