Georg Seelmann

Georg Seelmann
Born	4 February 1917 Bamberg
Died	18 September 1989 (aged 72) Lichtenfels
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Luftwaffe
Years of service	?-1945
Rank	Oberleutnant
Unit	JG 77 JG 51 JG 103
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of France Battle of Britain Operation Barbarossa Operation Torch
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

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.^[1] 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)^[2] forcing him to bale out 16 km behind enemy lines.^[3] 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.^[4] 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')^[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.^[6][7] 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.

Victories

No	Date	Time	Unit & Airfield	Gruppe Kommandeur	Location / Planquad	Claimed Aircraft	Source / Comments[8]
1	14 May 1940	11:40	2/JG 77 - Odendorf	Hptm Johannes Janke	15 km S of Charleroi	Morane 406	OKL; Prien/Bock
2	7 September 1940	18:30	2/JG 77 - Marquise	Hptm Johannes Janke	-	Spitfire	OKL; Prien/Bock
3	16 April 1941	18:35	11/JG 51 - Marquise	Maj Friedrich Beckh	SE of Dungeness	Hurricane	C.2036/I AnerkNr3
4	22 June 1941	7:05	11/JG 51 - Krzewicza, SE Poland	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	I-153	C.2036/II AnerkNr4
5	22 June 1941	16:14	11/JG 51 - Krzewicza	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr7
6	24 June 1941	9:27	11/JG 51 - Krzewicza	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	SB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr9
7	24 June 1941	9:29	11/JG 51 - Krzewicza	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	SB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr10
8	29 June 1941	18:34	11/JG 51 - Krzewicza	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	ZKB-19	C.2036/II AnerkNr28
9	2 July 1941	19:32	11/JG 51 - Stary Bychow, Mogilev	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr31
10	2 July 1941	19:35	11/JG 51 - Stary Bychow	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr32
11	4 July 1941	15:00	11/JG 51 - Stary Bychow	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	SB-2	C.2036/II AnerkNr35
12	4 July 1941	15:03	11/JG 51 - Stary Bychow	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	SB-2	C.2036/II AnerkNr36
13	5 July 1941	5:58	11/JG 51 - Stary Bychow	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr37
14	6 July 1941	16:30	11/JG 51 - Stary Bychow	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	ZKB-19	C.2036/II AnerkNr43
15	9 July 1941	4:32	11/JG 51 - Stary Bychow	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	I-16	C.2036/II AnerkNr105
16	11 July 1941	15:32	11/JG 51 - Stary Bychow	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	I-16	C.2036/II AnerkNr48
17	13 July 1941	12:25	11/JG 51 - Stary Bychow	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	Pe-2	C.2036/II AnerkNr45
18	14 July 1941	12:29	11/JG 51 - Stary Bychow	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr52
19	15 July 1941	14:12	11/JG 51 - Stary Bychow	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr54
20	16 July 1941	10:12	11/JG 51 - Stary Bychow	Maj Friedrich Beckh	-	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr56
21	23 July 1941	18:12	11/JG 51 - Smolensk	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr121
22	23 July 1941	18:16	11/JG 51 - Smolensk	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr57
23	24 July 1941	8:11	11/JG 51 - Smolensk	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	I-16	C.2036/II AnerkNr58
24	31 July 1941	4:37	11/JG 51 - Smolensk	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	Pe-2	C.2036/II AnerkNr60
25	3 August 1941	12:25	11/JG 51 - Smolensk	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	I-16	C.2036/II AnerkNr61
26	4 August 1941	7:25	11/JG 51 - Smolensk	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	R-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr62
27	8 August 1941	8:47	11/JG 51 - Schatalovka, S of Smolensk	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	Pe-2	C.2036/II AnerkNr145
28	8 August 1941	15:08	11/JG 51 - Schatalovka	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr146
29	8 August 1941	15:29	11/JG 51 - Schatalovka	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr65
30	9 August 1941	-	11/JG 51 - Schatalovka	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	7 km SE of Yelnya	Pe-2	Prien/Bock
31	19 August 1941	19:14	11/JG 51 - Schatalovka	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	I-153	C.2036/II AnerkNr73
32	25 August 1941	18:12	11/JG 51 - Schatalovka	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	R-10	C.2036/II AnerkNr75
33	26 August 1941	17:58	11/JG 51 - Schatalovka	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	R-10	C.2036/II AnerkNr76
34	30 August 1941	7:35	11/JG 51 - Schatalovka	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	SB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr79
35	30 August 1941	11:55	11/JG 51 - Schatalovka	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr80
36	30 August 1941	17:50	11/JG 51 - Schatalovka	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	near Schatalovka	DB-3	C.2036/II AnerkNr81
37	24 September 1941	16:30	11/JG 51 - Konotop, N Ukraine	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	I-18	C.2036/II AnerkNr208
38	8 October 1941	14:55	11/JG 51 - Jermolino, SW of Moscow	Hptm Karl-Gottfried Nordmann	-	Pe-2	C.2036/II AnerkNr211
39	2 August 1942	17:50	11/JG 51 - Dugino, W of Moscow	Hptm Hans Knauth	[47582]: 100m	Il-2	C.2025/I AnerkNr 258

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^{[9][Note 1]}

Notes

1. According to Scherzer as Leutnant of the Reserves.^[10]

References

Citations

1. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries website.
2. Aces of the Luftwaffe website.
3. Aces of the Luftwaffe website.
4. Fighter Units of the Luftwaffe website.
5. Aces of the Luftwaffe website.
6. Aces of the Luftwaffe website.
7. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries website.
8. Aces of the Luftwaffe website.
9. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 397.
10. Scherzer 2007, p. 699.

Bibliography

• Bergström, Christer; Dikov, Andrey; Antipov, Vlad (2006). Black Cross, Red Star Vol 3 Eagle Editions Ltd ISBN 0-9761034-4-3
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [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.
• Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1939 – 1945] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7.
• 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.
• Spick, Mike (1996). Luftwaffe Fighter Aces. New York: Ivy Books. ISBN 978-0-8041-1696-1.
• Weal, John (2006). Aviation Elite Units #22: Jagdgeschwader 51 'Mölders’ Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84603-045-5.

External links

• Aces of the Luftwaffe
• "Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries" (PDF). Georg Seelmann. Retrieved 29 December 2012
• Fighter Units of the Luftwaffe