Waldemar Semelka

Waldemar Semelka (8 January 1920 – 21 August 1942) was a 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[1][2][3]) aerial victories.

Waldemar Semelka
Born8 January 1920
Doubrava, Czechoslovakia
Died21 August 1942(1942-08-21) (aged 22)
Stalingrad, Soviet Union
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service/branch Luftwaffe
Years of service?–1942
RankLeutnant (second lieutenant)
UnitJG 52
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Military career

Upon completing his flight training Oberfähnrich Semelka was posted to 4. Staffel (4th squadron) of Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing), a squadron of II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 52. In preparation of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, II. Gruppe of JG 52, without a period of replenishment in Germany, was ordered to airfields close to the German-Soviet demarcation line. While the Gruppenstab (group headerquarters unit) and 4. Staffel were based at Suwałki in northeastern Poland, 5. and 6. Staffel were transferred to a forward airfield at Sobolewo. For the invasion, II. Gruppe of JG 52 was subordinated to the Geschwaderstab (headquarters unit) of Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing). The Geschwader was part of the VIII. Fliegerkorps commanded by Generaloberst Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen which supported the northern wing of Army Group Centre.[4] At the start of Operation Barbarossa, Semelka's 4. Staffel was headed by Oberleutnant Johannes Steinhoff and II. Gruppe was commanded by Hauptmann Erich Woitke.[5] Semelka claimed his first aerial victory on the morning of 22 June 1941 when he shot down a Polikarpov I-15 fighter.[6][Note 1]

Under the patient leadership of his squadron commander, the future great ace 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.[8] 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 [9] 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 Maykop 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 4. 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 Petlyakov Pe-2 bombers of 86 BAP (Bombardirovochnyy Aviatsionyy Polk—Bomber Aviation Regiment).[1][2] Alternatively, Semelka may have been shot down in his Bf 109 G-2 (Werknummer 13558—factory number) by a Douglas A-20 Havoc bomber north of Srednyaya Akhtuba.[10] At the time of his death, he was the third-highest claiming fighter pilot in II. Gruppe of JG 52.[11] Posthumously, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 4 September 1942.[12] Depending on source, the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) was either awarded the day he was killed, [12] or also posthumously on 7 September 1942.[13]

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Obermaier, Semelka claimed 75 aerial victories in approximately 240 combat missions.[13] Matthews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces – Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 74 aerial victory claims, plus three further unconfirmed claim. All of his aerial victories were claimed on the Eastern Front.[14]

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 75424". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km2). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 × 4 km in size.[15]

Awards

Notes
  1. According to Barbas, Semelka claimed his first aerial victory on 2 July 1942 over a Ilyushin DB-3 bomber shot down near Barysaw.[7]
  2. According to Matthews and Foreman claimed at 17:35.[12]
  3. According to Matthews and Foreman. this clim is unconfirmed.[23]
  4. This unconfirmed claim is not listed by Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock.[29]
  5. According to Obermaier on 7 September 1942.[13]

References

Citations
  1. Bergström et al. 2006, p. 65.
  2. Bergström 2007, p. 65.
  3. Weal 2007, p. 88.
  4. Prien et al. 2003, p. 26.
  5. Prien et al. 2003, p. 37.
  6. Prien et al. 2003, p. 41.
  7. Barbas 2005, p. 328.
  8. Weal 2004, pp. 66–67.
  9. Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries website.
  10. Prien et al. 2006, p. 504.
  11. Barbas 2005, p. 107.
  12. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 1212.
  13. Obermaier 1989, p. 205.
  14. Matthews & Foreman 2015, pp. 1212–1214.
  15. Planquadrat.
  16. Prien et al. 2003, p. 45.
  17. Prien et al. 2003, p. 42.
  18. Prien et al. 2003, p. 43.
  19. Prien et al. 2003, p. 46.
  20. Prien et al. 2003, p. 44.
  21. Prien et al. 2006, p. 481.
  22. Prien et al. 2006, p. 482.
  23. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 1213.
  24. Prien et al. 2006, p. 483.
  25. Prien et al. 2006, p. 484.
  26. Matthews & Foreman 2015, p. 40.
  27. Prien et al. 2006, p. 485.
  28. Prien et al. 2006, p. 486.
  29. Prien et al. 2006, p. 487.
  30. Patzwall 2008, p. 193.
  31. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 442.
  32. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 398.
  33. Scherzer 2007, p. 701.

Bibliography
  • Barbas, Bernd (2005). Die Geschichte der II. Gruppe des Jagdgeschwaders 52 [The History of 2nd Group of Fighter Wing 52] (in German). ISBN 978-3-923457-71-7.
  • Bergström, Christer (2007). Stalingrad – The Air Battle: 1942 through January 1943. Hinkley: Midland Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-276-4.
  • Bergström, Christer. "Bergström Black Cross/Red Star website". Identifying a Luftwaffe Planquadrat. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  • Bergström, Christer; Dikov, Andrey; Antipov, Vlad; Sundin, Claes (2006). Black Cross / Red Star Air War Over the Eastern Front, Volume 3, Everything for Stalingrad. Hamilton MT: Eagle Editions. ISBN 978-0-9761034-4-8.
  • 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.
  • Matthews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 4 S–Z. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-21-9.
  • 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.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D. (2008). Der Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg [The Honor Goblet for Outstanding Achievement in the Air War] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-08-3.
  • Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2003). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 6/I—Unternehmen "BARBAROSSA"—Einsatz im Osten—22.6. bis 5.12.1941 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 6/I—Operation "BARBAROSSA"—Action in the East—22 June to 5 December 1941] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-69-4.
  • Prien, Jochen; Stemmer, Gerhard; Rodeike, Peter; Bock, Winfried (2006). Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1934 bis 1945—Teil 9/II—Vom Sommerfeldzug 1942 bis zur Niederlage von Stalingrad—1.5.1942 bis 3.2.1943 [The Fighter Units of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945—Part 9/II—From the 1942 Summer Campaign to the Defeat at Stalingrad—1 May 1942 to 3 February 1943] (in German). Eutin, Germany: Struve-Druck. ISBN 978-3-923457-77-9.
  • 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 Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  • Spick, Mike (1996). Luftwaffe Fighter Aces. New York: Ivy Books. ISBN 0-8041-1696-2.
  • Weal, John (2004). Jagdgeschwader 52: The Experten (Aviation Elite Units). Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-786-4.
  • Weal, John (2007). More Bf 109 Aces of the Russian Front. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-177-9.
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