Walter Sigel

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Walter Sigel (born January 12, 1906 in Ulm ; † May 8, 1944 in Trondheimfjord ) was a German Air Force officer (pilot on Ju 87) and most recently Colonel and Pilot North (West) in World War II .

Life

Walter Sigel had a degree in business administration before he began his military career as a rifleman in Infantry Regiment 10 in early 1934. As a senior ensign he joined the air force in 1935. In 1939 he was already a captain. Sigel commanded the I. Group of Sturzkampfgeschwader 76 , also known as the "Grazer Gruppe", after it was set up on May 1, 1939 in Graz Thalerhof. Under his command, the Stuka accident in Neuhammer occurred in August 1939 . Even involved in this tragic event, he was legally acquitted of any responsibility for the accident on all counts.

At the beginning of the attack on Poland , the Stukas of I./StG 76 commanded by him carried out the first air raid of the Second World War . The attack on the Polish city of Wielun started around the same time as the Schleswig-Holstein attack on the Westerplatte in Gdansk . This air attack is sometimes seen as the actual beginning of the war.

After Poland in 1939 he was deployed with his group in the western campaign in May 1940 and in the Battle of France in June 1940. On May 14, 1940, he was shot at by French fighter planes and crash-landed. His radio operator died as a result of gunshot wounds. From July Walter Sigel flew with his group a few missions in the canal battle and in August 1940 in the Battle of Britain .

As captain and commander of I. Group / Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 , he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his services on July 21, 1940 . On August 1, 1940, he was promoted to major.

In April 1941 he led I./StG 3 in the war against Greece and in May 1941 in the Battle of Crete . In November 1941 he and his group moved to the North African theater of war.

On September 1, 1941, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel . On March 1, 1942, Walter Sigel took over the leadership of Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 with I./StG 3 (ex I./StG 76), II./StG 3 (ex I./StG 1) and III./StG 3 ( ex II./StG 2). His successor as Commander I./StG 3 was Heinrich Eppen. On April 24, 1942, Sigel was awarded the German Cross in Gold. On September 2, 1942, Walter Sigel received the oak leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (116th award).

On April 1, 1943, Walter Sigel handed over the squadron to Major Kurt Kuhlmey , who had previously led II./StG 3. Sigel went to the air ministry to the fighter pilot's staff general . Sigel became a colonel on June 1, 1943 . From February 1944 he was hand-to-hand combat leader of Air Fleet 2. From April 1944 he was pilot leader Norway. During an inspection flight on May 8, 1944, his Fieseler Storch touched a holding rope in a camouflage net of the Tirpitz . The plane fell on a railroad track at Faettenfjord in Norway, and Sigel was killed. Walter Sigel rests in Trondheim-Havstein.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ one day: start of the war in 1939 - Stukas over Wielun
  2. ↑ a b c Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 706.
personal data
SURNAME Sigel, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German air force officer and Stuka commander in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH January 12, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Ulm
DATE OF DEATH May 8, 1944
Place of death Trondheimfjord , Norway