Edwin Thiel Explained

Edwin Thiel
Birth Date:	19 June 1913
Birth Place:	Oberbexbach
Death Place:	Vawkavysk
Serviceyears:	1941–1944
Rank:	Hauptmann (captain)
Unit:	JG 51, EJGr Ost
Commands:	2./JG 51
Battles:	World War II Operation Barbarossa Battle of Kursk
Awards:	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Laterwork:	Deutsche Luft Hansa pilot

Edwin Ludwig Thiel (19 June 1913 – 14 July 1944) 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. Edwin Thiel was killed on 14 July 1944 after bailing out of his plane after it was hit by Soviet flak. During his career he was credited with 76 victories in 300 missions.

Career

Thiel was born on 19 June 1913 in Oberbexbach in the Saarland, which at the time was politically part of the Kingdom of Bavaria of the German Empire. Prior to World War II, he qualified as a civil pilot and flew with Deutsche Luft Hansa and served a flight instructor. In late 1941, Thiel was posted to I. Gruppe (1st group) of Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders" (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing).

On 29 May 1942, Thiel was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 2. Staffel of JG 51. He succeeded Leutnant Erwin Fleig who had been shot down behind enemy lines and became a prisoner of war. In July 1943, Thiel was transferred to Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost, specialized training unit for new fighter pilots destined for the Eastern Front, as an instructor. There, he commanded the 1. Staffel. Thiel was replaced by Oberleutnant Horst Haase as commander of 2. Staffel of JG 51.

In May 1944, Thiel transferred back to JG 51. There, he was given command of the Stabsstaffel which had temporarily been led by Leutnant Herbert Friebel after Oberleutnant Diethelm von Eichel-Streiber was transferred in April 1944. Thiel was killed in action on 14 July 1944 when his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8 (Werknummer 170943—factory number) was shot down by Soviet anti-aircraft artillery 2abbr=offNaNabbr=off east of Vawkavysk. Command of the Stabsstaffel was then given to Oberleutnant Heinz Busse.

Summary of career

Aerial victory claims

According to Spick, Thiel was credited with 76 aerial victories claimed in an unknown number of combat missions, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found records for 71 aerial victory claims, all of which claimed on the Eastern Front in over 300 combat missions.

Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 37651". The Luftwaffe grid map (German: 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 360sqmi. These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3x in size.

Chronicle of aerial victories

Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location	Claim	Date	Time	Type	Location
– 1. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 – Operation Barbarossa — October – 5 December 1941
1	2 October 1941	14:16?	I-61 (MiG-3)	45km (28miles) northwest of Roslavl	2	3 October 1941	09:55	I-18 (MiG-1)
– 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 – Eastern Front — 1 May 1942 – 3 February 1943
According to Prien, Stemmer, Rodeike and Bock, Thiel claimed 23 undocumented aerial victories between 30 May and 15 September 1942. These claims are not documented by Mathews and Foreman.
28	27 June 1942	09:42	MiG-3		36	29 October 1942	13:42	P-40	Volokolamsk
29	6 July 1942	14:20	Pe-2		37	29 October 1942	13:44	P-40	Volokolamsk
30	6 July 1942	14:22	Pe-2		38♠	4 December 1942	11:47	P-40	vicinity of Schojtzowa
31	6 July 1942	14:24	Pe-2	1km (01miles) west of Bobrowo	39♠	4 December 1942	11:53	Il-2	5km (03miles) north of Ljatiwina
32	7 July 1942	19:05	MiG-3		40♠	4 December 1942	11:56	Il-2	PQ 37651
33	8 July 1942	07:50	MiG-3		41♠	4 December 1942	11:58	Il-2	2km (01miles) north of Pegorjelka
34	8 July 1942	07:52	MiG-3		42♠	4 December 1942	12:05	Il-2	3km (02miles) southwest of Katowa
35	11 July 1942	06:05	MiG-3
– 2. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 – Eastern Front — 4 February – July 1943
43	23 February 1943	10:39	Pe-2	PQ 35 Ost 44294 20km (10miles) northeast of Zhizdra	54	10 June 1943	19:23	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 44473 15km (09miles) north of Bryansk
44	23 February 1943	10:41	Pe-2	PQ 35 Ost 44264 15km (09miles) northeast of Zhizdra	55	6 July 1943	19:47	LaGG-3	PQ 35 Ost 63584 20km (10miles) southwest of Maloarkhangelsk
45	23 February 1943	10:45	Pe-2	PQ 35 Ost 44264 20km (10miles) southwest of Dudovskiy	56	11 July 1943	16:32	Yak-1	PQ 35 Ost 64882 20km (10miles) southeast of Mtsensk
46	23 February 1943	10:46	Pe-2	PQ 35 Ost 54142 25km (16miles) northeast of Zhizdra	57	11 July 1943	16:33	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 64896 15km (09miles) north of Maloarkhangelsk
47♠	24 February 1943	10:40	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 44223 25km (16miles) north of Zhizdra	58	11 July 1943	16:35	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 64853 25km (16miles) east-northeast of Zalegoshch
48♠	24 February 1943	10:48	Pe-2	PQ 35 Ost 44233 25km (16miles) north-northeast of Zhizdra	59	11 July 1943	17:24	La-5	PQ 35 Ost 63471 15km (09miles) northeast of Zalegoshch
49♠	24 February 1943	13:41	La-5	PQ 35 Ost 64612 25km (16miles) south of Arsenjewo	60	12 July 1943	08:45	La-5	PQ 35 Ost 64591 20km (10miles) east of Zalegoshch
50♠	24 February 1943	13:46	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 64671 20km (10miles) north of Mtsensk	61	12 July 1943	08:54	Yak-1	PQ 35 Ost 63231, west of Novosil 25km (16miles) east-northeast of Zalegoshch
51♠	24 February 1943	13:50	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 64621 20km (10miles) north-northeast of Mtsensk	62	13 July 1943	13:42	Yak-1	PQ 35 Ost 63225 10km (10miles) east of Zalegoshch
52	8 June 1943	08:53	Yak-7	PQ 35 Ost 63394 15km (09miles) north-northwest of Maloarkhangelsk	63	13 July 1943	13:43	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 63254 10km (10miles) east of Zalegoshch
53	10 June 1943	19:20	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 44562 15km (09miles) southeast of Dyatkovo	64	13 July 1943	13:45	Il-2	PQ 35 Ost 63221 15km (09miles) southeast of Zalegoshch
– Stabsstaffel of Jagdgeschwader 51 – Eastern Front — May – 14 July 1944
65♠	23 June 1944	10:48	Il-2	PQ 25 Ost 96658 15km (09miles) southwest of Haradok	69♠	23 June 1944	14:18?	Il-2	PQ 25 Ost 96813 20km (10miles) east of Ulla
66♠	23 June 1944	10:50	Il-2	PQ 25 Ost 96655 15km (09miles) southwest of Haradok	70	25 June 1944	09:35	Pe-2?	PQ 35 Ost 05559 15km (09miles) south of Orsha
67♠	23 June 1944	10:53	Il-2	PQ 25 Ost 96652 15km (09miles) southwest of Haradok	71	25 June 1944	09:38	Pe-2?	PQ 35 Ost 05565 25km (16miles) south-southwest of Orsha
68♠	23 June 1944	14:12?	Il-2	PQ 25 Ost 96776 20km (10miles) east-northeast of Ulla

Awards

Flugzeugführerabzeichen
Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe
Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 15 June 1942 as Leutnant and pilot
German Cross in Gold on 9 September 1942 as Leutnant in the I./Jagdgeschwader 51
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 16 April 1943 as Oberleutnant and Staffelführer of the 2./Jagdgeschwader 51 "Mölders"

References

Bibliography

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