Erich Leie

Erich Leie (10 September 1916 – 7 March 1945) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator and wing commander during World War II.

As a fighter ace, he is credited with 121 aerial victories claimed in more than 500 combat missions.

He claimed 44 on Western Front, 77 on the Eastern Front, including one four-engine bomber.

Born in Kiel, Leie grew up in the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany.

Leie was born on 10 September 1916 in Kiel, at the time in the Province of Schleswig-Holstein, a province of the Kingdom of Prussia.

His 32nd claim was a Handley Page Halifax heavy bomber shot down on 30 December in the vicinity of Brest.

In 1939, he served with Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing) before he was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing) in early 1940.

In August 1939, Leie temporarily led the Reservestaffel of Jagdgeschwader 71 (JG 71—71st Fighter Wing) until he was replaced by Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant) Horst Tietzen on 29 August.

World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland.

On 21 March 1940, Leie was transferred to III.

Gruppe (3rd group) of Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" (JG 2—2nd Fighter Wing), named after World War I fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen.

He claimed his first victory on 14 May during the Battle of France when he shot down a Bristol Blenheim bomber 12 km east of Sedan.

By October 1940, Leie was serving with the Geschwaderstab (headquarters unit) of JG 2.

On 28 November 1940, Leie was wingman of Major (Major) Helmut Wick, Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 2, on a mission to the Isle of Weight.

Leie claimed a Supermarine Spitfire fighter destroyed, his eleventh aerial victory.

On that mission, Wick was killed in action when he was shot down, probably by Flight Lieutenant John Dundas of No. 609 Squadron who was also killed that day.

Flying with this wing, Leie claimed his first aerial victory on 14 May during the Battle of France and received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 1 August 1941.

On 23 July 1941, he claimed six Spitfires shot down in one day, an "ace-in-a-day" achievement, taking his total to 21 aerial victories.

For this, Leie was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) on 1 August 1941.

He received the award from Feldmarschall (Field Marschal) Hugo Sperrle with fellow JG 2 "Richthofen" pilots Leutnant Egon Mayer and Oberleutnant Rudolf Pflanz on that day.

The triple award presentation was recorded by the Deutsche Wochenschau (German Weekly Review), a newsreel series released in the cinemas.

By the end of 1941, his total stood at 32 aerial victories.

In June 1942, he was given command of I. Gruppe of JG 2.

On 26 January 1942, Leie claimed a Spitfire shot down south of Rame Head.

The Spitfire was piloted by Kazimierz Kosinski from the No. 302 Polish Fighter Squadron who was killed in action on a shipping reconnaissance mission that day.

On 24 June 1942, Leie was officially appointed as Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I. Gruppe of JG 2.

Leie thus succeeded Hauptmann Ignaz Prestele in this capacity who had been killed in action on 4 May 1942.

He saw action in the air battle of the Dieppe Raid on 19 August and claimed a Spitfire shot down 5 km north of Dieppe.

This was his last claim on the Western Front.

He was then shot down and wounded, bailing out of his Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-2 (Werknummer 0326—factory number) 12 km southwest of Abbeville.

His injuries required hospitalization.

Leie returned to his unit on 2 October 1942.

During his convalescence, Oberleutnant Christian Eickhoff temporarily led I. Gruppe.

In 1943, he transferred back to JG 51 where he commanded I. Gruppe.

This unit fought on the Eastern Front where he claimed his 100th aerial victory on 6 November 1943.

In December 1944, he was given command of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing).

Leie was killed in action on 7 March 1945.

Posthumously, he was promoted to Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) and nominated for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

The Reservestaffel was a training squadron equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 D-1, at the time based at Bad Aibling and subordinated to the I. Gruppe (1st group) of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing).

On 26 August, during the German mobilization phase, the Reservestaffel was ordered to Fürstenfeldbruck where it was tasked with providing fighter protection over Munich.