Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert (2 February 1919 – 5 September 2007) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a fighter ace credited with 174 enemy aircraft shot down in 715 combat missions. The majority of his victories were claimed over the Eastern Front, with 51 in the Mediterranean theatre and 20 over the Western Front. He was "ace-in-a-day" four times, shooting down five or more aircraft on a single day.
Born in Cologne-Lindenthal, Reinert volunteered for military service in the National Socialist Luftwaffe in 1938. Following flight training, he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing). He fought in Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, and claimed his first aerial victory on 8 August 1941. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross following his 53rd aerial victory. Accumulating further victories, he surpassed the century mark in October 1942 for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. In November 1942, his unit was transferred to the Mediterranean theatre in support of the Afrika Korps. There, Reinert claimed 51 victories against the Western Allies. In August 1943, he was appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 3. Staffel (3rd squadron) of JG 77, and in February 1944 the 8. Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing) based in France. Reinert was then appointed Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of IV. Gruppe (4th group) of JG 27 and, credited with 174 aerial victories, received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords on 30 January 1945. He then received conversion training to the then new Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter and was posted to Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7—7th Fighter Wing), an all-jet fighter wing.
In 1956, Reinert joined the newly established German Air Force of West Germany. He retired in 1972, his final rank was Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel), and died on 5 September 2007 in Bad Pyrmont.
Early life and career Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert was born 2 February 1919 in Cologne-Lindenthal, at the time in the Rhine Province of the Free State of Prussia. He was the son of an executive secretary () with the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Reich Railway). After attending school in Leverkusen-Schlebusch, he completed his vocational education as a metalworker. With the beginning of his vocational education, Reinert learned to fly glider aircraft with the National Socialist Flyers Corps (NSFK), completing his A, B and C-license for glider aircraft.
Following the compulsory Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labour Service), Reinert volunteered for military service of Nazi Germany with the Luftwaffe in early 1938. Eight days after joining, he was discharged on medical grounds which required an operation. In January 1939, he was admitted to the Reichsschule für Motorflug (motor powered flight school of the Reich) at Bielefeld where he attained his A/2 license. On 14 April 1939, Reinert was called back into the Luftwaffe, at first serving with a Fliegerausbildungs-Regiment (flight training regiment), and received three months of recruit training. He was then trained as a fighter pilot at various flight and fighter pilot schools.
World War II World War II in Europe had begun on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland. On 1 December 1940, Reinert was promoted to Unteroffizier (corporal). At the time he was based in Bordeaux, France with the Ergänzungsgruppe, a supplementary training unit, of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing). This unit was tasked with patrolling the Atlantic coast.
Eastern Front On 14 June 1941, Reinert was transferred to II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 77 where he was assigned to 4. Staffel (4th squadron). With this unit, he participated in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, which marked the beginning of the Eastern Front on 22 June 1941. JG 77, augmented by I.(J)./Lehrgeschwader 2 (LG 2—2nd Demonstration Wing), primary role in Operation Barbarossa was to support the German advance as part of Army Group South. During this campaign, Reinert was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class () on 31 July 1941. A week later, at 13:42 on 8 August 1941, he was credited with his first aerial victory, a Polikarpov I-16 fighter. On 28 September 1941, he received the Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Fighter Pilots in Gold (), at the time he was credited with 16 aerial victories. One day later, he received the Iron Cross 1st Class ().
II. Gruppe, which was scheduled for replenishment and conversion to the Bf 109 F-4 in Germany, flew its last mission of 1941 following the Battle of Rostov on 2 December northeast of Rostov. The next day, the unit began relocating to Germany, first to Schweidnitz, present-day Świdnica, and then to Vienna-Aspern. On 7 February 1942, Reinert was awarded the Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe () for 24 victories. Shortly after this, Reinert was transferred west in support of Operation Donnerkeil. The objective of this operation was to give the German battleships and and the heavy cruiser fighter protection in the breakout from Brest to Germany. The Channel Dash operation (11–13 February 1942) by the Kriegsmarine (Navy) was codenamed Operation Cerberus by the Germans. In support of this, the Luftwaffe under the leadership of General der Jagdflieger (General of the Fighter Force) Adolf Galland, formulated an air superiority plan dubbed Operation Donnerkeil for the protection of the three German capital ships. Following this assignment, Reinert was transferred back to II. Gruppe still based at Vienna-Aspern. On 11 March 1942, II. Gruppe began transferring back to the Eastern Front, first stop was Proskurov, present-day Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine. On 15 March, they reached Bukarest before they reached Sarabus, present-day Hwardijske, located north of Simferopol on the Crimean peninsula on 17 March 1942. At the time, 4. Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) Heinrich Setz while II. Gruppe was led by Hauptmann Anton Mader.
On 19 March, Reinert claimed three Soviet aircraft including two Petlyakov Pe-2s. On 3 May, Reinert claimed two Polikarpov I-153 fighters belonging to 9 IAP/VVS-ChF (Black Sea Fleet). By June Reinert had become one of leading aces in JG 77 with Anton Hackl and Setz. Reinert was promoted to Feldwebel (staff sergeant) on 1 May 1942 and after 44 aerial victories, he received the German Cross in Gold () on 18 May 1942.
On 9 June, Reinert claimed three victories for his 49th to 51st. On this day, JG 77 was involved in dogfights over the besieged city of Sevastopol. Reinert engaged the 3rd OAG (Osobaya Aviatsionnaya Gruppa—Special Aviation Group) ChF and 6 GIAP ChF. He claimed a Polikarpov I-16 for his 49th victory. On 1 July 1942, after 53 aerial victories, Reinert received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () which was presented to him by II. Gruppes commander Mader. Reinert shot down 26 Soviet aircraft in July 1942. On 14 July 1942, the day Reinert claimed three Bell P-39 Airacobras shot down, he crashed his Bf 109 F-4 (Werknummer 13 117—factory number) during the landing at Kastornoje. The aircraft was 70% destroyed and he sustained minor injuries. On 26 July, he was again wounded in a flying accident. His Bf 109 F-4 (Werknummer 8280—factory number) had technical problems, the engine caught fire. This forced Reinert to bail out over friendly territory and resulted in a broken arm. A period in hospital followed. Reinert returned to the front in September. On 16 September, 4./JG 77 bounced a formation of Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft south-east of Voronezh and Reinert claimed two shot down.
On 3 October 1942, Reinert passed the century mark with four claims. He was the 27th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. That day, the Rotte, a pair of aircraft, Reinert and his wingman Unteroffizier Rudolf Flindt had been ordered to fly from Stary Oskol to Kursk with the plan to intercept the daily Soviet reconnaissance aircraft. During the takeoff, the German airfield came under attack by a flight of Soviet Il-2 ground-attack aircraft escorted by Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 and Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter aircraft. Reinert shot down two Il-2s before his 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon jammed. This forced him to continue the fight with only his two MG 131 machine guns operationally. Reinert managed to shoot down two further aircraft, two MiG-3s claimed at 14:17 and 14:20. In this encounter, Flindt was credited with two aerial victories. At the time, Reinert was also credited with the destruction of 14 aircraft on the ground in addition to the 103 aerial victories. On 6 October, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (). Reinert, together with Alfred Druschel, Johannes Steinhoff, Günther Rall and Max Stotz received the Oak Leaves from Adolf Hitler personally on 4 November 1942. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. Reinert was only the second Feldwebel in the Luftwaffe to receive the award, after Gerhard Köppen.
North Africa In early 1941, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW—Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) had sent an expeditionary force, to North Africa to support the Regio Esercito Italiano (Royal Italian Army) fighting in the North African Campaign. As intensity of combat increased, the OKW committed additional military forces to the Mediterranean theatre. First elements of JG 77 had already been committed to this theatre in February 1942. The Axis defeat at the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October—4 November 1942) and the 8 November 1942 Operation Torch landings had pushed the Axis out of Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Libya into Tunisia. On 10 November 1942, Reinert's II. Gruppe was also withdrawn from the Eastern Front and began relocating to North Africa. On 5 December 1942, the Gruppenstab (headquarters unit), 4. and 6. Staffel arrived at Zazur, west of Tripoli, Libya. During the relocation, II. Gruppe stopped at Munich for two weeks. There, Reinert got in trouble with the authorities and was briefly confined to quarters for not properly saluting an elderly senior officer.