Wiese was posted to a front-line unit in June 1941, almost two years after the start of World War II. His unit was the
Geschwaderstab (headquarters unit) of
Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) where he served as an
adjutant. On 22 June, the
Geschwader crossed into Soviet airspace in support of
Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, which opened the
Eastern Front. He claimed his first aerial victory on 23 September 1941 and was awarded the
Iron Cross 2nd Class () on 27 September 1941 and the
Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Silver () on 11 October 1941.
Eastern Front Wiese received the Iron Cross 1st Class () on 1 May 1942. Following his 7th aerial victory he was appointed
Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of the 2.
Staffel (2nd squadron) of JG 52 on 26 June 1942. That day, I.
Gruppe (1st group), to which his 2.
Staffel was subordinated, moved to Bilyi Kolodyaz, approximately southeast of
Vovchansk, and fighting in support of
Case Blue, the strategic summer offensive in
southern Russia with the objective to capture the oil fields of
Baku,
Grozny and
Maykop. He received the Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold () on 13 July 1942. To support German forces fighting in the
Battle of the Caucasus, I.
Gruppe relocated to an airfield at
Kerch, in the east of
Crimea, on 2 August. At the time, the
Gruppe was moved around as a kind of fire brigade, deployed in areas where the
Soviet Air Forces was particular active. The
Gruppe then moved to
Oryol on 15 August. On 29 September 1942, Wiese he claimed his 25th aerial victory. On 25 October 1942, he became an "
ace-in-a-day" for the first time, claiming victories 29 to 33. Wiese was awarded the
Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe () on 6 November 1942. On 6 December, the
Gruppe moved to an airfield at
Rossosh. Here on 16 December, he became an "ace-in-a-day" again which took his total to 43. On 25 December, Wiese claimed his 50th aerial victory. Together with
Feldwebel Wilhelm Freuwörth, Wiese was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () on 5 January 1943 following their 56th and 51st aerial victories respectively. The presentation was made by
General der Flieger (General of the Flyers)
Günther Korten in Rossosh on the Eastern Front. Sources contradict themselves on the exact date of the presentation of the
German Cross in Gold (). According to Thomas, Patzwall and Scherzer, the presentation was made on 5 December 1942. According to Obermaier and Stockert, the presentation occurred on 8 February 1943. Following a lengthy home leave, Wiese was tasked with the leadership of I.
Gruppe of JG 52 on 11 May 1943. The former commander,
Major Helmut Bennemann had been severely injured by an incendiary bomb the day before. Initially, Wiese led both 2.
Staffel and I.
Gruppe in unison until on 1 July
Oberleutnant Paul-Heinrich Dähne was given command of the
Staffel. On 13 November 1943, he was officially appointed
Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of I.
Gruppe and at the end of 1943, Wiese was promoted to
Major (major). His most successful day was 5 July 1943, the first day of the
Battle of Kursk, when he shot down twelve enemy aircraft in one mission, a double "ace-in-a-day" achievement. All 12 victories were over
Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik
ground attack aircraft and took his total to 95 victories. On 17 July 1943, Wiese was credited with his 100th aerial victory. He was the 45th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. In end July, Wiese had fallen sick and had to go to a
Bad Wiessee for treatment. During his absence,
Hauptmann Gerhard Barkhorn, the commander of 4.
Staffel, temporarily led I.
Gruppe from 4 to 30 August. Following his 133rd aerial victory and his last, Wiese was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves () on 2 March 1944, the 418th officer or soldier of the Wehrmacht so honored. Wiese and fellow JG 52 pilots
Erich Hartmann,
Walter Krupinski, for the Oak Leaves presentation, and Gerhard Barkhorn, for the Swords to his Knight's Cross presentation, travelled on an overnight train from the
Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin to the
Führerhauptquartier (Führer Headquarter) at the
Berghof in
Berchtesgaden for the award ceremony by
Adolf Hitler on 4 April 1944. Also present at the award ceremony were
Kurt Bühligen,
Horst Ademeit,
Reinhard Seiler,
Hans-Joachim Jabs, Dr.
Maximilian Otte,
Bernhard Jope and
Hansgeorg Bätcher from the bomber force, and the Flak officer
Fritz Petersen, all destined to receive the Oak Leaves. On the train, all of them got drunk on cognac and champagne. Supporting each other and unable to stand, they arrived at Berchtesgaden. Major
Nicolaus von Below, Hitler's Luftwaffe adjutant, was shocked. After some sobering up, they were still intoxicated. Hartmann took a German officer's hat from a stand and put it on, but it was too large. Von Below became upset, told Hartmann it was Hitler's and ordered him to put it back. On 22 February 1944, Wiese was injured in combat when he was shot down by
anti-aircraft artillery in his Bf 109 G-6. Command of I.
Gruppe was temporarily assumed by
Oberleutnant Paul-Heinrich Dähne before
Hauptmann Adolf Borchers was given command on 11 June. Following his convalescence, he was posted to the
Verbandsführerschule (Training School for Unit Leaders) of the
General der Jagdflieger (General of Fighters) at
Königsberg in der Neumark, present-day Chojna in western Poland, on 11 June 1944. This ended his service on the Eastern Front.
Defense of the Reich and wing commander of JG 77 On 19 June 1944, Wiese participated in comparison test flights at the Luftwaffes main testing ground for new aircraft designs at
Rechlin. On that day, the Luftwaffe tested and compared the
Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6, a Bf 109 G-6/AS, a
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-8 against a
P-47 Thunderbolt and a
P-51 Mustang. In October 1944, Wiese was posted to the
Geschwaderstab of
Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) in
Defense of the Reich on the
Western Front. On 7 November 1944, he was appointed
Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of JG 77, replacing
Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel)
Johannes Steinhoff, who was given command of
Jagdgeschwader 7 "Nowotny" (JG 7—7th Fighter Wing), the first operational jet fighter wing in the world. Officially, command was handed over on 1 December 1944. On 16 December 1944, the
Wehrmacht launched its last major
offensive campaign of the war. The operation codenamed
Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, or
Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945), which failed to achieve its objectives, intended to split the British and American
Allied line in half, so the Germans could then proceed to
encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a
peace treaty in the
Axis Powers' favor. Wiese led JG 77 in the opening phase of the offensive until 25 December 1944, when he was severely injured in a training exercise. Wiese and his wingman,
Feldwebel (Sergeant) Hansch, took off at 11:20 a.m. on a training flight over German held territory. The plan was to meet up with I.
Gruppe but the two failed to establish contact. Instead, flying at an altitude of , they encountered a flight of
Supermarine Spitfires in the vicinity of
Bottrop and
Essen. In the resulting aerial combat, both Bf 109 G-14s were shot down, Hansch was
killed in action while Wiese
bailed out. He came down near Essen-Dellwig. His parachute only opened partially, resulting in a harsh landing, and loss of consciousness. Wiese was taken to a field hospital at Bottrop where he was diagnosed with a
concussion and minor
skull fracture. He spent the rest of the winter in hospital, and was replaced as commander by
Major Siegfried Freytag. Their victors may have been Spitfires from the
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)
No. 401 Squadron which claimed two Bf 109s from the
Stab of JG 77 shot down over
Duisburg that day. One of these victories was credited to
Flying Officer John MacKay. Wiese surrendered to U.S. forces at the end of the war and was handed over by the Americans to the Soviet
Red Army on 6 September 1945. Wiese spent over four years in Soviet
prisoner of war camps and was released on 28 November 1949. He was officially credited with 133 victories claimed in 480 combat missions. Additionally, he had 25 more unconfirmed claims. Among his claims were over 50 Il-2 Sturomoviks. Soviet fighter pilots therefore greatly respected Wiese, and referred to him as the "Lion of
Kuban", a name he earned during combat over the
Kuban bridgehead. ==Later life==