Josef Veltjens

Josef "Seppl" Veltjens (2 June 1894 - 6 October 1943) Pour le Merite was a World War I fighter ace credited with 35 victories. In later years, he served as a personal emissary from Herman Goering to Benito Mussolini.

Early Life

Josef Veltjens was born in Geldern, the Rhineland, Germany, the son of a factory manager. He attended Humanisti High School in Berlin, and later, the Technical University in Charlottenburg. His major was mechanical engineering, and his prime interest was explosion engines.

He enlisted in the Kaiserin Augusta Guards Regiment Number 4 on 3 August 1914. Four days later, he and his regiment were on the front lines. When his column was attacked by the French, Veltjens and three others tried unsuccessfully to defend it. The vehicles were set on fire. As a straggler, Veltjens joined Infantry Regiment Number 8. Promotion to Vizewebel (Sergeant) rapidly followed. After several requests, he was posted to aviation training.

World War I Aerial Service

On 2 December 1915, at Johannisthal near Berlin, Veltjens soloed. On 15 December 1915, after three solo flights, he took his pilot exam. Without waiting for his official pilot's ticket, he took advantage of the confusion of the holiday season to take himself to Tegnier.

He was posted a member of Flieger Abteilung 23 on 10 May 1916, to fly reconnaissance missions. He did so well, he was commissioned a leutnant de reserve (lieutenant in the reserves). He served there with another future ace, Rudolf Berthold. From there, he moved on to single seat fighters with Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 14 when Berthold was given its command.

Veltjens scored his first victory, over a Spad, on 14 April 1917. He was flying an Albatros D.III at the time, with his own personal aircraft marking of a white barbed arrow pointed back from the scarlet nose down the length of the royal blue fuselage. By the first of June, he had downed three more Spads and a Farman. Berthold mentored him through this, but was very demanding in so doing.

Veltjens then was transferred to Royal Prussian Jasta 18 in August at the request of Berthold, its new commanding officer. This Jasta was then operating Albatros D.Vs or Fokker Dr.Is. Veltjens first scored for them on 16 September 1917; he scored his ninth victory on 15 November to close out 1917.

He marked up his tenth win on 18 February 1918. He then was reassigned to Prussian Jasta 15 the following month. This was an interesting swap, in which Berthold took his pilots with him when he transferred; Jasta 15's pilots in turn became Jasta 18. The exchange meant Berthold, Veltjens, and the rest of the new Jasta 15 were now part of the prestigious Jagdgeschwader II. Jasta 15 would soon re-equip itself with World War I's best fighter, the Fokker D.VII.

Veltjens rose to its command on 18 May, on the same day he scored his 13th. He was appointed to replace an officer suspected of conspiring to have the wounded Berthold removed as JG II commander. May also saw Veltjens awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the House of Hohenzollern and the First Class Iron Cross.

By 10 August 1918, Veltjens' score had risen to 23. That day's fighting saw him score two more. It also marked the day Berthold collided with a British DH.4 and crashed into a house; he survived, but his injuries hospitalized him through war's end. Veltjens shot down two Caudrons and an SE.5a the following day. Another Hauptmann (captain) was appointed to his command, but Veltjens was chosen to lead JG II into aerial combat. Berthold temporarily escaped the hospital on the 12th despite serious injuries and returned to resume command. The commander of two days surrendered his position. Then Berthold was ordered the following day to return to hospital and turn command of the entire Jagdschwader over to Veltjens, who promptly turned leadership of Jasta 15 over to another. Three days later, on 16 August, Veltjens received the Blue Max, as the Pour le Merite was nicknamed.

His victory total was 31 when he went on leave, leaving Oscar Freiherr von Boenigk in charge. Upon his return, he resumed command of JG II on 28 September, only to be bumped down to once again command Jasta 15 from 12 October through Armistice Day. During this time, he raised his victory total to 35.

Between the Wars

Veltjens joined Freikorps Gerstenberg in the aftermath of Germany's loss. He was wounded thrice while commanding an armored car in a January, 1919 assault on Spartakists (German communists) in Bremerhaven.

Following this was a spell as a merchant sailor with his own sailing ship, the Merkur, a 100 ton vessel.

He later joined both the Nazi Party and its Brown Shirts in 1929, as one of the early Nazis. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Colonel Veltjens became an arms dealer. He used his personal contact with Herman Goering to shield this illicit trade. He may even have been involved in the planning for the Spanish generals' insurrection.

In late 1936, he was instrumental in founding a shipping company of three vessels to supply munitions to the Nationalists. His shipments could be as large as ten million rounds of ammunition at a time, or half a dozen fighter planes. He specialized in transporting high explosives, though once he shipped a brigade of 600 Irish fascists to the war.

He doubled over to also supply the Republicans, though he started later there. It was summer of 1937 before he bought three ships to supply that side. He later added a couple more ships to this little fleet, which sailed under the Panamanian flag to disguise German involvement. He charged the Republicans three times as much as he charged the Nationalists.

In this shadowy world of arms dealing, little is straightforward. Veltjens used munition factories in Greece to produce ammunition, and the ruse of selling guns to Greece or Mexico as a roundabout conduit to the Republicans. It seems likely that he also used Greek connections to smuggle weapons into Abyssinnia, thus covertly supplying the enemy of his fellow fascists in Italy.

Veltjens was paid by both sides in British pounds sterling, which in that day was the next best thing to bullion. It seems likely he received this favored treatment both because of his friendship with Goering, and his access to rare materials necessary to Germany's military efforts.

World War II

In August, 1940, Veltjens, with the rank of Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel), served as Goering's personal emissary in negotiations with Finland. Despite his relatively low rank, he ended up dealing with Prime Minister Ryti and Marshal Mannerheim. These negotiations resulted in a tradeoff; German troops would have unhindered transit through Finnish territory in exchange for German arms that the Finns could use against threatened Russian encroachment.

Oberst (colonel) Veltjens next assignment was as special plenipotentiary against black marketing in occupied Europe, beginning in May, 1942. It was his job to be sure only authorized German conglomerates bought the goods needed by Germany. Later in World War II, Veltjens also served as Goering's emissary to Benito Mussolini. His assignment on 6 October 1943 was to arrange the removal of the gold bullion in the Italian national treasury before the Allies could capture. His Junkers 52 made an intermediate stop in Milan, at which time they were warned that British fighters had been alerted and were seeking them. The pilot elected to continue the flight at very low altitude as a means of evading the British. As a result, the Junkers crashed and burned in the Appennine Mountains. Only the pilot survived the accident.

Veltjens was originally buried in Italy, but his body was later transferred home to Lubeck, Germany.

References/Outside Links

* http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/veltjens.php Accessed 26/27 September 2008.

* http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/veltjens.htm Accessed 26/27 September 2008.

* Albatros Aces of World War 1, Part 2. Greg VanWyngarden. Osprey Publishing, 2007.

* Jagdgeschwader Nr II Geschwader 'Berthold' (Aviation Elite Units). Greg VanWyngarden. Osprey Press, 2005.

* http://www.pourlemerite.org/ Accessed 27 September 2008.

* Fokker D VII Aces of World War 1. Norman Franks, Greg VanWyngarden.Osprey Publishing, 2003.

* http://www.schudak.de/timelines/germany1918-1919.html Accessed 26/27 September 2008.

* Hitler and Spain: The Nazi Role in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, Robert H. Whealey. University Press of Kentucky, 2005.

* Tobacco, Arms, and Politics: Greece and Germany from World Crisis to World War, 1929-41 Mogens Pelt. Museum Tusculanum Press, 1998.

* http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Veltjens Accessed 26/27 September 2008.

* http://www.socsci.flinders.edu.au/scanlink/nornotes/vol4/articles/gnezda.html Accessed 27 September 2008.

* http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:HIErp8AVtgsJ:www.univ-paris8.fr/histoire/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/frenchpoliticscultureandsociety-2007.pdf+josef+veltjens&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=34&gl=us&client=firefox-a Accessed 26 September 2008. Also found as: http://www.univ-paris8.fr/histoire/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/frenchpoliticscultureandsociety-2007.pdf.

* Wartime Administration, Economy, and Manpower Resources 1942 - 1944/5. Bernhard R. Kroener. Oxford University Press, 2003

* http://www.fliegerrevue.de/fr_extra.asp?PG=157&AID=18596 Accessed 26/27 September 2008.

* http://www.flieger-album.de/geschichte/portraits/portraitjosefveltjens.php Accessed 26/27 September 2008.

* http://www.oldgloryprints.com/Queen%20of%20the%20Prussian%20Sky.htm Accessed 27 September 2008.