Perhaps it's because you spelled, Freytag with a Y instead of an I? No it's because I copied and pasted what you wrote
legionaire
I used Word translate, which isn't the best of translators.
As the month of May 1971 comes to an end, the Sainte-Victoire mountain seems to be ablaze under the blazing reflections of the rays of the Provençal sun. At the foot of the southern slope of the massif, on the commune of Puyloubier, is the Institution of the Invalides of the Foreign Legion which is a haven of peace for its valiant warriors. It has been several weeks since Siegfried Freytag, a former legionnaire, left active service and retired to the Institute.
At the end of the afternoon, Freytag came to the terrace of the Castle to watch the sunset. While he is sensitive to the beauty of the show, he cannot prevent his thoughts from reminiscing about memories more or less distant. And all of a sudden, he wants to classify them chronologically! So it is his whole life that he lives again!
Freytag, Siegfried was born on November 10, 1919 in Danzig-Langfuhr, Poland. He is the youngest of five children in the Freytag family whose father is a brewer. Raised severely by his parents, he showed a lively character and a fiery spirit as a teenager. Having always shown a strong taste for aviation in his youth, he enlisted in 1938 in the Luftwaffe (German Air Force).
After completing his fighter pilot training, he was assigned to JG 77 (Jagdgeschwader 77 or 77 Fighter Wing) nicknamed Herz As (Heart Ace). Appointed Obergefreiter (master corporal) he participates with his unit in the Polish campaign. On his return, he was assigned to the 2nd Fighter Group of Wing 77 (II/JG77) in Uetersen (30 km to the N.O. of Hamburg) where, in January 1940, he was promoted to aspirant and then second lieutenant in April, during the invasion of Norway.
In the autumn of 1940, he followed Group II/JG77, which was tasked with settling on Brest-Guipavas airfield to relieve other hunting units, exhausted by bombing raids in England. Siegfried Freytag won his "first victory" on 31 October 1940, the last day of the Battle of Britain. After several months in France, he took part in the invasion of Greece and Crete in the spring of 1941, where he obtained his "second victory".
On April 24, 1941, Second Lieutenant Siegfried Freytag was shot down by the Allied DCA near Athens. Hospitalized in the Greek capital, he allegedly seduced a British nurse who helped him escape. This romantic story was denied after the war by the man himself: "After the British left, I watched from the balcony of my hospital room at the entrance of my compatriots into the capital."
Recovering from his injuries, he returned to his squadron in June 1941 and followed her to Romania on the 22nd to participate in Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union. On the Eastern Front, at the controls of his Messerschmitt Bf 109 E, he distinguished himself by shooting down 57 Soviet aircraft in one year. At the end of July, he had 8 "wins", on 12 August he won his 11th "victory", on 27 October his 19th, on 27 November his 26th.
He was promoted to Oberleutnant (Lieutenant) and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class. During the harsh winter of 1941, his unit was withdrawn from the front, but returned in March 1942. Freytag won his 30th victory on March 24, his 35th on April 16th and his 43rd on May 18th! On the same day, he was awarded the "Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe" which is the cup of honor that rewards the best pilots. On June 26, 1942, Siegfried Freytag was promoted to Staffelkapiron (Squadron Leader) and was given command of his squadron's 1st Fighter Squadron (I./JG77). On July 3, 1942, he was appointed Knight of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz of the Eisernen Kreuzes).
In early July, Wing I./JG77 left the Eastern Front to join Sicily to take part in the air battle over the island of Malta. In all his commitments, Siegfried Freytag will quickly prove his qualities. During his four months on the Mediterranean Front, he shot 20 Spitfires and a Hurricane, bringing his score to 78 "wins". Best axis pilot over Malta, he was nicknamed "The Lion of Malta" ("Der Lewe von Malta").
On October 26, 1942, Freytag left Sicily with his hunting group (I./JG77) and joined Erwin Rommel's Afrika Corps in North Africa, where he recorded another 16 "success". On January 25, 1943, he was awarded the German Gold Cross ("Deutsches Kreuz im Gold")
On February 13, 1943, he was promoted to Hauptmann (Captain) and took command of Group II./JG77. He won his 90th "victory" on March 27, 1943.
When the defeated German troops left North Africa, he followed his group to Trapani in Sicily. Freytag, who continued the fight over Sicily, was shot dead on 12 July 1943, although wounded, he parachuted in and managed to join his unit. On 24 August, he was sent to Germany for a long recovery. He did not join ii./JG77 in northern Italy until the end of 1943. The group was sent near Siena in January 1944 to intervene on the Italian front. On January 29, 1944, during the bombing of his airfield by American fighters, Freytag was seriously wounded in a lung. Evacuated as soon as possible to Germany, he did not return to II./JG77 until 18 March 1944, being aware that Italy was lost. Rome fell into the hands of the Allies on 5 June 1944.
On June 13, 1944, Freytag, who was promoted to Squadron Leader (Major) in May, celebrated his 100th official "victory" by shooting down a B24 near Udine. On 25 July, as the I./JG77 group left Italy for good, the second group, II./JG77, was the only German fighter unit on Italian soil. For a short time, because on August 15 he joined Orange to try in vain to prevent the landing in Provence.
On 9 September 1944 Freytag Group II./JG77 was tasked with going to the Netherlands to take part in the Battle of Arnheim. Due to the air superiority of the Allies, air commitments rarely turn to the advantage of the Lutwaffe, yet Siegfried Freytag will still demonstrate his flying qualities by shooting down a Spitfire on 27 September.
On December 25, 1944, Major Siegfried Freytag was promoted to acting commander of JG77 Wing, he was 25 years old! In his new role, he won his 102nd and final "victory" by participating on January 1, 1945, in the famous Bodenplatte operation that targeted Allied aircraft grounded by bad weather.
After leading the group in the Reich's defence operations, Freytag became the commander of JG 51 and 30 April of JG 7, where he flew the Me 262 jet fighter until the German surrender on 8 May 1945.
At the end of the war, after 879 combat missions, Siegfried Freytag won 102 "victories".
He was captured near Regensburg by the Americans who used him as an interpreter. Released, his return to civilian life is particularly difficult because he has lost everything. His family home was confiscated by the Poles, but above all he learns that his sister and the rest of his family disappeared in the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff torpedoed by the Soviets on January 30, 1945 (this is the largest maritime disaster in history, 5348 victims out of 6600 passengers). Moreover, he cannot find a job. According to him, he was successively a minor, a technician and finally a taxi driver in Frankfurt-on-Main. But unable to adapt to civilian life and the new post-war society, in 1952 he swapped the elite pilot headband for the white legionnaire kepi.
At Sidi Bel Abbes, the "Mother House" of the Foreign Legion, he followed the "classes" of instruction to become an infantryman. At the end, he was assigned to the 5th REI (Foreign Infantry Regiment) in Indochina, nicknamed the "Tonkin Regiment".
In 1953, he was transferred to the 13th Half Brigade of the Foreign Legion, where he served with courage and dedication for 12 years, in Indochina, Algeria, and then in 1962 in Djibouti. In this corps, he is promoted to sergeant, but he asks to be demoted to the rank of Master Corporal!
In 1965, he joined the "Vienot Quarter" in Aubagne, where the 1st Foreign Regiment (1st RE) is established, which is the oldest regiment of the Foreign Legion.
In 1970, he decided to retire from active service and end his life in anonymity at the Institution of the Invalides of the Foreign Legion in Puyloubier. Discreet, he continues to never mention his prestigious past as an ace of the Luftwaffe; there were only a few officers and the administrative services of the Legion who were informed.
A former Director of the Institution of The Invalides of the Foreign Legion, reports that "Siegfried Freytag had accepted the responsibility of managing the clothing store". He adds that "by his function, Robinson (Freytag in French means "Friday") had his place in the "Popote des Cadres", nevertheless this simple man, obliterated, but excellent comrade, preferred to share the meal of the residents in the dining room of the Chamber."
Siegfreid Freytag died on 2 June 2003 at The Laveran Hospital in Marseille at the age of 83. The pilot of the 102 "victories" was buried on June 5, 2003, with military honors at the Military Square of the Puyloubier cemetery.
A senior officer of the current Luftwaffe came to attend the funeral to greet him one last time. On the cushion of the decorations, the Ritterkreuz rubbed shoulders with the French medals.
As this pilot served in the 13th Half Brigade of the Foreign Legion, currently stationed at Camp Larzac, it was naturally appropriate to talk about his life and his assignment as a mere infantryman in this prestigious unit.
Bernard MAURY
Honorary Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Agreement Committee