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Lothar Keller
Lothar Keller was born on 7 April 1914 at Dresden. Keller served in the Spanish
Civil War with the Condor Legion.
Leutnant Keller was assigned to 1. Staffel of J 88 from
spring until the end of 1938. He claimed three victories during the conflict.
Keller was awarded the Spanienkreuz in Gold mit Schwertern. At the outbreak of
World War 2, Keller was serving with 1./JG 3. On 1 February 1940, Oberleutnant
Keller was appointed Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 3. He claimed ten victories during
the French campaign, including his 10th on 23 May, when he shot down a RAF
Spitfire fighter near Béthune.
Keller participated in the Battle of Britain. He
claimed a further seven victories over England during 1940. However, on 5
September, he participated in the escort of a bomber formation which RAF
fighters intercepted after the bombers had dropped their bombs on oil tanks in
the Thames Estuary area. Oberleutnant Keller’s Bf 109 E-1 (W.Nr. 3882) was hit
in the radiators in the subsequent aerial combat.
He managed to nurse his damaged aircraft across the Channel
to a point near Calais airfield where made a forced-landing, fortunately without
injury. On 11 September, Keller participated in the escort of Ju 88 twin-engine
bombers tasked with bombing London. However, anti-aircraft fire near Dover
forced the bombers to jettison their bombs and turn back. In the process, Keller
collided with a colleague. He managed to bale out of his spinning Bf 109 E-4 (W.Nr.
5276) landing in the Channel. Keller’s colleague succeeded in bringing his
damaged machine back to base and alerted the air-sea rescue service.
An inflatable raft was dropped to Keller and a boat rescued
him 90 minutes later. On 24 November 1940, Keller was appointed
Gruppenkommandeur of II./JG 3, based at Arques in France. He led the Gruppe
during the invasion of Russia. On 22 June, he claimed four Russian fighters shot
down to record his 17th through 20th victories. Keller collided with a Fi 156
observation aircraft near Stojanow and was killed in the resulting crash on 26
June 1941. He was posthumously awarded the Ritterkreuz on 9 July.
Lothar Keller was credited with 23 victories. He recorded
three victories during the Spanish Civil War and 16 victories over the Western
front.
|
No |
Date |
Time |
A/c Type |
Unit |
Location / Comments |
|
1 |
13.6.1938
|
- |
I-15 |
1./J 88 |
Spain |
|
2 |
15.7.1938
|
- |
I-15 |
1./J 88 |
Spain |
|
3 |
19.8.1938
|
- |
I-16 |
1./J 88 |
Spain |
|
4 |
14.5.1940
|
- |
Morane
406 |
1./JG 3 |
NW
Dinant |
|
5 |
17.5.1940
|
12:30 |
Curtiss |
1./JG 3 |
S St
Quentin |
|
6 |
17.5.1940
|
12:30 |
Curtiss |
1./JG 3 |
S St
Quentin |
|
7 |
19.5.1940
|
16:40 |
Spitfire |
1./JG 3 |
Philippeville |
|
8 |
21.5.1940
|
- |
Morane
406 |
1./JG 3 |
Cambrai |
|
9 |
21.5.1940
|
- |
Morane
406 |
1./JG 3 |
Cambrai |
|
10 |
23.5.1940
|
14:10 |
Spitfire |
1./JG 3 |
Béthune |
|
11 |
31.5.1940
|
19:35 |
Morane
406 |
1./JG 3 |
S
Amiens |
|
12 |
10.6.1940
|
9:35 |
Caudron
710 |
1./JG 3 |
Dreux |
|
13 |
10.6.1940
|
9:37 |
Caudron
710 |
1./JG 3 |
Dreux |
|
14 |
18.8.1940
|
- |
Hurricane |
1./JG 3 |
- |
|
15 |
26.8.1940
|
- |
Hurricane |
1./JG 3 |
Thames
Estuary |
|
16 |
31.8.1940
|
- |
Spitfire |
1./JG 3 |
E
London |
|
17 |
7.9.1940
|
- |
Morane |
1./JG 3 |
Rochester |
|
18 |
15.9.1940
|
- |
Spitfire |
1./JG 3 |
London
area |
|
19 |
10.2.1941
|
17:42 |
Hurricane |
II./JG
3 |
E Dover |
|
20 |
22.6.1941
|
7:28 |
I-16 |
II./JG
3 |
Dubno
area |
|
21 |
22.6.1941
|
7:44 |
I-153 |
II./JG 3 |
Dubno area |
|
22 |
22.6.1941
|
18:42 |
I-153 |
II./JG 3 |
Dubno area |
|
23 |
22.6.1941
|
18:50 |
I-16 |
II./JG 3 |
Dubno area |
Victories : 23
Awards : Ritterkreuz (9 July 1941)
Units : JG 3
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