He claimed all of his victories over the Eastern Front, including over 50 Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik ground attack aircraft.

Born in Breslau, Wiese volunteered for military service in the Reichswehr of Nazi Germany in 1934.

Following flight training, he was posted to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52—52nd Fighter Wing) in June 1941 just prior to Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.

Wiese was born on 7 March 1915, in Breslau in the Kingdom of Prussia of the German Empire, present-day Wrocław in western Poland, the son of a minister.

In 1934, Wiese volunteered for service in the Heer (German Army) and joined Infanterie-Regiment 6 (6th Infantry Regiment) under command of Oberst Kuno-Hans von Both.

Wiese was promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant) on 1 April 1937, and in September 1938 transferred to the Fliegerersatzabteilung 17 (17th Flier Replacement Unit) in Quedlinburg.

[2][Note 2] Wiese was posted to a front-line unit in June 1941, almost two years after the start of World War II.

Staffel was subordinated, moved to Bilyi Kolodyaz, approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) 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.

[2] 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.

[6] 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.

[15] 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.

[25] 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.

[29] 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.

Instead, flying at an altitude of 8,700 meters (28,500 feet), 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.

[31] 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.

[26] After the war in 1956, Wiese joined the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany, and worked for the Military History Research Office.