Re: German day fighter top aces by plane
 

Good afternoon,

from Peter (PMoz99) I learned that Georg Brütting in "Das waren die deutschen Stuka-Asse 1939-1945" (1995) might have been wrong when he wrote on page 98 that Alfred Druschel scored seven kills with the Hs 123.

We know from Johannes that Druschel's seven kills were scored on 22. and 23. June 1941 and from that website
http://ww2.dk/air/lehr/lg2.htm
we know that Druschel's unit, 4./LG2, was equipped with the Bf109E for the whole year 1941.

Can anybody confirm that Druschel flew a Bf109E and not a Hs123 when scoring his kills ?

Michael

Re: German day fighter top aces by plane
 

Good morning Gentlemen,

by courtesy of Andrew Arthy, Johannes, Peter Mosler (PMoz99), Matti Salonen and Evgeny Velichko I learned more about the most probable plane flown by Alfred Druschel when scoring his seven kills on 22./23.Jun1941.
The answers had a range from ‘Yes, he claimed all his victories in the Bf109E’ to ‘Druschel stopped flying the Hs123 in mid1940' to ‘We nee his flugbuch/combat report to know’.

The following statements about the equipment of his unit are of interest:

• II./LG2 had 2 Bf109 Staffeln and 1 Hs123 Staffel in preparation for the Balkans campaign
• II./LG2 had 38 Bf109’s and 22 Hs123's at the start of Barbarossa
• II./LG2 reports a mix of Hs123’s and Bf109’s destroyed or damaged on 22/23Jun1941, the Hs123 losses might have been suffered by 10./LG2 which was attached to II./LG2
• 4./LG2 had the last Hs123 loss on 5Jun1940, the first Bf109 loss on 3Sep1940, all losses after that were Bf109’s

It seems more like Druschel was flying a Bf109 and Georg Brütting’s statement remains the only one that clearly indicates a Hs123.
But: If anybody has ever scored 7 kills in the Hs123 at any time, then it might have been Druschel in the first two days of Barbarossa, right ?

Cheers,

Michael

Re: German day fighter top aces by plane
 

Hello Michael.
Haha, yes, you can still live in hope on that one! So many things are not certain.
Cheers
Peter

Re: German day fighter top aces by plane
 

Keep laughing.
I'll find evidence for one plane or for the other, come what may.

Michael

Re: German day fighter top aces by plane
 

The old History of the German Nightfighter Force by Gebhard Aders tells us that Arnold Döring rigged up a He111 for nightfighting against Russian nuisance raids so you might wish to update your lists accordingly

Re: German day fighter top aces by plane
 

Nick, Does the reference give any details of the modifications made?
Peter

Re: German day fighter top aces by plane
 

Yes,

It was a matter of rigging up Heinkel 111 with extra guns in the nose. The low speed of the Heinkel made it better suited to the slow-flying Russian night bombers.

Please forgive my paraphrasing but I gave the book away to one of my friends once Theo Boiten's 2 volume Nachtjagd War Diaries were released.

...But if needs be I can visit him and get the page number and the actual quote. Just let me know if it's vital to have it and I'll get the details for you.

Re: German day fighter top aces by plane
 

Not vital Nick, just interested. Don't go out of your way, but if it falls in your lap, let me know ....
Chewers

Re: German day fighter top aces by plane
 

Top 'alleged' scorer on the HE162 must be Adolf Dickfeld?

Re: German day fighter top aces by plane
 

Or, if the old Barbas "Planes of the Luftwaffe Fighter Aces" books are anything to go by, Rudolf Schmitt