Strange case of Walter Dahl
 

Hi guys

This pilot is a little obscure, however I have just received Leistungsbuch for his 1945 claims(well mostly) We are always told 128 or 129 victories. The Leistungsbuch states 133, however thirteen of these were not confirmed, we must accept I guess that those for 1945 met the required standards, witnesses are listed in each case.
If this document is genuine then Dahl had at least twenty-eight confirmed "viermot" making him the top pilot in this field, also forty-nine in 1945 also a record.
As I say witnesses are listed, these are Walter Loos, Werner Bohnenkampe(both of JG300) and a certain Meyer, who is unknown to me!
The curious thing is that Dahl alternates between flying the Fw190 and Me262, he indicates which was used for each claim. He was I understand flying the Me262 with III./EJG2, but I think that he just turned-up at either III./EJG2 or Stab./JG300 depending on what type he wished to use. Now I understand that Loos at this time was flying with JG301, yet Dahl states Stab./G.D, this is also the case in my Ritterkreuzträger book. Question is that even if Loos, Bohnenkampe and perhaps Meyer were flying with JG300 or Stab./G.D how did they witness Dahl's claims whilst flying the Me262? I can find no link to these pilots and the Me262, don't think they could keep-up with a Me262 if flying the Fw190. Loos's April 1945 claims are matching Dahl's.

Whereas Dahl's status probably allowed him the privilege of just turning-up for an aircraft, and commandeering Loos,Bohnenkampe and Meyer, which unit to I attribute these claims to. Galland once turned-up for an aircraft just to see what his pilots were up against attacking the USAAF heavies in 1943.


Kind Regards


Johannes

Re: Strange case of Walter Dahl
 

For the benefit of Michael

Looks like nine claims for Dahl with the Me262, this seems to include the last seven numbers 114-120, but numbers 89-90 also with Me262, all other for 1945 with Fw190.

Regard

Johannes

Re: Strange case of Walter Dahl
 

Hi Guys

Stab./G.D would refer to General of fighters, on 21st February 1945 his wingmens units are refered to as Stab./JG300, on 24th February 1945 same guys belong to Staff of the General of fighters.

Regards

Johannes

Re: Strange case of Walter Dahl
 

Good afternoon Johannes,

it's cool that you opened a new Dahl thread.
In the meantime, I have brooded over what Dahl though his 100th kill was.
In the Leistungsbuch you find it with a scribbled date that looks like 4?March.
But in the line directly above and besides the "99" you find another "100".
May it be that Dahl though an earlier claim to have been confirmed belatedly which naturally shifts the number of the later claims one up each ?
That would explain why we find 128 as well as 129 as his total score in older books.
What's your opinion ?

Michael

Re: Strange case of Walter Dahl
 

Hi Michael

I don't have the information on claims 92-103 or with unconfirmed 105-116. But number 91 was achieved on 29th March 1945 and number 104 on 12th April 1945. Dahl himself states 100th on 16th March 1945(mustang) at 1156 hrs, but as I say I counted thirteen of his 133 as unconfirmed. Dahl states he was flying a Fw190, but supposedly his wingman Werner Bohnenkamp would be flying possibly a Ta152.


Kind Regards


Johannes

Re: Strange case of Walter Dahl
 

It has always been suspected that Walter Loos was his "partner in crime".
There's no way he can be the top ace over viermots or of 1945 (he was mostly likely flying Storch or other hacks in that period) but may your documents help to solve this...

Re: Strange case of Walter Dahl
 

Good evening Gentlemen,

before we can assess the honesty of his kills we need to know which Claims Dahl proposed. By kind courtesy of Mr Lorant we know much more about that than before. I wish he would also present the Leistungsbuch page that covers the 29Mar-12Apr period.

Have a nice Tuesday,

Michael

Re: Strange case of Walter Dahl
 

You always have to 'read between the lines' when reading something from Johannes. He speaks volumes. But he chooses his words very, very carefully.

Bronc

Re: Strange case of Walter Dahl
 

Yes, Johannes Mathews is great.
Are you interested in the Leistungsbuch page covering the 29Mar-12Apr period, too ?

M

Re: Strange case of Walter Dahl
 

Hi Guys

Thank you very much for the compliments. I do try to get perfection, but nobody gets it so.

Yes, I am interested in the missing claims between 29th March 1945 and 12th April 1945, and would be very grateful if somebody can supply them.


I take it then that Dahl was a bit more than a little dodgy in his claims. I will always include ALL claims in my biographies, and have been warned-off about mentioning the fraudsters by name in publication, but I will mention if I know there are honest.


Anyhow attached is my re-worked Dahl file, there is still work to be done though, that in red is alerting my co-author John Foreman what's new.


Enjoy


Kind Regards


JohannesAttachment 17165Attachment 17165