[klemchen]

Hi everybody,

could it not be that most cases of overclaiming were in fact cases of over-self-confidence? I imagine that the experts were quite convinced they could tell when an opponent was finished (cf. Obleser's assertion above), particularly when they saw pieces coming off their target or smoke and fire developing. I have read of several occasions when a later expert was shot down while watching his victim crash, so from then on he abandoned that habit and also told young pilots not to indulge in it.
I suspect the weakest point in Luftwaffe claims is that probably in most cases they were confirmed by the wingmen. These were mostly subordinates of their leaders, and it must have taken some courage to contradict those, all the more when the wingman did not know for sure that it was not a victory he was supposed to confirm.

Regards,
klemchen