[Kapper]

Maxim1

There is an error in your list. Zwernemann gained his 100th on the 15/10/42 not 15/1/42.

For those wondering why the difference between the two lists, from what I can see Don's List (from Obermaier) was based on Luftwaffe communiques during the war while Maxim1 list is based on post war research (such as Dr Prien JFV series)

Removing the error of Zwernemann, the other two differences are for Philipp and Dickfeld.

In the case of Philipp, he was credited in communiques as being 4th to 100 on 30 March 1942. He then spent two months away from the front, which is not uncommon for pilots reaching significant milestones and made his next claim on 30th May 1942. Dr Prein's research credits Philipp's 100th on 6th June 1942.

The same occurred with Dickfeld, he recieved the Oakleaves for 101 claims on 19th May 1942 after claiming his 100th on the 18th May. As with Philipp, he soon after left the front, later to make his first claim on his return on the 5th August 1942. According to Prein, Dickfield gained his 100th on the 14th August 1942.

There are two possibilities for this difference.

Firstly it is difficult to find all the claims of pilots, some may be missing and with those that have been found the question is which were confirmed, rejected or were still awaiting further evidence/assessment? Are there more claims out there?

The second possibility (which I believe is more likely the case) is that they they were both victims of the slow OKL victory award system. Official confirmation took many months (even years) therefore when a communique reports that a pilot past 100 victories it is in reality 100 claims that have been accepted by their unit and forwarded to OKL for confirmation. It is possible at some point 3 of Philipp's earlier claims and 5 of Dickfeld's earlier claims were rejected and their scores adjusted accordingly at a later date.

I'll leave it to readers to make up their own mind as to which list should be followed. It is never easy to get a difinitive answer to a simple question when there is a lack of information.

Regards,

Craig...