Quote:
Originally Posted by Broncazonk
Has anyone ever found evidence (even a hint) in Luftwaffe correspondence (records of the Luftwaffe) that shoot-down claims had become a propaganda tool of Goebbels, and the RMVP? After all, the Luftwaffe had propaganda officers that fed the Wehrmachtbericht on a daily basis.
Simple question: Is there evidence that the Luftwaffe claim system was systematically corrupted by a propaganda campaign?
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Have not seen that but clearly the info on RAF losses given daily by LW to KM during the BoB was highly optimistic, see e.g. Kriegstagebuch der Seekriegleitung.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Broncazonk
Conversely, has anyone found evidence in Soviet correspondence that reporting German shoot-downs as some other form of loss (or denying them outright) had become a propaganda tool of the Russian propaganda machine? (Not to mention the systematic misrepresentation of combat losses for other, more important reasons, that is, avoiding the internal wrath and purges that so often occurred?)
Quite frankly, I suspect the Soviet's record keeping in this regard. I think there is a mountain of circumstantial evidence supporting the above paragraph. Everybody was lying in the Soviet system, e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y. There was no incentive to tell the truth, and every reason to lie.
Bronc
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Now how one could get replacements if one didn't declare losses? High combat losses meant trouble for regimental commander but so meant too many losses by pilot errors, bad weather etc. So why to lie?
The first Bf 110 recovered from Far North SU in 1980s or early 90s was found to be hit by MG fire into an engine even if officially lost to mechanical troubles. The pilot had survived the war and was still alive and when asked admitted that the plane was shot down by Soviet AA but under pressure from his superiors he had agreed to wrote down into his combat report the reason of the loss "engine failure". So, one cannot be 100% sure in individual cases but in SU the accusation of sabotage had dire consecuences so large scale reporting of combat losses as mechanical failures, pilot errors or weather related losses is very improbable in Soviet case.
Juha