Quote:
Originally Posted by researcher111
Thanks for the list which I red ( I speak and read Russian rather good ) what is the roster homologation date on Bykov's book ?
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All the data in Bykov's books came directly from operational documents of VVS IAPs (which are kept in TsAMO and TsVMA) and therefor is as much accurate as it's possible. And yes, in quite a number of cases that data contradicts with old known victory tallies, even for very famous aces (including Kozhedub, Rechkalov, Pokryshkin and others). The reasons for that are numerous. For example, 3 personal victories claimed by Rechkalov in 1941 simply 'disappeared' from all post-War official records because operational documents of 55 IAP were burned during one of the many 1941 retreats. Also, soon after beginning of the war Rechkalov was heavily wounded and when he came back to service in 1942 no one, of course, really cared about his victories. However, the info about Rechkalov's 1941 victories has survived in operational documents of 20 SAD and that's why Bykov included these victories in Rechkalov's tally.