Quote:
|
Originally Posted by JoeB
the AVG did much better than Commonwealth units in SEA in the same period against the JAAF. The latter is a fact.
Joe
|
Are you sure about that? That is certainly what we have been conditioned to believe by many writers. Dan Ford does not analyse RAF claims or combat reports in any detail and there are some major inconsistencies in the accounts of several of the RAF/AVG encounters with Japanese formations. Many of the RAF records for the period are missing and then there are those persistent rumours of RAF personnel "giving" claims away to AVG members. Is there any actual proof to confirm that downed Japanese aircraft were the result of AVG rather than RAF attacks?
Schilling was very anti-British. Some AVG books do not even mention RAF aircraft taking part in well known AVG/JAAF encounters, even when they most definitely did. Bargh's biography throws some light on this but I'm afraid the Flying Tigers deserved fame and attendant mythology has long over-shadowed the situation even for British writers.
Some Japanese Darwin loss records have been mentioned. But are they accurate? Are they complete? I remain sceptical about that.