[Broncazonk]

The question at hand is, given the circumstances of the Eastern Front, why didn't the Luftwaffe produce Experten with incredible *and verifiably valid* victory totals?

And beyond the hurt feelings and the nationalistic pride, I think the question is a valid one. After all, E. R. Hooten, Generaloberst Erhard Rauss, and Phillips Payson O'Brien are not making those historical facts up.

To answer this question, I have re-read Helmut Lipfert's, "The War Diary of Hauptman Helmut Lipfert - JG 52 on the Eastern Front - 1943-1945," and while it provides much clarity, it raises more questions than it answers.

~ Part 1 ~

At 26, Helmut Lipfert entered combat fairly late, both in age and date, December 18, 1942. He ended the war with 687 combat missions and 203 victories. And most importantly, Lipfert is considered to be an honest claimer.

* The most relevant passage that bears on the central question appears on page 114-115 of his book. On May 29, 1944, Lipfert was flying his 496th combat mission with 117 confirmed victories and, [...] "We soon learned that there were Russians in this combat zone who could fly as well as we." He was engaged by four (4) aggressive Airacobras in a 4 vs. 2 dogfight that he couldn't handle. "...several Airacobras jumped us from above and gave us such a scare that it was not until the flight home that I really recovered my senses."

* On the third sortie of that day (498th combat mission) Lipfert writes, "But once again we didn't even reach the front. All I saw was Airacobras above. Once again they forced us to flee. [...] I was furious when I landed. ** Never before had the Russians simply not allowed me to get into attack position." **

* Lipfert was just shy of 500 combat missions on the Eastern Front before he finally encountered Russian pilots who would not let him motor up to 50-100 meters behind them and shoot them down.

On page 62, Lipfert writes, "The claim that the Russians were poor flyers is false. I can only repeat that the beginners among the German fighter pilots were just as awkward in the air as the Russian beginners."

The awkwardness of German beginners is amply demonstrated on page 11-12 of the book. Lipfert went to the Eastern Front as the leader of a detachment ferrying new Bf 109 G-2s to Russia. None of the new pilots had ever flown a 109 G-2 before. They took off on the last few days of November, 1942. "Already it was evident that our training as fighter pilots had been too short and that we were not qualified. As proof of this, only three (3) pilots from my detachment reached the front by the turn of the year 1943. Ten (10) further pilots reached their units by March 1943 after making emergency landings. Four (4) of those who took off never reached their destinations."

End Part 1.

Bronc