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Re: Small case study: Bf 109 D vs. French fighters
Prien in JfV Teil 2 has five claims on this date for Ms 406 and two JGr. 152 100% losses and two damaged (30-40%). Coincidence, one (maybe 2) of these claims for Lt. Willi Elstermann.
In September and October 1939 both the Curtiss Hawk and the MS 406 fighters (800 hp engine) still held the edge over the Me 109 Ds (700 hp engine) they met. The 6 November combat was even discussed in the French Parliament and celebrated in the French media as the battle of the « the 9 vs. the 27 ». I read somewhere (a French source?) that the Bf 109 Doras of JGr. 102 were led that day by the leading Luftwaffe ace at the time, Maj. Hannes Gentzen but that would appear not to be the case. From November 1939 onwards the Luftwaffe introduced the Emil variant of the Bf 109 (1,000-1,100 hp engine with the advantage of fuel injection), which was clearly better in the air and immediately worried the French.
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