[Johannes]

Hi Michael


If given the power to determine what makes a "kill" I personally would not i.e the very meaning of the claim means you claim not to have shot it down, but damaged it enough to cause it to drop-out of formation, but I didn't make the rules.

Almost all HSS claims do not appear to have been confirmed, but were covered within the "points system" from mid-1943. Some e.v claims appear on the mikrofilms as just that e.v, some HSS appear as v.n.e-a.s.m.


Erwin Lastowski's flugbuch reveals many claims marked as "Abschuss", however those found on the mikrofilms for him he actually numbers, he has more "abschuss" than numbered i.e his confirmed claims 11-15. I assume his Ritterkreuz for a lowly score of ten confirmed Russian aircraft(plus one unconfirmed) and five confirmed "viermots" must surely have been supplemented by the "points system", he spent quite some time as a trainer, perhaps a gifted one, never became an officer so didn't get the Ritterkreuz for any great leadership qualities.

JG 2 alone sometimes shared "viermot" claims ie. two claims with same anerk numbers. Actually I found Egon Mayer with twenty-seven(not twenty-five) to be the top "viermot" expert, most quoted figures are exactly twice what I found i.e Bühligen, a few like Wurmheller and Friedrich-Karl Müller(JG 53) got a lot more, Müller got the most in the shortest time!


Regards


Johannes