[Stig Jarlevik]

Hi Johannes

I have the first edition of Obermaier (1966), and he states there:
Total of 723 missions, including 187 fighter-bomber sorties, 143 victories (17 West, 4 four-engined).

I never knew Obermaier, so I cannot say if this is his own invention or not, but somehow he does not come across as a fantasy writer. I know he must have been a friend of Karl Ries, since they did at least one book together. If they also were friends of Hans Ring, is something I don't know, but together they sort of formed an early triangle of German historians back in the 1960s.

We also have to remember that during the 1960s to basically early 1990s everyone simply believed that all data coming from Germany was correct and no one really questioned their value. With more and more data coming from the other side in the East combined with deep research in remaining German files a different picture started to appear which also kept increasing.

I suppose that is where we stand now.

So was Obermaier the "inventor" or was he in turn "tricked" by someone else? No idea....

Cheers
Stig