[kolya1]

Hi,

I can't answer for the general situation but one could make the following remarks :

- In 1941-1942 : the german claim-verification system was quite efficient, leading to a limited overclaim rate (some 2/3 to 1/2 of german claims can be checked in the opponent's records), in any case lower than it was in the VVS (or even the RAF).

- In 1943 : I don't know...

- In 1944, mostly in the second part of the year, this system ceased to function effectively, at least in the East, officially still to be applied but in fact not used anymore in the majority of cases...

- In 1945 : same as in late 1944...


I therefore think (only my personnal opinion), that the reliability of the german claims on the Eastern Front became quite lower as the war went on...

As for the German aces are concerned, one could look at the dates of their scores : AFAIK a large majority of Rall's and Barkhorn's claims passed through the claim-checking system, which is not the case of other pilots who achieved high scores later in the war... (just take a look at the thread about the soviet raids on Libau on the Allied air forces forum...), of course there must also be significant differences between individual pilots...