[Andrew Arthy]

Hi,

The Luftwaffe itself drew that line, and balloons were included as aerial victories, whereas tanks, trucks, bridges etc. were not. See the attached from 1944, which lists the various victories against ground targets in one section of the daily report, and then the aerial victories (including a Fesselballon).

I'm a little doubtful about this "tanks being counted as aerial victories" story. There is a dubious, seemingly post-war entry in the Düttmann Leistungsbuch, and checking out the Eder story in Caldwell, the author notes that Eder filled out tank destruction reports for the Shermans, so I have strong doubts that they would have counted towards his aerial victory tally.

Michel, regarding Messer, I see he recorded the destruction of tanks and other ground targets in his Flugbuch (as did many other fighter pilots involved in strafing missions), but did he actually include these in his aerial victory tally?

I'd be happy to see any primary source evidence about this subject.

Cheers,
Andrew A.