[Nick Hector]

Johannes,

Yes, JG 2 and JG 5. You're quite right. Their high-scorers were regularly very bad claimers and it is probably fair to mention them alongside the Stigler Schwarm.

QUOTE: "Well we know that Stalin covered-up Russian losses, so perhaps these Russian losses experts don't have the full picture, but that aside, these same guys give many other top luftwaffe aces the thumbs up, like Helmut Lipfert, which would suggest that yes there was something going on."

He certainly covered up losses to the public, but it seems not within the archives themselves. From there, guys like Gabor, Christer Bergstroem and others get a pretty decent picture of what actually happened. Just as Caldwell, Shores and others give us a very balanced picture of the Western Front.
If anyone has real evidence that TsAMO records have been genuinely "doctored" to hide actual losses by Soviet Regiments and Divisions as inflicted by German aces with a view to discrediting their tallies...

...well then, let's hear it.


QUOTE: My good friend Bernd Barbas believes that because the claims system was so stringent that it was impossible to "over-claim"

Let's be honest. That one flies out the window the moment you compare claims to losses. It's ridiculous that anyone still quotes it anymore. All due respect to Herr Barbas mind you, but it's not the pre-archive age anymore.