The first ace to reach a certain score

[HGabor]

Thank you Nick, I just try to find out what really happened in the past with all available evidences. That's all.
Cheers,
Gabor

[knusel]

In a few cases the dates are missing which makes it harder to verify a claim and even harder to negate it.
For example Hartmann's #347.

[HGabor]

If the date is missing, it is equally difficult to prove, or disprove a claim, - neither is harder than the other. However, there are visible tendencies for each pilot.

[knusel]

Sometimes also the claimed aircraft type is unknown, for example Hartmann's #346.

[HGabor]

Agree.

[knusel]

Hartmann claimed a large number of Lavochkin fighters but a low number of Yakovlev fighters. I suspect he misidentified many Yakovlev's as LaGG-3's. They looked similar but the former were much more numerous in the second half of the war than the latter.

[HGabor]

In the final months of 1944 Hartmann fought with air units of the Soviet 5th Air Army (and perhaps the 17th Air Army). By the end of 1944 the 5 VA suffered heavy losses in their battles for Debrecen and Budapest, while the 17 VA was more or less intact, advancing in Yugoslavia and later in Southern-Hungary.

On January 1, 1945 the fighter forces of the 5 VA had:

83 Yak-1
109 Yak-9
16 Yak-3
130 La-5
20 La-7

(Book: 'Verified Victories', p.25)

The 17 VA had:

117 Yak-1
13 Yak-7
147 Yak-9
58 Yak-3
273 La-5
1 La-7

(Book: 'Verified Victories', p.27)

Gabor

[knusel]

When Hartmann arrived at the front the short heyday of the LaGG-3 was over. But the Germans kept on identifying similarly-looking opponents as such. It's like Manfred von Richthofen & Co who named lattice-tail planes "Vickers" when certainly no Vickers F.B.5 planes were sent up anymore.

[knusel]

Good evening,

update: I drop Eugène Gilbert from the list in the first post because only four of his claims were officially confirmed (although he likely shot down more than he was credited with). I also include Herbert Ihlefeld, who was the first to reach the scores of 116 and 117 in April 1942.

Have a nice evening,

Michael