Why is there so little data on some Experten?

[Rob Romero]

How come there is so little information (almost non-existent) on the following experten, each of whom are credited with over 100 victories! I have found only 1 photo for each of the following.

Lt. Gerhard Hoffmann (130)
Lt. Berthold Korts (113)
Hptm. Werner Lucas (106) -NO TEXT!
Lt. Ulrich Wernitz (101)
Little to no text or factual information for others AND NO PHOTOS (!) for Oblt. Rudolf Miethig (101)
I mean, there have only been 104 pilots that were credited with over 100 Victories. Why the paucity of data?


Thanks,

Rob Romero

[Simon Schatz]

Have you checked the "Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe 1939-1945" book by Ernst Obermaier? There you find information of all these pilots you listed.

Cheers, Simon

[Russell]

Rob,
There are four or five photos of Miethig in Bernd Barbas's book on I/JG 52, there are about 15 of Hoffman in various books on JG 52 (Barbas, Duttmann, Petersen, Niko Fasts volumes, and other sources including a good half dozen in an otherwise general history of the Luftwaffe), and Werner Lucas is covered in Dr Priens books. The info and pics are out there. To me the biggest unknown information on Kurt Tanzer after he was wounded in 1943. I suppose I shall have to wait to see if Dr Prien continues his endeavours into 1944 45 eastern front. Cheers Russell

[WEISNER]

It is funny you mention this Rob, I have been floored by the lack of some top Ace Bios, My go to site is Kacha's site, No Bios on these aces using three for example.
Heinz Bar-221 victories
Theodor-Weissenberger 208 victories
Walter-Schuck 206 victories
And searching these pilots on other well known sites is hit or miss.....
I hope Bergstrom gets his Shuck book in print, And I know a work on Bar is in the future.
The pilots Rob mentioned most likely have very interesting combat records, probably..... sadly never to see print, cyber or otherwise....Frustrating.
Kevin

[FalkeEins]

..as Russell pointed out most of the JG 52 info is still in German...

John Weal's forthcoming Aces title looks promising here ... no, seriously...'More 109 Aces' will cover just the 100+ Experten...all of them

[Douglas Jr.]

Hi,

You may found some information (and pictures) at
http://www.luftwaffe39-45.historia.nom.br/

But it is in Portuguese. Basically, the same information presented by Obermaier's books.

Douglas

[Rob Romero]

Russell Indicates,

There are four or five photos of Miethig in Bernd Barbas's book on I/JG 52, there are about 15 of Hoffman in various books on JG 52 (Barbas, Duttmann, Petersen, Niko Fasts volumes, and other sources including a good half dozen in an otherwise general history of the Luftwaffe), and Werner Lucas is covered in Dr Priens books. The info and pics are out there. To me the biggest unknown information on Kurt Tanzer after he was wounded in 1943.

I guess then, I should limit my comments to ONLINE photos, data and info –for as someone with too much time on my hands I have been able to accumlate over 1GB (not a typo) of data on Luftwaffe Aces and Experten, in the form of photos (mainly), biographies, victory tables, interviews, etc –and I’m not even including the video clips with shots of the experten and/or their gun cam footage.

Weisner Comments

I have been floored by the lack of some top Ace Bios, My go to site is Kacha's site, No Bios on these aces using three for example.
Heinz Bar-221 victories
Theodor-Weissenberger 208 victories
Walter-Schuck 206 victories
And searching these pilots on other well known sites is hit or miss.....

I find it funny that Weisner mention these aces –I’ve had a lot more luck on the aces he’s mentioned –I suggests, he does a Google IMAGE Search (a good way also to locate quality sites vs. JUNKY sites like TOCH ;-) !.

Here are my top BYTE aces! (No requests please –too much work, and too many people would want copies)

Some Experten (Megabytes)
68.9MB Adolf Galland (103)
33.3MB Werner Mölders (115)
25.3MB Erich Hartmann (352)
25.8MB Günther Rall (275)
28.2MB Hermann Graf (212)
12.2MB Heinz Bar (221)
8.4MB Theodor Weissenberger (208)
8.5MB Walter-Schuck (206)

Kilobyte Experten (1000KB = 1 MB)
74KB Lt. Berthold Korts (113)
45KB Hptm. Werner Lucas (106)
39KB Lt. Ulrich Wernitz (101)
33KB Lt. Gerhard Hoffmann (130)
0KB Oblt. Rudolf Miethig (101)

To illustrate the Extreme, this means I have almost 21,000 more times data on Adolf Galland (103) than Gerhard Hoffmann (130)!

Rob Romero

[SMF144]

Rob,

Just curious, but other than asking questions on this forum or conducting research on the triple 'W', have you done any heavy duty research in archives seeking out primary documentation or secondary academic works?

Stephen

[Rob Romero]

Stephan,
The answer to this question might surprise you. I have conducted over a decades worth of research/writing on the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Over several years, I spent about a month over at the National Archives, in College ParkMd. photocopying material. I crossed the Pacific to do research at the National Defense Agency in Japan, where I discovered documents indicationg among other things that Admiral Nagumo had information that carrier Enterprise was in the vicinity of Oahu and inferentially much in need of fuel by the evening of December 7th. I spent several weeks with Dan Martinez at the Arizona Memorial on Oahu. I inteviewed/tape recorded interviews with over 100 surivors of the attack, including a number of notables (i.e., Kenneth Taylor –who claimed to have shot down 4 attackers in his P-40, Iyozo Fujita –Zero fighter pilot). And much, much more.
And what has become of this research –well a lot of the various texts I have worked on are on my hard drive, unfinished, but many of the documents I have collected remain underutilized, collecting dust and have not been looked at in years. In short, I have accomplished more on the internet in 6 years (much of it photographic research), then I did ‘conventially’ in 15 and have become dedicated to the premise that the www (still in its infancy) is the future, and this is the domain which I will remain –no travel –no archive restrictions/personalities to deal with –no weeks of searching blind alleys –NO TRANSCRIBING!

Thanks,

Rob Romero

[SMF144]

Hi Robert,

Thank you very much for your reply because it certainly explains a lot, at least to me. Like you, I have spent many hours in the archives consulting primary documentation and for every action there is a reaction, so, consequently, my time at the bar drinking, chasing women or going on vacations has been limited. Not once did I ever think that the triple 'W' would replace the archives as being the source of primary documentation.

I appreciate what you are doing but I am not about to spend my valuable time searching "for your answers" when you use the internet as a primary source. The collecting of books and primary documentation that I have accumulated over the many years have come at a great expense.

In short, if you expect "us" on this board to basically do your research, well, I wish you all the best because I don't take the authorties on this board for granted.

Best wishes and I look forward to end product.

Stephen

PS: I used to think that Playboy was a primary source until I discovered women.