Ken Dahlberg and overclaiming

[keith A]

While I have no doubt the Dahlberg was an exceptional combat pilot I do wonder at two of his major combats.

On 16 August 1944 he claimed three or four enemy fighters before being shot down. On 19 December 1944 he again claims three or four fighters before being shot down. Overall this constitutes half his WW2 victory score.

Did the USAAF try to verify these claims?

Both the P-51 and P-47 were formidable aircraft and the LW opposition indicated a fighter force composed of recent graduates without combat experience. For example in a combat with 354th FG on 12 September 1944 Dahlberg was credited with four kills of the sixteen Fw190s lost by the LW and of the twelve pilots killed or wounded only two had made victory claims (P-47s in August 1944), and almost all were at corporal (unteroffiziere) or officer cadet (Fähnrich) level with the basic combat introduction. These details support multiple claims, but only if LW records indicate (at least in part) that they could have happened.

[keith A]

My point on both cases that once again his fighter was not reclaimed and gun camera footage would not have been available. Were there witnesses to all his claims?

By late 1944 the Commonwealth units were quite accurate in their assessment of LW damage athough the years 1941-1942 showed a level of overclaiming by Spitfire units that rivaled USAAF day bomber units in 1942-45.