Daytime Zerstörer Aces

[Jim Oxley]

I can't say why, but I have always found Theodor Weissenberger of great interest. Perhaps it's because he seems to have had quite the varied career, flying successfully against both the Western and Eastern Allies in the Me110, the Me109 and the Me262.

It's his time flying the Me110 that I find particularly interesting. Was he the most successful daytime ace flying the Me110? Not sure if he, or Hans-Joachim Jabs is at the top.

Cheers

[igorrB]

Hptm. Schaschke from Stab ZG 76 achieved many Abschusse during summer 1941, but exact number not known. It is said he has at least 22 claims all in all to time of his death 4.8.41

[Juha]

Hptm. Schaschke was famous for his tactic, he flew over a Soviet airfield with a high flying Bf 109, so for Soviets apparently alone, and when the Soviet fighters invariably took off to engage him, he dived on them just after they had taken off and shot them down and departed. IIRC here in Finland was understanding that for Soviets there was a strict order to engage observed enemy a/c. The order originated from very high, maybe from Stalin itself, so the commander at the airfield had no other option but to send the alarm patrol into the air. But that did not last long, the Russians placed patrols very high above the airfields and when on 4 August 1941 Schaschke arrived over Shongui airfield, the alarm patrol took off as usual and he dived into it, so the Soviet high cover dived into him. The 109 pilot probably acted more as a confirmer of Schaschke's claims than as a protector for him. See Evgeny Velichko's message 31st March 2011, 12:55 at http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/archiv...p?t-24102.html, as Evgeny says the text is very propagandist but the claim list shows that Schaschke's claims were very reliable.

[FalkeEins]

Originally Posted by igorrB

Hptm. Schaschke from Stab ZG 76 achieved many Abschusse during summer 1941, but exact number not known. It is said he has at least 22 claims all in all to time of his death 4.8.41

.. 'new' image of his crashed Bf 110's tail fin taken on 4.8.41 shows 19 Abschussbalken and three ship silhouettes... (Vol 5 of the Stipdonk/Meyer ZG/NJG series)

[Peter Kassak]

... and on last mission he claimed at least 2. so possibly 21 in total...(ZG 76 history book)

[knusel]

Hello Jim,

interesting topic.
I think Eduard Tratt was the top daytime Bf 110 scorer with 26 kills.

Cheers
Michael

[Peter Kassak]

Petr Kacha had on his web page luftwaffe.cz table of Zerstorer aces. here is the list of the first few...
Maj. Eduard Tratt 38
Hptm. Werner Thierfelder 27
Hptm. Egon Albrecht 25
Hptm. Rolf Kaldrack 24
Maj. Theodor "Theo" Weissenberger 23
Maj. Helmut Viedebantt 23
ObstLt. Hans-Joachim Jabs 22
Maj. Herbert Kutscha 22
Hptm. Herbert Schob 22
Lt. Rudolf Dassow 22
Lt. Eduard Mayer 22
Lt. Richard Heller 22
Maj. Wilhelm Spies 20
Hptm. Gerhard Schaschke 20
Hptm. Johannes Kiel 20

[igorrB]

Originally Posted by Juha

See Evgeny Velichko's message 31st March 2011, 12:55 at http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/archiv...p?t-24102.html, as Evgeny says the text is very propagandist but the claim list shows that Schaschke's claims were very reliable.

Too old entry for contemporary state of research. Looks like Evgeny give to Schaschke all soviet losses. But for example 13.7.41 over Schongui there were at least 2 claims by Carganico (2 I-16). Same for 4.8.41 - 6 claims for LaGG and 3 shot down in reality. 2 plane 4.7.41 (Ishakov and Gromov) crushed via technical problems and not in battle.

[knusel]

Seems as if only Thierfelder might have scored more daytime kills in the Bf 110 than Eduard Tratt. But a full kill list seems impossible to procure. Why are the Zerstörer kills less well documented than the Jagdflieger kills ?

[Juha]

Hello igorrB, thanks for the up-date
Most of my knowledge of the Northernmost air war is from late 90s, from Valtonen's Luftwaffen Pohjoinen Sivusta (The Northern Flank of the LW) etc. Now I'm slowly reading Latkin's Curtiss Kittyhawks In The Soviet Far North 1941 - 45 Volume 1, a tertiary project.

Juha