Erich Hartmann: verifiable claims

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Jim Oxley

Another aspect that should be considered is that, if Hartman's score is placed under such scrutiny, then so to should all the other Luftwaffe aces in the 200+ bracket.

Is the goal to re-write the history books? Or to see who in fact was the highest scoring Luftwaffe ace? Surely not just a Hartman witch hunt.

It would be doing everyone a disservice if Barkhorn, Rall, Kittel, Nowotny, Batz, Rudorffer, Bar, Graf and other's claims were not also given the same intense analysis and match-up to Soviet losses.

Jim, the goal as I see it is simply to establish, as far as research can after 70+ years, what really happened. Isn't that what history is supposed to do? Yes, that should apply to everyone but you have to start somewhere. I'm confident that Hartmann and the others would still emerge as remarkably successful fighter pilots at the end of the process.