Claims by a KG 51 Me 262 Pilot

[Roger Gaemperle]

Hello,

I received the documents of a former KG51 pilot who claimed 5 aircraft as destroyed! The victories are confirmed and signed in the Wehrpass by Adjutant of I. Gruppe KG 51, Oberleutnant Harald Hovestadt. Unfortunately, it doesn't say when exactly these victories were achieved. The pilot had 15 combat missions with the Me 262 in total. Unfortunately, neither the logbook nor the Leistungsbuch mention the claims (I would have expected at least the Leistungsbuch to mention these claims). The Leistungsbuch only mentions that he had a combat with Spitfires and Thunderbolts, however "without success". If "without success" is meant for the enemies or for himself, I can't tell.

When the pilot was still alive, he told that the 5 victories were achieved on the following dates (however, I think without any records, he might have confused the dates with the other dates of his 15 combat missions with the Me 262):

29 January 1945 : One P-47 between Illhausen and Giebelstadt in the morning between 10 and 11am

2 February 1945 : One B-24 near Rheine in the afternoon between 13 and 15pm

21 February 1945 : One P-47 between Hopsten and Kleve in the afternoon between 17 and 18pm

13 March 1945 : Two P-47 between Hopsten and Kleve in the afternoon between 14 and 16 pm

Does anybody have any records concerning these 5 claims?

I attach a copy of the original Wehrpass that shows the confirmation.

Regards
Roger Gaemperle