Erich Hartmann: 352 victories or... 80?

[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by Graham Boak

Denes suggests a ratio of 2:1 for claims to kills: I believe that Chris Shores, with all his experience, has said the same. I would point out however, that this ratio is not an overall factor. In times of intense fighting this can rise dramatically, and 3:1 is certainly not unreasonable.

I would be interested to know how he arrived at '2:1' as an average for inflated pilot claims.

July 10th, 1940 is usually regarded as the first day of the Battle of Britain. Stephen Bungay, author of The Most Dangerous Enemy, said that German pilots claimed to have shot down 30 RAF day fighters. (Another source, Tony Wood's Web site, lists 21 Spitfires and 6 Hurricanes claimed). But only one British fighter was destroyed in those combats: Hurricane P3671 crashed after a mid-air collision with a German Do 17.

In addition, RAF Bomber Command launched six Blenheims for a low level attack on Amiens airfield. German pilots claimed seven destroyed, but only five were lost. Bungay seems to have implied that all five Blenheims were downed by German flak units, which opened fire before the Bf 109s arrived. Unfortunately I don't have a copy of the 107 Squadron history, so I cannot cross-check that.

Originally Posted by Graham Boak

Only 80. Wow, what a poor result. No?

I have nothing against Erich Hartmann, but so far I have not seen anyone offer hard evidence that he destroyed 40 enemy planes, let alone 80.

Hartmann must have been a very shrewd pilot because he managed to survive several years of combat, but 352 kills is undoubtedly a fantasy. I would challenge his pundits to prove otherwise.