Bueligens P-38 kills, disputed

[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by alessandro bray

Hi to all,

the discussion on relationship between claims and real losses is always fashinating and complex. Here I prefer to skip the confrontation between Luftwaffe and other aviations claims – in parenthesis I consider Luftwaffe claims on average more accurate

If you're referring to fighter pilots then I doubt it, except in 1941. Otherwise the proof is lacking. You've ignored the German anti-aircraft units; they accounted for many Allied planes. Axis-controlled seaports, coastal towns, supply areas, and airfields were brimming with flak guns and Allied fighters also had to contend with return fire from German shipping.

A large portion of Allied losses were due to undetermined causes and unfortunately some unscrupulous writers wish to credit all losses to German fighters. For whatever reason, they refuse to recognize accident statistics and all that messy flak business remains largely unexplored.

Originally Posted by alessandro bray

in the case of Bühligen’s P-38 claims a good work is “ FW 190 in North Afrika”.

Lots of bogus claims of aerial victories? It was nothing new in his unit.

In 1942, JG 2 was amongst the worst offenders on Western Front. There is no logical reason why this would change in 1943. Everyone should have expected this to escalate in North Africa, and it did, as your book suggests. The pilots were further from home and the scrutiny of their superiors. Neither side had a large and reliable occupation force/police force/homeguard force to help verify crashes.