Strange case of Walter Dahl

[Johannes]

Hi Guys

I agree Stig, probably Obermaier was mislead by somebody, but guess we will never know. Facts are then that the 143 has been in play from 1966 or before. It's also likely that Tanzer knew nothing of this. I would be surprised if Woidich knew of his 110 as he sent my friend Bernd Barbas his abschusselist which only contained eighty-two. Trouble is that we this that this is their life, for most of the survivors it was just a small piece that many would like to forget, don't suppose that Woidich bought publications to read about himself, so likely as I said he just didn't know, and likely Tanzer in the same position, and his early death didn't help him find out either, perhaps the 143 was even invented/miss-quoted between 1960(his death) and the 1966 Obermaier publication.

With what Michael said I think of Friedrich Wachowiak, here Obermaier credits him with eight-six minimum, but his Mother says 120, his comrades 140. Yet after a long combat free break he returns to take his total to exactly eighty-nine...…...again Obermaier is honest about hearsay, same with Ulrich Wohnert.

When I first started seriously compiling Luftwaffe data/totals I would use a sheet of paper and in the first line number what has previously been quoted, so take Erwin Lastowski using Obermaier's book I would have written forty-six numbers in column one, and noted the fronts in the last column i.e first twenty-five Russian, last twenty-one Allied, fourteen viermots, yet his total is only fifteen, ten Russian, five American viermots, Like Tanzer you wonder for what his Ritterkreuz was awarded, though with all fairness he did claim many other viermots that just not confirmed, as he himself mentioned they were unconfirmed they must have been H.S.S or E.V, yet he again doen't mention this either, I suspect Obermaier is confusing the points system in the West with "victories", but that doesn't explain the discrepancy with the Russian claims.

I still think there is information out there to influence how we credit obscure pilots like Tanzer's totals. History is a strange thing, we learn more about the truth the further from the actual time of the events we get.

Kind Regards

Johannes