Hartmann: claims vs. victories

[Johannes]

One in three doesn't sound correct, during the Battle of Britain it was two to one, the British no better. Luftwaffe night fighters were much more accurate, should I say very honest claimers in general, don't know why exactly, basically your witness would be your crew......usually a set crew, so plenty of opportunity for cheater there, but then their claims are likely to be over Wenrmacht held territory, and unlike in the East the crash-sites would be investigated, guess this would explain the higher number of unconfirmed claims compared to the East. JG2 operated in an area where combat was often over the sea !. In the East JG5 believed themselves in some kind of exile, and received less superior equipment.......often secondhand, so resentment could play a part here, their claims pattern is rather like that of JG54 in the North, III./JG64 were far more accurate in their claiming to the rest of the Geschwader.

Rank plays a part, Kommandeur claiming seems less than honest......but only certain pliots, seems if you were that way inclined then being a Kommandeur was a way........I would guess you could chose your own wingman......dodgy wingman ?

Kind Regards

Johannes

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Johannes

Luftwaffe night fighters were much more accurate, should I say very honest claimers in general, don't know why exactly, basically your witness would be your crew......usually a set crew, so plenty of opportunity for cheater there

Kind Regards

Johannes

Reading Theo Boiten's Nachtjagd Combat Archive series it becomes clear that night fighter crews were usually operating in close cooperation with a ground station which was itself linked in with other defences. So, if a bomber was claimed and the target disappeared from radar then that was one source of confirmation but the Flak and searchlights could also be contacted in case they had seen (say) a burning aircraft falling, or an explosion on the ground.