Erich Hartmann: 352 victories or... 80?

[Dénes Bernád]

Originally Posted by Six Nifty .50s

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

First, let me clarify that Graham quoted me erroneously in his post. It was someone else who stated this.

Second, I tackled the thorny issue of overclaiming in my books in a couple of occasions.

One was in my 'Rumanian Air Force. The Prime Decade (1938-1947)' book, published by Squadron/Signal.
On page 6 I noted: "It is believed that Rumanian pilots and gunners claimed up to three times as many aircraft destroyed [in the 1941 campaign of Bessarabia and South-Western Ukraine] than was actually the case. (This was not a unique occurrence. According to a notable British researcher, RAF flyers filed five claims for one actual Luftwaffe combat loss during June 1941 [about the same time period])."
I must say that I received 'flak' from certain Rumanian researchers by raising this controversial issue for the first time...

Then, I noted in my 'Rumanian Aces of W.W. 2', published by Osprey, the following (page 37): "In the ensuing aerial battles, which peaked in May [1944], both sides [i.e., VVS and Luftwaffe & ARR] claimed an impressive number of victories. That month alone, ARR fighter pilots received credit for 50 Soviet airplanes downed, while another dozen claims remained unconfirmed.
By rigurously comparing loss data of both sides with victory claims, one can draw the conclusion that overclaiming was again widespread on both sides.
Indeed, in a private letter, a noted Russian aviation researcher approximates that during the May offensive alone, Soviet airmen fighting on the Moldavian front filed four times more claims than actual Axis losses, while he approximates that the Axis side overclaimed three times as many claims - a remarkable, albeit unofficial admission."

Very interesting discussion, by the way. I hope it will stay on course, and won't degenerate into flame war and name calling...