About german identification of claimed fighter planes

[Graham Boak]

They were no better in North Africa either. Similar confusion can be found in all air forces. Air combat tends to be fleeting contact at long ranges, with very excited and highly stressed individuals. We judge aircraft recognition from a quiet static position, looking at detailed close-ups for an extended time. Given that our knowledge of what was available, and which is which, is far superior from that known at the time, and that (from the record) not all fighter pilots were all that interested in the subject anyway, mistakes were inevitable and understandable.