Youngest Luftwaffe Fighter Ace By 1945

[Stig Jarlevik]

Tricky Michael

Lindenberger's third claim with Jentsch was unconfirmed and did not count in the final total for him. See the mentioned article in Avion.

However in the book 'Above the Lines' the claim is recorded as Jentsch's 7th confirmed claim, but is not listed at all with Lindenberger.

I don't know if it was possible for a two-seater crew vs the officials to have such a scenario, ie Jentsch getting the confirmed claim while Lindenberger gets nothing?

Anyone?

Cheers
Stig

[Frank Olynyk]

Stig,
Above the Lines is a little too quick to accept claims in books like Jentsch's. My criteria is a claim has to be mentioned in contemporary (German in this case) documents to be considered. These additional claims of Jentsch do not appear in the NdL.

With regard to claims from multi-seater aircraft, as far as I am aware every crew member received one full credit. Claims were never shared with more than one aircraft (also true in WW2). As far as I am aware no Zeppelin ever claimed to have shot down an enemy aircraft (at least, none are listed in the NdL), so we are spared the problem of listing 20-30 crew members of a Zeppelin. I believe from British records a few of their aircraft were damaged or even shot down by Zeppelin gunners, but never credited, probably because they were out of sight of German ground observers; they would all be (very) jenseits [other side] claims, after all.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[Stig Jarlevik]

Thanks Frank

So, the 7th, so called, claim by Jentsch is in fact based upon his autobiography and not found in contemporary German official records.
Very interesting indeed.
Are you aware of any other such discrepancies in 'Above the Lines'?

With regard to victory awards to two-seater crews, yes I was aware of that fact, hence my rather confused mind (question) when only Jentsch and not Lindenberger had received a victory for Dec 5th, but all explained/understood now.

Thanks again
Stig

[Frank Olynyk]

Stig,

As far as I have been able to determine, Jentsch has only 3 victories confirmed by official records. June 23, 1917 (Jasta 1), October 2 and 21, 1917 (fla 234). These can be found in the NdL. The other claims come from his book. In addition he does not appear in the list of German airmen with 4 or more victories published in Flugsport in 1919 (it can also be found in an early issue of Cross & Cockade (US).

With regard to discrepancies, I always point to Udet's score of 62. The Flugsport list has him with 60. The two additional victories were disputed at the time, and awarded to other pilots. He got to 62 when he joined the Nazi party and became a big-shot in the Luftwaffe. I keep him at 60.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[Stig Jarlevik]

Thanks again Frank

Very interesting - Jentsch dropping from 7 to 3.
I guess in Udet's case it is not really a big deal, since he maintains his No 2 position behind MvR regardless.

Cheers
Stig

[TigerTimon]

Originally Posted by Johannes

flying for JG300 was usually a death sentence

At least JG 300 wasn't ordered to take part in operation Bodenplatte!

[knusel]

Good morning Frank & Stig,

thanks for your explanations.
In his book Jentsch rarely mentions if a claim has been officially confirmed or not. Therefore, there must be an additional source for the claim list in ABOVE THE LINES.
You may be right about the 3 confirmed kills: the Jasta 1 kill list indicates his 23Jun kill as his first. That would mean no monoplane kills for Jentsch :-(
http://www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.n...34794923def94a
However, 2 Rumpler C.IV kills render him the top-scorer of that type, correct ?

Apropos very young vs very old: is it justifed to say that the youngest scorer ever was William Harrison (17 years, WW1) whereas the oldest scorer ever was Theodor Osterkamp (48 years, WW2) ?

Have a good Tuesday,

Michael

[FalkeEins]

Originally Posted by Daniel Kempf

I think we will never Know.

So many young boys perished in the last montsh, weeks, and days of this war.

Franz Goralski (12./JG 77) made his first claim on 24 Dec 44, KIA during 1945 with around 20 vics, according to a personal account I have read " he had just left school.."

[knusel]

Good morning FalkeEins,

if Goralski has left school after the Abitur (A levels) he wasn't necessarily very young when he scored is first kill.

Have a good week,

Michael