Small case study: Bf 109 D vs. French fighters

[GuerraCivil]

The Jumo-engined Bf 109 D was still used by some Luftwaffe day fighter units during the so-called Phoney War period 3.9.1939 - 9.5.1940 (and not to mention night fighter units operating the Bf 109 D also in daylight). The common wisdom is that the "Dora" was obsolete/inferior against modern Allied fighters by 1939 but the official German combat records claim that the Dora´s score against encountered modern French fighters was actually little better than 1:1. So far I have not found any info if Dora´s encountered any Hurricanes (or Spitfires).

Michael Ziefle 2011 (Die Messerschmitt Bf 109 B/C/D, s. 95-96) states that the "Dora" equipped units JGr 152, JGr 172, JGr 102 were credited with 8 destroyed French fighters (5 Morane 406 + 3 Hawk 75) against the loss of 8 Doras in air combat (of which 7 to French fighters).

I have compared these records with two books covering the combat history of Morane 406 and Hawk 75 in French service (Stenman - Ehrengardt 2014: Morane MS 406 Aces + Persyn - Stenman - Thomas 2009: P-36 Hawk Aces of World War 2). The picture is somewhat confusing when one compares data given in mentioned books:

On 24.9.1939 at 13.00 hours (German time) near Saarbrücken the Morane-equipped GC I/3 clashed with the Doras of JGr 152 - the actual losses seem to have been 2 Moranes and 2 Doras although there is some difference in loss accounts: French were credited with two air-to-air victories while German records claim that one Bf 109 D (Lt. Rosenkratz) was lost in mid-air collision with unidentified plane, which might have been the other Bf 109 D (Gefr. Hesselbach) lost in the same combat. The JGr 152 claimed as many as 5 Moranes destroyed in this combat, but Ziefle downgrades that to three Moranes confirmed as destroyed. Ziefle mentions that JGr 152´s Doras were involved in another air combat against Hawk 75´s later on the same day - so it migh be that the "5 destroyed Moranes" consists of following: 2 actually destroyed, one German-confirmed overclaim (Ziefle´s claim) and two Hawk 75´s confusingly claimed as "Moranes"? (see the following).

Quite confusing air combat occurred on the same day of 24.9.1939 about 15.00 (German hour) in which "Doras" of JGr 152 were again involved together with Bf 109 E´s of II/JG 52. The enemy unit was GC II/4 equipped with Hawk 75. According to Persyn the Hawk pilots of GC II/4 pilots shot down three Bf 109 D´s of JGr 152 in this combat - he does not mention French losses. However German records (cited by Ziefle) do not confirm French claims but instead state that JGr 152 pilots were victorious shooting down two Hawks with the price of having two "Doras" damaged (repairable 30-40 %). Other Dora-equipped Luftwaffe units did not claim and did not record any losses on the 24.9.1939. In the light of contradictory info one wonders what might have been the actual score on this combat and what were the actual air combat losses of both sides on 24.9.1939?

On 25.9.1939 JGr 102 (ZG 2) pilot Erich Groth flying Dora claimed one Hawk 75 but it was not confirmed by Luftwaffe.

On 27.9.1939 one Dora of JGr 152 was lost - but not to enemy fighters but to the return fire of Fairey Battle (103 Squadron).

On 30.9.1939 at 16.45 the Doras of 2./JGr 152 (together with "Emils" of JG 53) were involved in combat against Hawk 75´s of GC I/5 and II/5. In this combat JGr 152 pilot Olt. Liensberger was credited with one destroyed Hawk. No Bf 109 D´s were lost on 30.9.1939 but German sources (Ziefle) confirm as many as four "Emils" of JG 53 being lost to French fighters during the air combats of 30.9.1939 (one against Morane-equipped GC III/3 and three against Hawk-equipped GC I/5 and GC II/5) - however the Emils of JG 53 were credited with three Hawks, one Morane, one Mureau 117 and one "Caudron 710" destroyed on 30.9.1939. Persyn and Ehrengardt do not mention French losses on 30.9.1939.

On 6.11.1939 occurred the famous air battle which by its results seemed to prove that the Dora was obsolete against Hawk 75. Despite superior numbers and initial altitude advantage the JGr 102 lost four Bf 109 D´s in combat against the Hawk 75´s of GC II/5. French pilots were credited with five destroyed Doras without losing any of their own planes (AFAIK) - this seems to match well with official German losses (four planes destroyed in combat and one forcelanded suffering unrepairable 70 %). Although Bf 109 D was not as agile in dogfight as Hawk 75 it seems that the losses were more due to tactical errors of the pilots of JGr 102: they went in dogfight with less nimble planes adopting wrong tactics and their coordination in combat was poor. Probably there were also some overconfidence/attitude problems by JGr 102 pilots because of many easy air victories gained during the Polish Campaign (Hawk 75 was tougher opponent than anything that they had encountered in Poland).

When it comes to technical comparison of Bf 109 D vs. Hawk 75/Morane 406 one should take in account that the so-called "factory values" are overoptimistic theoretical numbers of manufacturers and may reflect only ideal test-results with planes without paint, armament and other combat load. For example 500 km/h is often given as top speed of Hawk 75 but it is far too optimistic when compared to actual test flight results made with operational planes. See: http://forum.warthunder.com/index.ph...-75-top-speed/