Vort,
The tales of wartime exploits related by ex-German/Nazi heroes should always be taken with a grain of salt. They were largely the product of the Nazi propaganda machine, which fabricated much of this drivel to perpetuate the myth of the Aryan superman. Thirty-four German aces are credited with scoring 150 or more kills in aerial combat. According to official records, they shot down 6,902 enemy aircraft. If memory serves, the Russians admit to losing 80,000 aircraft in combat on the Eastern Front. Thus, these 34 men shot down nearly 9% of all Russian aircraft destroyed in combat. The top 100 German aces are credited with shooting down an incredible 14,000 aircraft.
These outrageous claims are often transparent when compared to actual losses. A top German ace in North Africa, Hans Joachim Marseille I believe it was, once put in a claim of seventeen British aircraft shot down. Records for British losses on that day indicate that only eleven aircraft were lost, including a couple of Hurricanes, a type which he did not even put in a clain for. (Figures taken from Martin Caidin's book Me 109.).
Regards, Shuckins
