Well this thread certainly caught fire!!!
I think we should respect the topic of Marseille, and not Hijack this thread into the inflammable topic of kill authenticy. I therefore suggest that someone start a new thread about that subject in the History forum, and please don't get so hot-headed about all
It's interesting though, how hot this matter is after 60 years...
I am sorry for one thing, It was me who started doubting the 100% authenticy of Marseilles top kill day, so that's what caused this turbulence. Well, but I still do!
Someone said in this thread that the british figures were the least accurate while the German ones were the most accurate. Boo! Well, both overclaimed a lot during the Battle of Britain, the British already then guessing a lot nearer to the truth about the strength og the Luftwaffe, while the Luftwaffe was expecting the RAF to be down to the famous fifty aircraft. Both were wrong, and if my memory serves me right, the British claims turned out to be nearer to the actual numbers.
As if that was not enough, The British soon found out that their own claims had to be corrected, - simply by comparing claims over english soil vs wrecks recovered/reported.
Later on, to get a confirmed kill, the pilot had to be able to proof, either by secondary witness, camera or wreck that the enemy aircraft either disintegrated in the air, pilot bailed out, or aircraft crashed into the ground. Now you can call me silly, but I doubt Marseille was able to fulfill this particular 17 chute/crash-photo/witness scrutiny, while I have little doubt that he actually pinged 17 times an aircraft!
I know of british aces that went to quite some lengths to prove kills that they could not get confirmed by the book, such as bringing parts of the wreck to the CO's table. I would like to hear of similar problems within the Luftwaffe!
If kill claims could not be tampered with, well, - Douglas Baders "kill" was "claimed" by a Major, by the command of Galland, just to soothen Bader, who was worried he had been shot down by an inferior officer! Nobody ever even knew who got him.
And regarding the Propoganda side, nobody could ever beat the nazis at that game, never.
I guess the newest example of overclaiming in modern times could be written on to the Argentinians, which had claimed 26 Harriers shot down in the Falkland war (1982) while only 20 had arrived, and none yet been shot down. Now just a minute, who built up the Argentinian Airforce again...hmmm
So, I guess I have fed you all enough to start WW2 all over again, so I urge you again to start a new thread about claims. Would surely be interesting.
Back to Marseille. I recently saw an interview with Johannes Steinhoff about Marseille, - Steinhoff had been his superior officer before the desert.(After lunch, before desert
)
Steinhoff said that Marseille was a good pilot, shot, etc, but had been so obsessed with his hobby of womanizing, that it had hampered his success as a fighter pilot. Now, once in the desert, with hardly any women to focus on, Marseille turned all his energies into air combat perfection and became a star. Cool
