Nick Maue

This Book attempts scrutinise Luftwaffe claims made over Hungary during late 1944 and early 1945 - especially those of the 'experten' of II/JG52 - by comparing these claims directly against the losses actually incurred by the Soviet VVS during the period. There have been constant arguments among Aviation historians regarding the veracity of Luftwaffe claims on the Eastern Front for many years - some stating that the 'Victories' should be left as they are, others that more in-depth research should be done. The Authors should be congratulated on a thorough, almost Forensic, approach to this issue. They have also highlighted many areas that have issues - the Luftwaffe Claims system broke down entirely during this period and many 'claims' were merely 'converted' to 'victories'. What makes this a REAL eye opener is that the Soviet Records for their losses over Hungary are very complete and detailed, so that a direct comparison between 'claims & losses' can be made. The Focus is on the main Aces of II/JG52 - Hartmann, Barkhorn, Batz, Lipfert, Duttmann, Ewald, Sturm - and the Authors stringent approach to tying up the data is convincing. I won't go into the details of their Conclusions here but some Aces were particularly prone to 'over-claiming' whilst others proved to be far more accurate - and there ARE some surprises here! In Conclusion, what this Research has shown is that the 'Scores' of the Luftwaffe Aces need far more research and should NOT be accepted at face value. The level of detail, especially in Russian losses, is impressive and the Questions that the Authors pose about 'adjusting' Pilots 'Victory' claims are valid but difficult. If you are interested in the colossal Air war over the Eastern Front and the established 'scores' of the Luftwaffe's big aces, this book will come as a much needed piece of proper research that utilises historical records, data and reports to give, probably for the first time, and ACCURATE appraisal of real Claims and Victories. RECOMMENDED FOR SERIOUS WW2 AVIATION BUFFS.