Comments by "Barrie Rodliffe" (@barrierodliffe4155) on "Why did the German Aces have so many Air Kills?" video.

Dominic, I agree with some of what you say but the Spitfire Mk 21 was in service in early 1945, the Mk XIV in service late 1943 and as fast and certainly more than able to take on any Bf 109 or Fw 190. The P 51 H was too late for the war and saw no action, it had no better maneuverability than the P 51 D which could not roll as well as a Spitfire so not as well as a Fw 190 either. The Spitfire from the Mk IX on was more than capable of taking on any Luftwaffe fighter.
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From what I have seen many Luftwaffe aces often over claimed. "In the 1990s, the German archives made microfilm rolls of wartime records, not seen since January 1945, available to the public. These showed that while in theory the Luftwaffe did not accept a kill without a witness, which was considered only a probable, in practice some units habitually submitted unwitnessed claims and these sometimes made it through the verification process, particularly if they were made by pilots with already established records." "In 1943 the daily OKW communiques (Wehrmachtbericht) of this period habitually overstated American bomber losses by a factor of two or more. Defenders of German fighter pilots have always maintained that these were reduced during the confirmation process. But the microfilms prove this not to be the case. "
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Corrected figures for the RAF 56 destroyed, and for the Luftwaffe 26, a long way from 79. Maybe if you noticed both sides initially claimed 3 times the true number. but the RAF corrected numbers show that Luftwaffe losses were consistantly higher than RAF losses.
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@abeedhal6519 Only if you do not believe German wartime records which have been released and are available..
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British biplanes did cripple the Bismark which had already been damaged and had to go to Brest at reduced speed, the Swordfish did further damage which meant the Bismark couls only go in circles.
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Many Luftwaffe claims were just not true. Kurt Welter claimed many more DH Mosquitos than were lost at the time. Marseille claimed a Spitfire on a day when there were no Spitfires there at the time, he claimed 2 hurricames on a day only 1 was lost, he claimed 6 P 40's out of 10 claimed by his unit and only 5 in total were lost. "In the 1990s, the German archives made microfilm rolls of wartime records, not seen since January 1945, available to the public. These showed that while in theory the Luftwaffe did not accept a kill without a witness, which was considered only a probable, in practice some units habitually submitted unwitnessed claims and these sometimes made it through the verification process, particularly if they were made by pilots with already established records." "In 1943 the daily OKW communiques (Wehrmachtbericht) of this period habitually overstated American bomber losses by a factor of two or more. Defenders of German fighter pilots have always maintained that these were reduced during the confirmation process. But the microfilms prove this not to be the case. " A certain Mike Gee who is rather well known for lying said "people claim the spitfire was so great BUT the Germans shot down MORE Spitfires (especially in the Battle of Britain) than spitfires did german bf109s and FW190s..." Not too intelligent this Mike Gee, the Fw shot down nothing in the Battle of Britain, it was not in service until late 1941, he also does not know how many Spitfires there were in the Battle of Britain or that there were Hurricanes there too, he also does not know the RAF were more interested in shooting down bombers and some of the losses of both Spitfire and Hurricane were to bombers.
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Desmond. Yet the true figure of 56 was because it was adjusted after checking. how many did the Luftwaffe claim the same day? the problem is that the RAF did check and verify all claims and even some only claimed as damaged or probable have been later shown to have been real kills. Why is it that Luftwaffe documents show they overclaimed? Erich Hartman only claimed 2 Mustangs and not a single Spitfire which would be more of an achievement. I believe that all but 6 of his claims were USSR and only 6 were USAAF, that is all types of USAAF aircraft including bombers
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Marseille would be impressive if it was true but he claimed more than he shot down, like a Spitfire when there were none in the area, 2 Hurricanes on a day that only 1 was lost and 6 P 40's out of 10 by his squadron, only 5 in total were lost. Adolf Galland was shot down 3 times by Spitfires and had a number of lucky escapes and usually he was flying at a numerical advantage like the time he was leading 40 Bf 109, they were attacked by just 12 Spitfires, the result was 4 Bf 109 lost for 2 spitfires and Adolf Galland said he only just managed to escape.
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@Prizrak-hv6qk The I 16 advanced is a bit of a myth, it started out under powered and did not even have a tail wheel until late versions, it eventually was almost as fast as a Hurricane. By 1941 Germany had lost out to the RAF, they never made up their losses. Luftwaffe pilots on the Eastern front late in the war rated the Spitfire as the most dangerous, the Yak 3 was ok but not great. I would love to know when this Yak 3 supposedly took out an Me 262 in a dog fight, especially since Me 262 pilots were not meant to get into dog fights. In February 1945 an Me 262 was shot down by an La 7, it seems the Me 262 pilot did not see the La 7 which was able to catch up and get close without being seen, not a dog fight. For your claim to have any meaning you would have to give some details, I know the first Me 262 shot down in combat was by a Spitfire Mk IX on the 5th of October 1944, it was a shared victory, quickly followed by quite a lot more combat which the Spitfire never lost.
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@Prizrak-hv6qk The L a 7 pilot caught the Me 262 pilot napping, Spitfire pilots had real combat with Me 262's, including giving chase for 50 miles or more. 1 pilot who liked the Yak 3, and he did not fly the Spitfire or P 51 in combat. The Yak 3 was light and reasonably fast late in the war but it did not climb or maneuver like a Spitfire. Early I 16's had little power and were rather slow, they were no advance on biplanes until much later, by then the Bf 109, Hurricane and Spitfire were around.
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@Prizrak-hv6qk The Yak 3 was maybe the best Russian fighter but it hardly compared to a Spitfire. To sneak up on an adversary is just that, it does not prove a thing. To have an Me 262 on your tail and out maneuver it is nothing to write home about, the Me 262 did not maneuver and never shot down a single Spitfire, and the Spitfire Mk XIV was in quite a lot of combat and not one was shot down in air to air combat. The P 51 was not great at maneuverability, the USAAF pilots also tried to shoot down Spitfires, none managed to. Spitfire pilots simply used the stunning turn and climb and left them well behind. The standard German biplanes were rather pedestrian by any standards and early Bf 109's up to the Bf 109 E were not even close to the Mk I Hurricane or Spitfire. Remember the Bf 109, Hurricane and Spitfire were made not long after the i 16 and the Spitfire was a front line fighter through to the jet age. The I 16 was inferior before the war.
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Later in the war they were still fighting in USSR. As said by Luftwaffe pilots who fought on the Eastern front . late in the war the USAAF and RAF were appearing and the Spitfire was the most feared fighter followed by the P 51. The 3 top scoring Luftwaffe pilots Eric hartmann 352 victories 345 Soviet, 7 USAAF. Gerhard Barkhom having served in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain with no victories he went on to score 301against the Soviets. Gunther Rall 275 victories of which 272 were on the Eastern front.
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Why did Germany lose every air battle against Britain? Most of their high claims were n the Eastern front and many claims have been shown to be false.
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Tony Why? Which air battle did Germany win against Britain?
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When I said every air battle I was meaning that the Battle of Britain was an air battle, so was the air battle over Dunkirk and the air battle over Malta. After Dunkirk Kesselring said that Spitfires were the main reason the Luftwaffe could not destroy the troops and ships. Dieppe the Luftwaffe did not have it all their own way. The RAF heavy losses in the Battle of Britain were less than the Luftwaffe losses and the claim that Germany switched to bombing cities is another myth. The bombing all over Britain had cost over 1,000 lives before the so called change of tactics. the mistake so many people make is to say the RAF was almost finished when that is not even close to the truth. The Luftwaffe pilots were being told the RAF was down to a few fighters and when Luftwaffe were being met by increasing nubers the bomber crews would joke that here come the last few Spitfires again, the truth was that the RAF never had less than 600 fighters avaiable and they never ran out of reserves. The RAF was hard pressed but the Luftwaffe was in a worse state. A lot is made of range but not all the combat was over Britain, a lot was over the English Channel or close to the coast so little or no advantage. Malta being about 60 miles from Sicily meant little just as London was only about 95 miles from Calais and most of the fighting in the South East.
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It is all accurate. Maybe you do not read enough but try it, it does not hurt.
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Name one air battle that Germany beat Britain then.
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Marseille and claims is a bit hard to know, during the Battle of Britain, he claimed a Spitfire when there were none in the area, there were Hurricanes, he also claimed two Hurricanes on a day none were lost. P 40's, he claimed 6 out of 10 claims for his group but only 5 were lost.
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Dieppe the Luftwaffe losses were not good. I do not know if Dieppe would be called an air battle but if so then just one time the luftwaffe did beat the RAF, after then the Luftwaffe lost all the way, maybe the fact that the Spitfire Mk IX was in increasing numbers from then on and never bettered by any German fighter.
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Tony. Dieppe was a raid on mainland France so a land battle, supported by the RN and RAF, was it a sea battle? no, was it an air battle? no, agreed the RAF played a part and the losses to both sides were fairly heavy. Dieppe while it can be considered a failure did show what was needed for an invasion and could be said to have helped for future invasions like Sicily, Italy and Normandy, all of which were supported by the RAF.
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@chadthundercock4806 It seems that you do not understand what an air battle was.
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