More Germans shot down

[Kathie]

I forgot to ask if anyone knows whose planes these were: written up with some glee by Tom

Barbour in his diary in April 1917 . His diary records him as having marched through Mametz, then near Delville Wood, then to Ordinance at Albert - he was living not in Albert but within daily marching distance at that time.

Planes:

15th April 1917: " Saw a scrap in the air 4 Germans shot down"

15th April 1917: "one German machine show down by shell fire pieces of shell dropped round us"

the next mention was

6th June : "saw a German machine catch alight today and the pilot jumped and was dashed to pieces".

thanks

Kathie

[Dolphin]

Kathie

Hello again!

I wonder if the dates of the diary entries may in error, as there are no German casualties that seem to match.

15 April 1917 was a day of low cloud and rain, when there was little, if any, effective flying on the British sector of the Western Front - there were no British losses, nor claims for German aircraft, and the German losses that day were on other fronts.

There were German losses on 6 June, but not on the Arras sector of the Western Front. However, a number of British aircraft were shot down that day, so perhaps one of these was the aeroplane sighted.

I'm sorry that I can't be more helpful.

Gareth

[Kathie]

gareth,

i knew I could count on you. thanks for trying. I must check his dates in diary in more detail. Of course, they may have been British planes in which case tom Barbours glee was much misplaced.

Kathie

[stevenbecker]

Mate,

Ground observing as well and fighter pilots can easyly make a mistake about an air craft when they see smoke from it.

This dosn't always mean the aircraft has been hit and is going to crash.

Smoke can mean an engine that is running a bit rough or the pilot has incressed the throtle.

Many claims for kills comes from the mistaken belief that just because you shot at the enmey and there smoke that he's finished.

As an unskilled soldier on the ground he may have mistaken these events and added one and one and came to six instead of two?

Cheers

S.B

[Cnock]

ground observers of both sides currently were wrong in their reports about downed aircaft

Cnock