Richthofen's victories

[rammjaeger]

>>I would suspect that aerial witnesses might have submitted a separate page; ground witnesses certainly would have, and those reports would probably have joined the original CR at the Kofl level, and not at the Jasta (although I am sure that a telephone report would have reached the Jasta).<<

I think that is is correct.
In Udet´s book "mein Fliegerleben", page 104, everybody can find the photocopies of his "Luftkampfbericht" and of the "Abschrift der Zeugenberichte zum Abschuß eines D.H.9 am 26.9.18". Both documents carry the stamp of the Jagdgeschwader. The latter document means "Copy of the witness reports for a kill of a D.H.9 on 26.9.18." This documents shows 7 witness reports of air and ground witnesses.
A long time ago I translated the reports (each included 3 to 6 lines text) for the use of the Forumites in another thread.

VBR
Hannes

[alex_revell]

Gunnar,
I have at last been able to give some thought to your queries on Von R’s 21 and 22nd vics. As you may have seen, I have been beset with other things!

21st. C F Muirs no record of loss in TSTB
W J Peason. Shot up but returned. Possibly vic of Vzfw Eckof Jasta 3.
P E Knightly. No record of loss in TSTB
F W Nesbitt. No record for 14th Feb 1917 in TSTB. KIA 21/4/18 in SE5a of
No.1 Sqdn.

Bailey and Hampton in BE2543 of 2 Sqdn. are accepted as this vic, but got back safely, therefore not really a victory.

22nd. Time of vic 12.50 (German Time, one hour ahead of British time.)
F H Reeve. Slightly wounded by AA returned.
Morgan and Scoles Not in TSTB.
This was Crosbee and Prance 2 Sqdn. BE. 5785. Returned . Prance wounded in
leg. Again, not really a vic.
As I now live over 300 miles from the PRO I cannot check out the daily casualty reports myself as I used to. I now use TSTB because this is an excellent book and is a compilation of the casualty lists. Trevor left out some of the returns – accidents - etc if not due to enemy action, although he has included some – such as McCudden - if they are of particular interest. This is a fine work and essential for anyone researching who cannot get to the PRO. There are a few errors of course, but this is understandable if one knows the enormous amount of work involved in just listing the daily casualties. He must have lived at the PRO!! It does not supersede UTGOTRB or the list in OTF, but should be used in conjunction with them. I cited those two lists because they are the last two published, as far as I know, and corrected a lot of previous errors which were due to lack of information.
Please note that the vics given as Nos 21 and 22 in the OTF lists and the Harleyford lists should be transposed. Crosbee and Prance were in the morning, Green and Reid in the afternoon. This order is correct in UTGOTRB.
VBW
Alex