Fonck and Wüsthoff

[rammjaeger]

Robert Jackson wrote in "Air War Flanders 1918" the following lines:

>>On the day that Mannock died, the Germans also lost one of their leading aces, although Vizefeldwebel Kurt Wüsthoff of Jasta 4 - a pilot with twenty-seven victories - was more fortunate. He was shot down by René Fonck, but survived to become a prisoner-of-war. Fonck paid him a visit in hospital, where the German admitted to him that although the Frenchman´s fame had spread throughout the German Flying Corps, no one had any idea of the tactics he used. "That´s hardly surprising," Fonck told him wryly. "When I attack someone, he doesn´t usually live to talk about.<<

Mr Jackson made tons of mistakes in his book, so also in this short paragraph. Wüsthoff was no Vizefeldwebel and not lost on Mannocks last day and especially not downed by Fonck!

But I would like to know another thing:
Did Fonck ever claim he was downing Wüsthoff too?
Fonck is not doing that in "Ace of the Aces" but Jackson must have had a source for his claim that Fonck was downing Wüsthoff. Any ideas?

VBR
Hannes Täger

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Hannes:
Mr. Jackson is another of the writers of aviation history, that is short on facts and research. I have found that this is not uncommon. Sound research is time consuming and often expensive. If you are tied to a schedule, you won't be able to afford either the time or the money. In a previous thread several months ago this was the subject, truth in print, it is sometimes very hard to find! An example, in a book that many accept for absolute pure fact, I find that Ltn. Kurt Wüsthoff was shot down in Fok. D.VII 2469/18! However, we know he was shot down in Fok.D.VII 382/18.
Blue skies,
Dan-San Abbott