|
The problem with Fonck is that the french system was much more severe than the british one and that fonck is credited with 75 victory and not 127 as he claim. It is also true that the german system was also more strict than the british and do not rely only on the pilot sole testimony. That do not mean i believe bishop was a liar that mean I am more doubtfull on bishop total tally than I am on non british pilot
As a lot of people will do the german ace I will do the french if we look at the score of Guynemer
only 33 of its victory can be matched with german record (from Guynemer les avion d'un as) interstingly at least one of its probable can be matched on the german record
I do not doubt that the homologation was much more easier for fonck (at least at the begining) then if we look at Fonck's claim the proportion of non awarded victory is constant, what I guess is that the pilot knew when he could claim and only do it withon such condition
I even tend to believe that if RFC was overclaiming (I do not mean they were dishonest simply that they reportede the fact) the french (and US and german) air force were underclaiming by looking at the recent biography on Dorme of his 29 non comfirmed kill (the most recent figure but some other give him much more) at least 7 can be matched with german record and it is known that dorme only reported when he knew he could get confirmation (I guess he did not want to pay the champagne) in the other hand only 13 of his confirmed victory can be matched with german loss
__________________
Grégoire
|