The lengths of the RAF operational tours
Having seen sometimes even in books written by so called aviation historians claims that the Allied fighter pilots flew only 50 operational sorties before obligatory rest period owing to their operational tour system and because of that they flew decidedly less operational sorties than their German counterparts I decided to put some info on this topic here. The limiting factor of Allied fighter pilots’ operational tour wasn’t the number of sorties flown but the amount of operational flying. In the ETO (Western Europe) only to the USAAF P-51 Mustang pilots who escorted heavy bombers the 50 operational/combat sorties for a tour was near to the truth, the P-38 Lightning pilots flying the same type of sorties were also not far off, same to the RAF, Commonwealth, Polish etc. Mustang III/IV pilots. P-47, P-40, Spitfire etc. pilots had to fly substantially more operational sorties to accumulate 200 hours of operational flying and so complete his tour.
So, firstly up to the beginning of 1942 there was no official limit for an operational tour. I became aware of this when years ago I read the first part of Wing Commander R. E. Havercroft’s article ‛Armament Flight’ from May 1987 Aeroplane Monthly. At the beginning of it he described how on June 27, 1941 the Senior Medical Officer of the RAF station Biggin Hill asked from totally fatigued Havercroft “How many fighter operations have you completed, flight sergeant?” Surprised Havercroft guessed it was about 200. “Since what date?”, the MO enquired. “Since 3rd of September 1939” was the reply. “Without a rest?” the MO persisted. Hovercroft agreed that it had been continuous except for two short breaks of leave. “You are another victim of the Air Ministry’s lack of policy to rest pilots periodically from the strain of operational demands”. Hovercroft was then posted out of from his squadron to the Aircraft Gun Mounting Establishment at Duxford.
Up to early 1942 it had been up to the squadron commanding officer, the Flight Lieutenant, the squadron or the station Medical Officer to watch the possible symptoms of battle fatigue in their pilots and if noticed those to took the pilot temporarily off operations and if that wasn’t enough to cure suggest/order reposting. Or the pilot himself to ask for a rest or reposting if he felt that he could not take it anymore. But the threshold to ask a rest or reposting was high for the young men in a tightly knit combat unit and at least early in the war the appeal wasn’t necessarily accepted.
After the tour system was adopted the length of it varied, depending on period, theatre, and Command requirements of the time. Whether a man was of RAF, RAFVR, RAAF, RCAF, or RNZAF origin made no difference, nor whether he served in a RAF or a Commonwealth Squadron under RAF command or in PAF(Polish), FFAF (French) etc squadron under RAF operational control. Tour length depended on the RAF policy of the period, the operational characters of the various Commands, and varied according to local conditions or particular Squadron needs but to the day fighter pilots in ETO (Western Europe) it was 200 hours operational flying. Flight times outside range of enemy fighters, e.g. convoy escort flights along the Yorkshire coast, without enemy contact might well be counted only as half times. And the high brass of the RAF, especially the Chief of the Air Staff air chief marshal Portal, were adamant that the RAF had the right to demand, if seen necessary, more than one operational tour from any pilot. Some uncertainty about tours for individuals remained even in 1943, with the result that Air Ministry Letter of 8 May 1943 (AIR 20/2859) was issued: Fighter Command: Day Fighters, normal maximum 200 hours.
In 1944 in South East Asia the day fighter pilot's tour was 300 hours or 12 months (whichever was completed earlier). In Air Command, South East Asia, day fighter pilots may volunteer for a second tour, or may be employed on a second tour if special reason existed. The carrying out of a second tour is dependent on they being assessed as fit by a full medical examination.
At the end of a tour of operational duty, the intention was to “screen” crews; that is, to post them to a non-operational unit for a period of duty out of combat, with the aim of allowing them time to rest and, for many, to pass on their experience to others by a period of instructing, commonly at an OTU. It is certainly the case that aircrew found ways to extend their time on operations, either individually or together. Others were successful in dodging the intended "rest" at an OTU between first and second tour altogether. Some lucky and determined few survived three or more tours.
The ideas on which the tour length was based were: give to aircrews clear target, length should be such that usually an aircrew got through it without being overly fatigued and give an aircrew 50 - 50 chance to survive it. One must remember that service required was the first tour, then a rest period of ½ year working at an Operational Training Unit (OTU) or in a desk job, then a second tour. And as Johnnie Johnson’s experience shows, the superiors and MOs still observed pilots for signs of battle fatigue during their tour. On one day in early September 1943, when Johnnie was lying down after he had led his wing on four missions on that day his superior, Group Captain W. R. “Bill” MacBrien , entered the caravan and said: “Well, that’s it, Johnnie. Your tour is over. Godefroy takes over the wing tomorrow, so you’d better get off on some leave.” So Johnnie went to two weeks leave before taking over a desk job. In Bomber Command the tour length was exceptionally based on the number of successful combat sorties, the first tour was 30 sorties and the second 20 sorties. In late 1944 that was somewhat modified. In Coastal Command the maximum length of a tour depended on tasks and varied from fighter, strike etc. squadrons 200 hours to flying boats and four-engine land-plane crews’ 800 hours.
And how well the 50 – 50 chance to survive for aircrew was achieved? According to a late 1942 study a day fighter pilot had 43% chances to survive one tour and 18½% chances to survive two tours, a long range fighter pilot had better chances, 59½% and 35½%, a night fighter pilot less, 39% and 15%, heavy and medium bomber crews had almost the same as day fighter pilots, 44% and 19½%. Torpedo bomber crews had the worst chances, 17½ and 3½, Catalina flying boat crews the best, 77½ and 60%. The average for the all 13 groups mentioned in the table was 47½% and 25½%.
Because the tour length for the Allied fighter pilots was based on operational flying time, it is difficult to find out the number of operational sorties flown by an individual without access to his logbook. But I succeeded to find info on some. All in ETO if not mentioned otherwise.
Grp Capt. James Edgar "Johnnie" Johnson 34 victories + 7 shared flew some 700 operational sorties from Sept. or Dec. 1940 (depending how one sees the "X-raid patrol" with 616 Sqn on 11 Sept 1940) to the end of the war. Dilip Sarkar writes in his Ace of Aces 785.40 hours of operational flying and "This represents some 700 operational sorties." Whether this is averaged or totaled he does not say. Earlier I have seen somewhere a claim that Johnson flew 515 operational sorties during the WW II.
Sqn Ldr Neville Duke 28 or 29 victories, 486 operational sorties, mostly in the Mediterranean Theatre, the rest in ETO. 2 Apr. 1941 – 20 Sept. 1944.
Grp Capt. Clive "Killer" Caldwell 25 or 26 victories plus 2 - 4 shared victories, 400+ operational sorties of which 300 operational sorties while flying 550 operational hours in the Mediterranean Theatre, the rest in South-West Pacific. All victories but 7 and all shared victories achieved in the Mediterranean Theatre.
Wg Cdr William Crawford-Compton 20 or 21 victories, 800 operational hours on Spitfire, more than anyone else in Fighter Command according to Richard C. Smith.
Flt Lt Pierre Clostermann 11 (+ possible 5 additional) victories, 432 operational sorties.
Wg Cdr Roland Beamont 9 and 1 shared victories + 26 and 5 shared V-1s. He was shot down on his appr. 492nd operational sortie on 12 October 1944 and became prisoner of war.
Wg Cdr Vaclav Bergman (Czechoslovak) 2 victories, 369 operational sorties 522 operational hours 12 Jul.1940 - 22 May 1944.
Sqn Ldr Vaclav Slouf (Czechoslovak) 526 operational sorties, 677.20 hours of combat flying with RAF 5 Sept.1940 – 19 Apr. 1945 also sorties with GC III/3 in 1939/1940.
Jaroslav Hlado (Czechoslovak) 439 operational sorties 519,20 hours 19 Jan. 1943 - 8 May 1945.
And the relevant part of the appendix of the Air Ministry letter 17 Nov. 1944 on the subject:
So, firstly up to the beginning of 1942 there was no official limit for an operational tour. I became aware of this when years ago I read the first part of Wing Commander R. E. Havercroft’s article ‛Armament Flight’ from May 1987 Aeroplane Monthly. At the beginning of it he described how on June 27, 1941 the Senior Medical Officer of the RAF station Biggin Hill asked from totally fatigued Havercroft “How many fighter operations have you completed, flight sergeant?” Surprised Havercroft guessed it was about 200. “Since what date?”, the MO enquired. “Since 3rd of September 1939” was the reply. “Without a rest?” the MO persisted. Hovercroft agreed that it had been continuous except for two short breaks of leave. “You are another victim of the Air Ministry’s lack of policy to rest pilots periodically from the strain of operational demands”. Hovercroft was then posted out of from his squadron to the Aircraft Gun Mounting Establishment at Duxford.
Up to early 1942 it had been up to the squadron commanding officer, the Flight Lieutenant, the squadron or the station Medical Officer to watch the possible symptoms of battle fatigue in their pilots and if noticed those to took the pilot temporarily off operations and if that wasn’t enough to cure suggest/order reposting. Or the pilot himself to ask for a rest or reposting if he felt that he could not take it anymore. But the threshold to ask a rest or reposting was high for the young men in a tightly knit combat unit and at least early in the war the appeal wasn’t necessarily accepted.
After the tour system was adopted the length of it varied, depending on period, theatre, and Command requirements of the time. Whether a man was of RAF, RAFVR, RAAF, RCAF, or RNZAF origin made no difference, nor whether he served in a RAF or a Commonwealth Squadron under RAF command or in PAF(Polish), FFAF (French) etc squadron under RAF operational control. Tour length depended on the RAF policy of the period, the operational characters of the various Commands, and varied according to local conditions or particular Squadron needs but to the day fighter pilots in ETO (Western Europe) it was 200 hours operational flying. Flight times outside range of enemy fighters, e.g. convoy escort flights along the Yorkshire coast, without enemy contact might well be counted only as half times. And the high brass of the RAF, especially the Chief of the Air Staff air chief marshal Portal, were adamant that the RAF had the right to demand, if seen necessary, more than one operational tour from any pilot. Some uncertainty about tours for individuals remained even in 1943, with the result that Air Ministry Letter of 8 May 1943 (AIR 20/2859) was issued: Fighter Command: Day Fighters, normal maximum 200 hours.
In 1944 in South East Asia the day fighter pilot's tour was 300 hours or 12 months (whichever was completed earlier). In Air Command, South East Asia, day fighter pilots may volunteer for a second tour, or may be employed on a second tour if special reason existed. The carrying out of a second tour is dependent on they being assessed as fit by a full medical examination.
At the end of a tour of operational duty, the intention was to “screen” crews; that is, to post them to a non-operational unit for a period of duty out of combat, with the aim of allowing them time to rest and, for many, to pass on their experience to others by a period of instructing, commonly at an OTU. It is certainly the case that aircrew found ways to extend their time on operations, either individually or together. Others were successful in dodging the intended "rest" at an OTU between first and second tour altogether. Some lucky and determined few survived three or more tours.
The ideas on which the tour length was based were: give to aircrews clear target, length should be such that usually an aircrew got through it without being overly fatigued and give an aircrew 50 - 50 chance to survive it. One must remember that service required was the first tour, then a rest period of ½ year working at an Operational Training Unit (OTU) or in a desk job, then a second tour. And as Johnnie Johnson’s experience shows, the superiors and MOs still observed pilots for signs of battle fatigue during their tour. On one day in early September 1943, when Johnnie was lying down after he had led his wing on four missions on that day his superior, Group Captain W. R. “Bill” MacBrien , entered the caravan and said: “Well, that’s it, Johnnie. Your tour is over. Godefroy takes over the wing tomorrow, so you’d better get off on some leave.” So Johnnie went to two weeks leave before taking over a desk job. In Bomber Command the tour length was exceptionally based on the number of successful combat sorties, the first tour was 30 sorties and the second 20 sorties. In late 1944 that was somewhat modified. In Coastal Command the maximum length of a tour depended on tasks and varied from fighter, strike etc. squadrons 200 hours to flying boats and four-engine land-plane crews’ 800 hours.
And how well the 50 – 50 chance to survive for aircrew was achieved? According to a late 1942 study a day fighter pilot had 43% chances to survive one tour and 18½% chances to survive two tours, a long range fighter pilot had better chances, 59½% and 35½%, a night fighter pilot less, 39% and 15%, heavy and medium bomber crews had almost the same as day fighter pilots, 44% and 19½%. Torpedo bomber crews had the worst chances, 17½ and 3½, Catalina flying boat crews the best, 77½ and 60%. The average for the all 13 groups mentioned in the table was 47½% and 25½%.
Because the tour length for the Allied fighter pilots was based on operational flying time, it is difficult to find out the number of operational sorties flown by an individual without access to his logbook. But I succeeded to find info on some. All in ETO if not mentioned otherwise.
Grp Capt. James Edgar "Johnnie" Johnson 34 victories + 7 shared flew some 700 operational sorties from Sept. or Dec. 1940 (depending how one sees the "X-raid patrol" with 616 Sqn on 11 Sept 1940) to the end of the war. Dilip Sarkar writes in his Ace of Aces 785.40 hours of operational flying and "This represents some 700 operational sorties." Whether this is averaged or totaled he does not say. Earlier I have seen somewhere a claim that Johnson flew 515 operational sorties during the WW II.
Sqn Ldr Neville Duke 28 or 29 victories, 486 operational sorties, mostly in the Mediterranean Theatre, the rest in ETO. 2 Apr. 1941 – 20 Sept. 1944.
Grp Capt. Clive "Killer" Caldwell 25 or 26 victories plus 2 - 4 shared victories, 400+ operational sorties of which 300 operational sorties while flying 550 operational hours in the Mediterranean Theatre, the rest in South-West Pacific. All victories but 7 and all shared victories achieved in the Mediterranean Theatre.
Wg Cdr William Crawford-Compton 20 or 21 victories, 800 operational hours on Spitfire, more than anyone else in Fighter Command according to Richard C. Smith.
Flt Lt Pierre Clostermann 11 (+ possible 5 additional) victories, 432 operational sorties.
Wg Cdr Roland Beamont 9 and 1 shared victories + 26 and 5 shared V-1s. He was shot down on his appr. 492nd operational sortie on 12 October 1944 and became prisoner of war.
Wg Cdr Vaclav Bergman (Czechoslovak) 2 victories, 369 operational sorties 522 operational hours 12 Jul.1940 - 22 May 1944.
Sqn Ldr Vaclav Slouf (Czechoslovak) 526 operational sorties, 677.20 hours of combat flying with RAF 5 Sept.1940 – 19 Apr. 1945 also sorties with GC III/3 in 1939/1940.
Jaroslav Hlado (Czechoslovak) 439 operational sorties 519,20 hours 19 Jan. 1943 - 8 May 1945.
And the relevant part of the appendix of the Air Ministry letter 17 Nov. 1944 on the subject:
And how it was in other air forces? The following is a rough comparison. One must remember that an operational sortie is not the same as a combat sortie/mission. In the RAF roughly:
Combat sortie - all flights over enemy territory + all flights when the enemy was encountered (air combat)
Operational sortie – also convoy protection flights, scrambles (without contact with enemy), patrols over own territory without enemy contact etc were included.
I have been told that Luftwaffe’s Feindflug means the same as RAF’s Combat sortie but I have seen a Luftwaffe fighter pilot’s Flugbuch (pilot’s logbook) where an Alarmstart (a scramble) without enemy contact and flown over own territory but which ended up with an emergency landing because of an engine problem was marked as a Feindflug. In a Flugbuch there was a column for the number of the flight but not for the number of a Feindflug and pilots used different ways to keep up the number of the Feindflügen, which were marked as a Feindflug in the ‛ Zweck des Fluges ‘ (Purpose of the Flight) column, some counted them in margins, some in the ‛Bemerkungen’ (comments) column, one even used the
‛Kilometer’ column for that.
USAAF
Also USAAF used operational flying time as the tour criteria, so it is difficult to find the number of operational sorties flown by USAAF fighter pilots, too. But generally those flying P-51s and P-38s achieved less operational sorties per a tour than those flying P-47s, P-40s, Spitfires etc.
Major Richard Bong 40 victories, 146 combat missions 365 hours operational flying. Because Bong flew mostly offensive sorties the figure isn’t
too far away from the number of his operational sorties if Franks used criteria identical to the British definition of a combat sortie.
At first an ETO tour for fighter pilots was 270 hours then extended to 300 hours ~ august 1944. Many volunteered for second tour. If I have understood correctly in the USAAF the second tour was voluntary. P-47 pilots obviously flew more sorties to get to 300 hours than Mustang/Lightning pilots in the 8th AF. For TAC/9th it didn't much make a difference as missions were relatively short range/heavy load.
Major Clarence "Bud" Anderson 16.25 victories, 116 combat sorties 480 hours operational flying in two tours, all in P-51.
Colonel Donald ‛Don’ Blakeslee 14,5 victories ~500+ operational sorties 1000+ hours operational flying in Spitfire VBs, P-47s and P-51s, exact
figure impossible to know because he ‛doctored’ his log books to keep his hours down and so to stay in combat as long as possible. Blakeslee
was an exception IMHO he flew clearly more sorties than other USAAF fighter pilots in ETO.
Captain Charles ‛Chuck’ Yeager 11.5 victories, 64 missions.
Lt. Col. Bert Marshall Jr 7 victories, his first tour (all P-51) was 300 hours and 60 missions. He shot down all seven of his air to air scores in his
first 35 missions then never fired a shot after that except at ground targets. He only got in 12 more missions on his second tour which was
March/April 1945.
Major Leroy Gover 4 victories, 257 combat sorties in WWII, moved away from combat on 4 Jan 1944, flew operations in Spitfire VBs and P-47Cs.
Captain Harry R. Ankeny 3 victories, 74 combat sorties 301:30 Combat Hours, all in P-51, 12 Feb. - 16 Aug. 1944.
Soviet Air Force VVS
Ivan N. Kozhedub 64 personal victories, 330 operational sorties.
Grigoriy A. Rechkalov 61 personal + 4 shared victories, 450+ operational sorties.
Nikolay Dmitrievich Gulayev 55 personal + 5 shared victories, 250 operational sorties.
Kirill Alekseyevich Yevstigneyev 52 personal + 3 shared victories, 283 operational sorties.
Dimitriy B. Glinka 50 personal victories, 265+ operational sorties.
Alexandr I. Pokryshkin 46 personal + 6 shared victories, 650+ operational sorties.
Vasiliy Aleksandrovich Knyazev 18 personal + 11 shared victories, 900 operational sorties
Fotiy Ya. Morozov 16 personal + 5 shared victories, 857 operational sorties.
Aleksey Mihailovich Reshetov 22 personal + 10 shared victories, 821 operational sorties.
Andrey Mihailovich Kulagin 30 personal + 5 shared victories, 762 operational sorties.
Luftwaffe
Major Erich “Bubi” Hartmann 352 victories, 1450 operational sorties (Einsätzen) of which 825 were combat sorties (Feindflügen) according to
Toliver and Constable.
Major Gerhard Barkhorn 301 victories, 1104 combat sorties.
Major Günther Rall 275 victories, 621 combat sorties.
Oberleutnant Otto “Bruno” Kittel 267 victories, 583 operational sorties (Einsätzen).
Major Walter “Nowi” Nowotny 258 victories, 443 combat sorties.
And some of those who fought only against Western Allies:
Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Marseille 158 victories, 482 operational sorties (Einsätzen) of which 388 were combat sorties (Feindflügen), 7 of the
victories in ETO, rest in MTO. From Aug. 1940 to 30 Sept. 1942 (KIFA).
Oberstleutnant Kurt Bühligen 112 victories, 700+ operational sorties, ETO and MTO. From 1940 to the end of the war.
Oberstleutnant Egon Mayer 102 victories, 353 sorties, meaning probably combat sorties. ETO. From 6 Dec. 1939 to 2 Mar. 1944 (KIA).
Oberstleutnant Günther Seeger 56 victories, 504 operational sorties, ETO and MTO. From 26 Feb. 1940 to the end of the war.
Major Julius Meimberg 53 victories, 600+ operational sorties of which 250 were combat sorties, ETO and MTO. From 6 Dec. 1939 to the end of
the war.
Finnish Air Force
Warrant Officer Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen 94 victories, 437 operational sorties.
Captain Hans Wind 74½ victories, 302 operational sorties.
Major Eino Luukkanen 54 victories, 441 operational sorties.
Captain Olli Puhakka 46 victories, 401 operational sorties.
Warrant Officer Urho Lehtovaara 41½ victories, appr. 400 operational sorties.
So the most experience British and Commonwealth fighter pilots flew more or less as many operational sorties than the top VVS fighter aces and were not substantially behind the most experienced VVS fighter pilots according to my limited knowledge on the VVS fighter pilots. Knyazev flew the highest number of operational sorties of the distinguished VVS fighter pilots. The most experience British and Commonwealth fighter pilots also flew more operational sorties than the most experienced Finnish fighter pilots, to my understanding Luukkanen had the highest number of operational sorties amongst the Finnish fighter pilots who didn’t have any rotation system but to whom there was between highly active periods of 1941 and 1944 definitely more quiet period from 1942 to early 1944. They were not massively behind even the most experienced Luftwaffe fighter pilots. In fact if one compares Neville Duke and Hans-Joachim Marseille, whose careers were fairly similar, at first some operational flying on the Channel Front with few successes then to the Mediterranean Area, the latter flew almost the same number of operational sorties than the former but during one year five months shorter timeframe. Hartmann seems to have flown roughly twice as many operational sorties than Johnson.
And as a reminder the operational tour lengths of the different commands of the RAF.
The Air Ministry Letter of 8 May 1943 (AIR 20/2859):
"Bomber Command: first tour, 30 sorties; second tour, not more than 20 sorties.
Pathfinder Force: a single continuous tour of 45 sorties.
Fighter Command: Day Fighters, normal maximum 200 hours.
Night Fighters, 100 hours or a maximum of 18 months.
Army Cooperation Command: 200 hours.
Coastal Command: Flying boats and four-engined land-plane crews, 800 hours*.
Twin-engined general reconnaissance squadrons (including meteorological squadrons and flights), 500 hours.
Photographic Reconnaissance squadrons, 300 hours.
Fighter torpedo and other squadrons employed offensively, 200 hours."
*For Coastal Command, at least, it has been said elsewhere that the tour was 800 hours or 18 months, whichever came first.
Sources:
Clay, Simon, ‛First Through The Barrier’ The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aviation Volume 20 p. 2364.
Combat Crew Rotation World War II and Korean War by Historical Studies Branch USAF Historical Division (1968).
The War Diaries of Neville Duke, edited by Norman Franks (London: Grub Street, 2006, 1st published 1995) p. 200.
Franks, Norman, ‛America’s Leading Ace’ The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aviation Volume 4 (Freeport
N.Y.: Marshall Cavendish, 1979) pp. 381 - 382.
Franks, Norman, ‛Fighting Frenchman’ The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aviation Volume 5 (Freeport
N.Y.: Marshall Cavendish, 1979) pp. 592 – 594.
Franks, Norman, ‛Leader of the Debden Eagles’ The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aviation Volume 3 (Freeport
N.Y.: Marshall Cavendish, 1979) pp. 278 - 280.
Fry, Garry L. and Ethell, Jeffrey L., Escort to Berlin. The 4th Fighter Group in World War II (Arco Publishing, Inc: New York, 1980)
Geust, Carl-Fredrik - Keskinen, Kalevi - Niska, Klaus - Stenman, Kari, Red Stars in the Sky 3 - Punatähti taivaalla 3 Soviet air force in World War
two = Neuvostoliiton ilmavoimat II maailmansodassa (Forssa:Tietoteos, 1983.
Gordon, Yefim, Soviet Air Power in World War 2 (Hinckley: Midland Publishing, 2008) pp. 519 - 520.
Havercroft, R. E., ‛Armament Flight Part 1’ Aeroplane Monthly May 1987.
“Johnnie” Johnson, Wing Leader (London: Chatto and Windus, 1956) p. 187.
Jonsson, T. E., Dancing in the Skies (London: Grub Street, 1995).
Keskinen, Kalevi and Stenman, Kari, Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 26 Ilmavoitot/Aerial Victories Osa 1 (Espoo: Stenman, 2006)
Keskinen, Kalevi and Stenman, Kari, Suomen Ilmavoimien Historia 27 Ilmavoitot/Aerial Victories Osa 2 (Espoo: Stenman, 2006)
Meimberg, Julius, Viholliskosketus (the original German edition Feindberührung)(Helsinki: Koala-Kustannus, 2004)
Mellinger, George and Stanaway, John, P-39 Airacobra Aces of World War 2. Osprey Aircraft of the Aces •36 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing Limited,
2001) pp. 86 - 89.
Morgan, Hugh, Soviet Aces of World War 2. Osprey Aircraft of the Aces • 15 (London: Reed International Books Ltd, 1997) pp. 88 - 89.
Morgan, Hugh & Seibel, Jürgen, Combat Kill (Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Limited, 1997) pp. 31 - 32.
Olynyk, Frank, Stars & Bars. A Tribute to the American Fighter Ace 1920 – 1973 (London: Grub Street, 1995).
Polak, Tomas with Shores, Christopher, Stalin’s Falcons. The Aces of the Red Star (London: Grub Street, 1999).
Sarkar, Dilip, Spitfire Ace of Aces: The True Wartime Story of Johnnie Johnson (Stroud: Amberley Publishing, 2011) p. 306.
Shores, Christopher and Williams, Clive, Aces High (London: Grub Street, 1994).
Shores, Christopher, Aces High Volume 2 (London: Grub Street, 1999).
Shores, Christopher, Those Other Eagles (London: Grub Street, 2004).
Smith, Richard C., Hornchurch Eagles (London: Grub Street, 2002) p. 202.
Terraine, John, The Right of the Line (Ware: Wordsworth Editions Limited,1997) pp. 522 – 27, 533 - 534 and endnotes pp. 773-74.
Thomas, Andrew, RAF Mustang and Thunderbolt Aces. Osprey Aircraft of the Aces • 93 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing Limited, 2010) p. 11.
Toliver, Raymond F. & Constable, Trevor J., Erich Hartmann (the original English edition The Blond Knight of Germany) (Helsinki: Koala-
Kustannus, 2003) pp. 21, 263 - 268.
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=15231
www.211squadron.org/glossary.html#Tours
http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?14629-Number-of-combat-sorties-flown-by-J.-E.-Johnson-during-the-WWII
http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?16842-Air-Vice-Marshal-Johnnie-Johnson-Battle-of-Britain-airman
http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviation/erich-hartmann-how-did-his-comrades-regard-him-29986-3.html Drgondog 08-16-2011 08:12 AM
http://www.fourthfightergroup.com/resource/gover.html seems to be dead now
http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/anderson/anderson.htm seems to be dead now
http://cpcug.org/user/billb/hankeny/diarysorties.html seems to be dead now
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=40124&highlight=victory+war
http://airaces.narod.ru/
http://airaces.narod.ru/all1/rechkal.htm
http://airaces.narod.ru/all1/evstign.htm
http://wio.ru/aces/ace2.htm
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/soviet_reshetov.htm
http://www.luftwaffe.cz/eastern.html
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Barkhorn
http://www.luftwaffe.cz/barkhorn.html
http://www.luftwaffe.cz/hartmann.html
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Hartmann_%28Jagdflieger%29
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Kittel
http://www.luftwaffe.cz/kittel.html
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Joachim_Marseille
http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/hanstate.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Mayer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Meimberg
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnther_Rall
http://www.luftwaffe.cz/rall.html
