Confirmation and Overclaiming of Aerial Victories During World War II

Confirmation And Overclaiming Of Aerial Victories During World War II

In aerial warfare, the term overclaiming describes a combatant (or group) that claims the destruction of more enemy aircraft than actually achieved. The net effect is that the actual losses and claimed victories are unequal.

Honest overclaiming typically occurs in one of two ways: (1) more than one fighter pilot attacks the same target in quick succession and when they see it destroyed each claims a victory in good faith, and (2) a target is hit and appears to go down, but the pilot is able to land the plane. In some instances of combat over friendly territory a damaged aircraft may have been claimed as an aerial victory by its opponent while the aircraft was later salvaged and restored to an operational status. In this situation the loss may not appear in the records while the claim remains confirmed.

Most discussion of overclaiming centers on air combat during World War II, because of the significant amount of air combat relative to conflicts before or since.