Bf-109 gun camera

[CharlesBronson]

I have searched the forum and could not find a similar topic. Khazanov stated in his famous article that Gerrman fighters were not equipped with gun cameras. This was critisised in many discussions. Is there any specific detail on the type and number built for this devices?

Thanks.

I could post several links to Me-109 guncameras and photos of guncameras used,emplaced in me-109 but if I do that I would be given that retard of Khazanov some importance, like if he was something. I guess Khazanov want to be alone against the world of aviation, the statement is so stupid that deserve no further comment.

[Maximowitz]

Khazanov was (is) a little selective with his evidence no doubt, but then again he's certainly not alone in questioning the scores of certain Ostfront "Experten" and other topics.

Historians in a perfect world would be completely objective, but that does not sell books. Having a "radical new viewpoint" with "freshly discovered evidence" does. Even if it is wrong.

That said, with the opening of the Russian archives and the work of a few dedicated diligent researchers, it will be interesting to see how many claims can be matched to losses.

[stona]

I could post several links to Me-109 guncameras and photos of guncameras used,emplaced in me-109.

I too have some images of Bf109s with cameras fitted but it was unusual. I've sat through a lot of Luftwaffe gun camera footage. I'm struggling to remember any footage that can be proven to be from a Bf109.There are all sorts of innacurate captions and descriptions applied to footage on the internet. Infact in all the footage I've seen,captioned at the time,by the Luftwaffe, for educational purposes, none is from a Bf109. This doesn't mean that the type didn't ever carry cameras,just that it was not common place.
Over claiming was a problem for all sides. We'll probably never know how deliberate it was.Analysing the pattern of claims seems to be a popular pass time at the moment! Seeing a cluster of claims as a pilot approaches a landmark number is supposed to indicate fraud which,of course,it does not. It could be entirely coincidental. I can only think of one example where it was more or less proven to be fraudulent and that was the case of 4.JG/27's expert schwarm comprising Vogel,Sawallisch,Bendert and Stigler. Many had doubts at the time about their claims but they were caught red handed strafing sand dunes before returning to claim yet more victories by no less a figure than Hans-Arnold "Fifi" Stahlschmidt of 2.JG/27.

Cheers
Steve

[alejandro_]

Thank you guys for the answes and the photos, some really interesting stuff. I have been reading through captured evaluations of Bf-109 (and Bf-110) to check if there was something about the gun cameras in the description, but I did not come accross anything. The description of the German records regarding claims and victories in BA-MA does not mention anything about photos from gun cameras:

http://www.rustadp.vosi.biz/Niende/r..._vol4_1943.pdf

The BA-MA films cover Claims of crews of Day-Fighters, Night-Fighters, miscell aneou s uni t s, and Fl ak Batteries on all Fronts from September 1939 to the end of December 1944. The Films roughly form three parts: [A] Handwritten Daily Logs [severely limited and often duplicated until about the beginning of 1943]. Typed lists of the 'Ubersicht überbisher anerkannte Abschuße' or, roughly, 'lists of confi rmed kills known hitherto' . These omit the important crash-locations, and usualy cover claims to about mid-1942 only. And, [C] handwritten Daily Logs of Claims which cover, solely, the unit, the date and time, and the RLM Confirmation Number.

[alejandro_]

I found by chance this comment in an interview of Johannes Steinhoff:

I poured a good burst into this P-38 and the pilot rolled over, and I saw him bail out. I had this on gun camera also.

It seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

Interview: Johannes Steinhoff