Interrogation of Oberstleutnant Bär
At Kaufbeuren, Germany, 28 August 1945
1.American Fighters. The Mustang is the best escort fighter up to six thousand metres. Thunderbolt is, as a fighter bomber, very efficient as it has a radial engine and long endurance. The Lightning is an old type aircraft but is efficient as an escort fighter over water because of its ability to fly on one engine.
2. British Fighters. The Tempest is a very good fighter but was not well known by Bar. The Spitfire is fast and maneuverable, has a good climb and excellent armament but does not have long range. The Typhoon is good as a ground attack aircraft because of its speed in horizontal flight. The Allied tendency towards heavy fighter aircraft is not good. R/T was considered as very good on all types of aircraft.
The US.50 calibre would have much trouble against the Russian Il-2. It would have been better for the Allies to have airfield defense units equipped with 20 mm. guns and other units equipped with 12.7 mm. guns. The best solution would be found in interchangeable guns in the same type of aircraft. The 12.7 mm. guns were sufficient for defense of large bomber formations.
3. Allied Fighter Pilots. Bar states that in all countries the fighting spirit is high as long as that Air Force is superior. As fighters, the Americans were better than the British because they fought to the end and were very brave sometimes to the point of foolishness. The English fighters were only good when they had air superiority. The French fighters were good acrobatic pilots but they had no fighting spirit. They lacked discipline and Bar thinks they lived too good a life and that they were not rugged like the Russians.
As P/W’s, the English pilot never talked. He was always cold and had the feeling of his native superiority. The American pilot was very strong as a P/W, as long as the situation was favorable for the American forces. If unfavorable, as in Africa, he used to be quite talkative.
4.Formations Employed by Allied Fighters for Escort Missions and Others. The formations were good as the Allies always had the superiority of numbers.
5.Tactics. The concentrated attack of U.S. fighters against enemy formations in order to disperse them was always very efficient. However, the American fighters always waited too long to attack. These tactics would have been disastrous if the Germans had air superiority.