confirmation of German claims - OT

Does anyone know the requirements for confirmation of German claims? I'm referring to the actual historical practice, not how it works in WOFF.

I've seen two different versions. One is that they must be confirmed by ground observers and the plane can't fall behind Entente front lines. The other version is that planes that fall behind the Entente's front lines can be verified by a German observer.

read this

https://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4188928/leds-claiming-system-not-for-everyone-maybe

On paper at least, and probably in practice for most of the war, the German system of claim and credit for air to air victories appears to have been the most organised and thorough of all the combatants. Combat reports were required by each pilot for every victory claim, and were claimed as 'ds' or 'diesseit' (our side); 'js' or 'jenseit' (their side); or as 'zLg' or 'zur Landung gezwungen' (seen to land). the 'zLg' claims, although they could be a part of the pilot's personal score, were not officially acknowledged as a 'victory' unless the enemy aircraft landed behind German lines, and as the war progressed these appear to have been largely phased out. All 'js' or 'ds' claims required witnesses, although as most 'ds' claims fell behind the German lines the wreckage of the aircraft or captured aircrew were usually there to support the claim. The 'js' claims were more problematic, as there was no evidence on the ground to support the claim - in practice, very similar to the British 'Out of control' type of claim. After claiming a victory the Jasta pilot would prepare a combat report, which would go to the CO for approval. This would then be passed to the HQ of the relevant Army for approval, and from there to the Kommandierende General der Luftstreikrafte (Kogenluft) for final approval and confirmation. If it was then approved at this level a document, with a victory number asigned, would go back down the chain of command to unit level. The victory was then published in Kogenluft's Nachrichtenblatt der Luftstreikrafte (the Intelligence Report of the Air Service) and in the weekly 'Wochenbericht' reports of the relevant Army. It was a strict system of one credit to one 'victory', without allowance for multiple claims (except for the multi-seat aircraft, where each crew member received one credit). Disputed claims often went to 'the biggest Kannone', but if such a dispute could not be resolved the credit was awarded to the unit rather than an individual. This system was not in place immediately the war broke out, and it is likely that the early victories of 1914 and early 1915 would have been evaluated less thoroughly. By early 1917 there is also some evidence that the system may have started to 'loosen up' as the war dragged on into its third year and more 'aces' were required by the press to bolster morale on the home front. From January 1917 onwards the precise location for each victory was no longer required for publication, and further details were dropped from May 1917. Although some aces (Manfred von Richtoften amongst them) maintained scrupilous details for all claims submitted, others did not (Goering, for example, apparently stopped supplying serial numbers for aircraft claimed after the end of 1916). The system might then have gone into something of a 'melt-down' in the final months of the war, the last official victory credits, up to August 1918, being published at the end of October 1918, and an apparent increase in the more nebulous 'js' claims (up to about 40% of the total, perhaps the same proportion as the 'Out of Control' claims being made by British and Dominion pilots). There is also a suspicion that at least some of the later German aces, who went on to add a significant number of victories in a very short period of time in the final months, were by then overclaiming at a similar rate to that of some pilots on the Allied side, and some evidence that even the 'ds' or 'diesseit' (our side) claims were problematic, as it appears that German pilots were not above claiming for Allied aircraft that came down behind German lines due to engine failure or structural failure (see The Aerodrome thread 'Pfennigs from Heaven' by Russ Gannon)

B.

Sources

Olynyk, Frank. Claims documentation (The Aerodrome Forum)

Barrett, Tilman. Victory claims (The Aerodrome Forum)

Gannon, R. Pfennigs from Heaven (The Aerodrome Forum

Thanks very much for the detailed explanation.

I was mostly curious about the "our side/their side" aspect. My understanding now is that a German pilot could potentially receive credit for planes downed on "their side" if the plane crashed or was destroyed and there was a German witness.