victory marks is on display at Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr in Berlin Gatow. It had initially been given to his family as a gift by Hermann Göring and was donated to the museum. Summary of career Aerial victory claims Marseille was transferred to his first combat assignment with the I.(Jagd)/Lehrgeschwader 2 at the time stationed at Calais-Marck on Sunday 10 August 1940. Two days later he arrived at this unit on 12 August 1940. He was assigned to the 1. Staffel of this Gruppe. Staffelkapitän was Oberleutnant Adolf Buhl. One of the Schwarmführer was Oberfeldwebel'' Helmut Goedert, to whom Marseille was assigned as wingman. Marseille flew his first combat mission on the next day, Wednesday 13 August 1940 and claimed his first aerial victory on 24 August 1940. In over little more than two years he amassed another 157 aerial victories. His 158 aerial victories were claimed in 382 combat missions. Dispute over claims Some serious discrepancies between Allied squadron records and German claims have caused some historians and Allied veterans to question the accuracy of Marseille's official victories, in addition to those of JG 27 as a whole. Attention is often focused on the 26 claims made by JG 27 on 1 September 1942, of which 17 were claimed by Marseille alone. A USAF historian, Major Robert Tate states: "[f]or years, many British historians and militarists refused to admit that they had lost any aircraft that day in North Africa. Careful review of records however do show that the British [and South Africans] did lose more than 17 aircraft that day, and in the area that Marseille operated." Tate also reveals 20 RAF single-engined fighters and one twin engined fighter were destroyed and several others severely damaged, as well as a further USAAF P-40 shot down. However, overall Tate reveals that Marseille's kill total comes close to 65–70 percent corroboration, indicating as many as 50 of his claims may not have actually been kills. Tate also compares Marseille’s rate of corroboration with the top six P-40 pilots. While only the Canadian James Francis Edwards' records shows a verification of 100 percent other aces like Clive Caldwell (50% to 60% corroboration), Billy Drake (70% to 80% corroboration), John Lloyd Waddy (70% to 80% corroboration) and Andrew Barr (60% to 70% corroboration) are at the same order of magnitude as Marseille's claims. Christopher Shores and Hans Ring also support Tate's conclusions. British