Talk:North American A-36

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Military history: Aviation / World War II

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Aviation: Aircraft

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What should we do with this claim? I think it falls under "Exceptional claims require exceptional sourcing"

"German defenses in southern Italy included placing cables across hill tops to snare the attacking A-36As."

I have found nothing on the internet about this. KaptenHardcore (talk) 17:34, 15 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It is unreasonable to expect to find all facts in Wikipedia articles to be supported by the internet. Most WWII aircraft types are supported (referenced to) hard copy paper sources (books, magazines), more than ten have been used here. The fact is cited (Cite 22) to Gruenhagen 1969, p. 63. We normally assume good faith and trust that the editor adding and citing the fact is correct. If still in doubt you can buy the book or access it at a library and check for yourself.

Another option is to view the history of the article, find out which editor added the cited text and ask them to confirm it is correct. In this case it was added by Bzuk on 14th January 2007. Bzuk is Bill Zuk, a Canadian historian and author. By my linking his name here he would be alerted and respond but he has not edited since 2023 so he's probably left the project. I would be very surprised indeed if this fact and citation were incorrect knowing his passion for accuracy. Failing that and AGF you need to buy the book, I would have but it's quite expensive. Hope that helps. Nimbus (Cumulus nimbus floats by) 18:49, 15 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) If it's an exceptional claim, it's borderline. Axis forces in Europe were known to use cables against Allied Jeeps, and barrage balloons were used by both sides to raise anti-aircraft cables, so the idea of stringing such cables across hill tops is not that farfetched. That said, the lack of online sources is peculiar, but it is sourced from Mustang: The Story of the P-51 Mustang by Robert W. Gruenhagen (interestingly, my university's search engine lists its publication year as 1976 rather than 1969, based on ISBN). My university's library unfortunately does not have the edition used in the article, but it does have the 1980 edition of the same book, so I'll try to check it tomorrow. - ZLEA _T\^C 18:49, 15 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Great! I tried to find the book online but had no luck (maybe because Google sucks). KaptenHardcore (talk) 07:42, 25 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I checked my library, but I guess I forgot to update here. The book was unfortunately not on the shelves when I checked, though the website said it was available. Hopefully that just meant someone was reading it within the library, so I'll check again once it opens after the new year. - ZLEA _T\^C 07:51, 25 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]