Fighter aces in World War II had tremendously varying kill scores, affected as they were by many factors: the pilot's skill level, the performance of the airplane the pilot flew and the planes they flew against, how long they served, their opportunity to meet the enemy in the air (Allied to Axis disproportion), whether they were the formation's leader or a wingman, the standards their air service brought to the awarding of victory credits, et cetera.
Aces
List of World War II aces by victory count:
This background, along with the symbol "†", indicates that the pilot was killed in action, missing in action, died of wounds, or was killed in a flying accident during World War II.
| Name | Country | Service(s) | Aerial victories | Other aerial victories | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph L. Lang |  United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7.83 | ||
| Everett W. Stewart | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7.83 | (+1.5 ground kills) | |
| John Latta † |  Canada
|
Royal Air Force | 7.5 | ||
| Józef Jeka |  Poland
|
Polish Air Forces; Royal Air Force |
7.5 | ||
| Henryk Pietrzak | Poland
|
Polish Air Forces; Royal Air Force |
7.5 | ||
| Howard M. Burriss | United States
|
U.S. Navy | 7.5 | ||
| Kenneth J. Dahms | United States
|
U.S. Navy | 7.5 | ||
| John H. Lowell | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7.5 | Acting commanding officer of 364th Fighter Group | |
| Vermont Garrison | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7.3 | +10 in Korean War | Ace in each of two wars |
| Noel le Chevalier Agazarian † |  United Kingdom
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | ||
| Calvin D. Allen | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | 52nd FG, 5th Fighter Squadron, ETO | |
| Alfred Ambs |  Germany
|
Luftwaffe | 7 | Jet ace with all victories in Me 262 | |
| Georg Christl | Germany
|
Luftwaffe | 7 | ||
| Otto Stammberger | Germany
|
Luftwaffe | 7 | ||
| William Y. Anderson | United States Sweden
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | (+1 V-1 flying bomb) | |
| Karl-Heinz Becker | Germany
|
Luftwaffe | 7 | Jet ace with all victories in Me 262 | |
| Rolf Arne Berg † |  Norway
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | ||
| Marian Bełc | Poland
|
Polish Air Force; Royal Air Force |
7 | ||
| Harry W. Brown | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | ||
| Claude J. Crenshaw | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | (+ 3 on the Ground) Crewshaw shot down 4 Fw 190 in one day with three working MG | |
| Liu Chui-Kang / Liu Cuigang |  China
|
Chinese Nationalist Air Force | 7 | ||
| George Andrew Davis Jr. | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | +21 in Korean War | Ace in each of two wars, awarded (posthumously) Medal of Honor for action in Korea |
| Gus A. Daymond | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | 4th FG, 334th Fighter Squadron, ETO | |
| Furio Niclot Doglio |  Kingdom of Italy
|
Regia Aeronautica | 7 | ||
| Bolesław Drobiński | Poland
|
Polish Air Force; Royal Air Force |
7 | ||
| Helmut Eberspächer | Germany
|
Luftwaffe | 7 | ||
| Hugh C. Godefroy |  Netherlands Canada
|
Royal Air Force; Royal Canadian Air Force |
7 | ||
| Athol Forbes | United Kingdom
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | (+2 shared) | |
| Edward Gracie † | United Kingdom
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | (+3 shared) | |
| Gordon M. Graham | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | (+9.5 ground kills) | |
| Roger Haberman | United States
|
U.S. Marine Corps | 7 | ||
| Erwin Hentschel † | Germany
|
Luftwaffe | 7 | rear gunner of Hans-Ulrich Rudel (October 1941 – March 1944) | |
| Pál Irányi |  Hungary
|
Royal Hungarian Air Force | 7 | ||
| Václav Jícha † |  Czechoslovakia
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | ||
| Stanisław Karubin | Poland
|
Polish Air Force; Royal Air Force |
7 | ||
| Konstantin Kokkinaki |  Soviet Union
|
Soviet Air Forces | 7 | +7 in Second Sino-Japanese War | Ace in each of two wars |
| Franz Köster | Germany
|
Luftwaffe | 7 | Jet ace with all victories in Me 262 | |
| Otmar Kučera | Czechoslovakia
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | ||
| Walter Lawson † | United Kingdom
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | ||
| Warren R. Lewis | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | 5 Probable | P-38J New Guinea |
| Béla Lipcsey | Hungary
|
Luftwaffe | 7 | ||
| Bert W. Marshall, Jr. | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | (+4 ground kills) | |
| Iosif Moraru |  Kingdom of Romania
|
Royal Romanian Air Force | 7 | ||
| Liviu Muresan | Kingdom of Romania
|
Royal Romanian Air Force | 7 | ||
| Giuseppe Oblach | Kingdom of Italy
|
Regia Aeronautica | 7 | ||
| Edward "Butch" O'Hare † | United States
|
U.S. Navy | 7 | ||
| Sammy A. Pierce | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | ||
| Stanislav Plzák † | Czechoslovakia
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | ||
| Constantin Pomut | Kingdom of Romania
|
Royal Romanian Air Force | 7 | ||
| Edward Popek |  United States
|
United States Army Air Forces | 7 | Completed in 2 hours | |
| Gordon Raphael † | Canada
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | (+2 V-1 flying bombs) | |
| Arval J. Roberson | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | (+1 ground kill) | |
| Desmond Ruchwaldy | United Kingdom
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | + 10 V-1 flying bombs | |
| Ferruccio Serafini | Kingdom of Italy
|
Regia Aeronautica | 7 | ||
| Ernest Shipman | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | ||
| Parsifal Stefanescu | Kingdom of Romania
|
Royal Romanian Air Force | 7 | ||
| Kálmán Szeverényi † | Hungary
|
Royal Hungarian Air Force | 7 | ||
| Norman Taylor | United Kingdom
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | ||
| Richard Trousdale |  New Zealand
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | ||
| György Ujszászy | Hungary
|
Royal Hungarian Air Force | 7 | ||
| Arthur Umbers † | New Zealand
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | (+28 V1 Flying Bombs and 10 ground kills) | |
| Tomáš Vybíral | Czechoslovakia
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | ||
| Samual Wicker | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | 364th Fighter Squadron, ETO | |
| Sydney S. Woods | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | ||
| Robert E. Woody | United States
|
U.S. Army Air Forces | 7 | (+2 ground kills) | |
| Michael Young | United Kingdom
|
Royal Air Force | 7 | +6 shared |
References
Citations
- Shores & Williams 1994, p. 389.
- ^ Morgan & Weal 1998, p. 88.
- Obermaier 1989, p. 98.
- Mathews & Foreman 2015, p. 1245.
- Mathews & Foreman 2015, p. 1487.
- Shores & Williams 1994, pp. 295–296.
- Shores & Williams 1994, p. 392.
- Shores & Williams 1994, pp. 511–512.
- Shores & Williams 1994, p. 525.
- Shores & Williams 1994, p. 582.
- Shores & Williams 1994, pp. 593–594.
- Shores & Williams 1994, p. 599.
- Shores & Williams 1994, pp. 653–654.
Bibliography
- Mathews, Andrew Johannes; Foreman, John (2015). Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 4 S–Z. Walton on Thames: Red Kite. ISBN 978-1-906592-21-9.
- Morgan, Hugh; Weal, John (1998). German Jet Aces of World War 2. Aircraft of the Aces. Vol. 17. London; New York: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-634-7.
- Obermaier, Ernst (1989). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1939 – 1945] (in German). Mainz, Germany: Verlag Dieter Hoffmann. ISBN 978-3-87341-065-7.
- Shores, Christopher; Williams, Clive (1994). Aces High: A Tribute to the Most Notable Fighter Pilots of the British and Commonwealth Forces in WWII. London: Grub Street. ISBN 1-898697-00-0.
| Flying aces | |
|---|---|
| World War I (accuracy) | |
| World War II (accuracy) | |
| Other wars | |
| General | |
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