List of World War II flying aces: Difference between revisions

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[[Fighter ace]]s in [[World War II]] had tremendously varying kill scores, affected as they were by many factors: the [[aviator|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.

Towards the end of the war, the [[Axis powers]] had largely exhausted their supply of skilled pilots and the replacements did not have as much opportunity to gain enough experience to be successful. Additionally, national policies differed; German, Italian, and Japanese{{sfn|Holmes|2011|p=314}} pilots tended to return to the cockpit over and over again until they were killed.{{#tag:ref|By 1945, combat experienced Japanese airmen were often detailed to provide fighter escort for newer inexperienced ''Kamikaze'' pilots en route to their targets in the [[Pacific]]|group=N}}

It is not clear what impact each nation's rules for score crediting have on the counts listed below. Germans credited a shared victory to only one pilot, while the French credited full victory to all participants. British, Finnish and US air forces credited fractional shares of aerial victories, resulting in fractions, such as 11½, which might be for example 10 aircraft and three shares with the second pilot. Some U.S. commands also credited aircraft destroyed on the ground. The Soviets counted only solo kills, while group kills were counted separately, as did the Japanese. The Italian Air Force did not officially credit victories to individual pilots, but to their unit as a whole. Probable kills are usually left out of the list.

It is necessary to emphasize that the question of assessing and comparing the success rate of fighters by number of victories is one of the more problematic. There are disputes about what is "shot down" and what is "air victory", but the most problematic seems to be credibility of reports and reliability of its confirmation, which was substantially different in particular air forces. The most reliable is considered the confirmation of the victories in RAF, which based its counts on comparison of testimonials of participants and{{snd}}if possible{{snd}}film material.

==Aces==

===Gallery===

<gallery>

File:Erich Hartmann voor zijn Bf 109 (G-6).jpg|[[Erich Hartmann]], the highest scoring German and all time ace

File:Ivan Kozhedub 1.jpg|[[Ivan Kozhedub]], the highest scoring Soviet and highest scoring Allied ace

File:Bazu0.jpg|[[Constantin Cantacuzino (aviator)|Constantin Cantacuzino]], the highest scoring Romanian ace and the 3rd highest scoring ace of the European Axis powers

File:Mato Dukovac.jpg|[[Mato Dukovac]], the highest scoring Croatian ace

File:Eino Ilmari Juutilainen.jpg|[[Ilmari Juutilainen]], the top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force and the highest scoring non-German fighter pilot

File:Squadron Leader Pattle of 33 Squadron RAF Greece IWM ME(RAF) 1260 (cropped).jpg|[[Pat Pattle|Marmaduke 'Pat' Pattle]], the highest scoring United Kingdom and [[British Empire|Empire]] ace

File:George Beurling Vancouver 1943.jpg|[[George Beurling]], the highest scoring Canadian ace

File:Richard Bong photo portrait head and shoulders.jpg|[[Richard Bong]], the highest scoring US ace

File:Tetsuzo Iwamoto.jpg|[[Tetsuzō Iwamoto]], Japanese Navy fighter ace, often credited with being the top scoring Japanese ace

File:Teresio Martinoli.jpg|[[Teresio Vittorio Martinoli]], the highest scoring [[Regia Aeronautica]] ace

</gallery>

===Aces===

{{List of World War II flying aces}}

{{col-begin}}

*[[List of World War II aces from Australia]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Austria]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Belgium]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Bulgaria]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Canada]]

*[[List of World War II aces from China]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Croatia]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Czechoslovakia]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Denmark]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Finland]]

*[[List of World War II aces from France]] <small>([[List of Vichy France flying aces|Vichy France]])</small>

*[[List of World War II aces from Germany]] <small>([[List of German World War II jet aces|Jet aces]], [[List of German World War II night fighter aces|night fighter]])</small>

*[[List of World War II aces from Hungary]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Italy]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Ireland]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Japan]]

*[[List of World War II aces from New Zealand]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Norway]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Poland]]

*[[List of World War II flying aces from Romania]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Slovakia]]

*[[List of World War II aces from South Africa]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Southern Rhodesia]]

*[[List of World War II aces from the Soviet Union]]

*[[List of World War II aces from Spain]]

*[[List of World War II aces from the United Kingdom]]

*[[List of World War II aces from the United States]]

{{col-end}}

==Notes==

{{Reflist|group=N}}

==References==

===Citations===

{{reflist|25em}}

===Bibliography===

{{Refbegin}}

* Hata, Ikuhiko with Yasuho Izawa and Christopher Shores. ''Japanese Army Air Force Fighter Units and Their Aces, 1931–1945''. London: Grub Street, 2002. {{ISBN|1-902304-89-6}}.

* {{Cite book

|last=Holmes

|first=Tony

|year=2011

|title=Dogfight: The Greatest Air Duels of World War II

|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]

|isbn=978-1-84908-482-6

}}

* {{Cite book

|last=Keskinen

|first=Kalevi

|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5092754

|title=Hävittäjä-ässät : Finnish fighter aces

|date=1978

|publisher=Tietoteos

|others=Kari Stenman, Klaus Niska

|isbn=978-951-9035-37-6

|location=Espoo

|oclc=5092754

}}

* Massimello, Giovanni and Giorgio Apostolo. ''Italian Aces of World War 2''. Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2000. {{ISBN|978-1-84176-078-0}}.

* {{Cite book

|last1=Mathews

|first1=Andrew Johannes

|last2=Foreman

|first2=John

|year=2015

|title=Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims — Volume 4 S–Z

|location=Walton on Thames

|publisher=Red Kite

|isbn=978-1-906592-21-9

}}

* {{Cite book

|last1=Morgan

|first1=Hugh

|last2=Weal

|first2=John

|year=1998

|title=German Jet Aces of World War 2

|location=London; New York

|publisher=[[Osprey Publishing]]

|isbn=978-1-85532-634-7

}}

* {{Cite book

|last=Obermaier

|first=Ernst

|year=1989

|title=Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe Jagdflieger 1939 – 1945

|trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Luftwaffe Fighter Force 1939 – 1945

|language=de

|location=Mainz, Germany

|publisher=Verlag Dieter Hoffmann

|isbn=978-3-87341-065-7

}}

* [[Henry Sakaida|Sakaida, Henry]]. ''Japanese Army Air Force Aces, 1937–45''. Botley, Oxfordshire, UK: Osprey Publishing, 1997. {{ISBN|1-85532-529-2}}.

* Seidl, Hans D. ''Stalin's Eagles: An Illustrated Study of the Soviet Aces of World War II and Korea''. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1998. {{ISBN|0-7643-0476-3}}.

*{{cite book|last1=Shores|first1=Christopher|last2=Williams|first2=Clive|year=1994|title=Aces High: A Tribute to the Most Notable Fighter Pilots of the British and Commonwealth Forces in WWII|publisher=Grub Street|location=London, United Kingdom|isbn=1-898697-00-0}}

{{Refend}}

{{Lists of flying aces}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of World War Ii Air Aces}}

[[Category:Lists of World War II flying aces| ]]