Aces of World War II.
An Ace is considered a pilot who has shot down 5 or more enemy aircraft.
The following is a list of the top ten Aces of World War II, sorted by number
of victories and country. You will notice that all ten fought on the side of
Germany,
which makes one wonder if it was due to better planes or better pilots.
And how did the
Allies win the war? |
| Pilot | Country | Victories |
| Eric Hartmann | Germany | 352 |
| Gerhard Barkhorn | Germany | 301 |
| Gunther Rall | Germany | 275 |
| Otto Kittel | Germany | 267 |
| Walter Nowotny | Austria | 258 |
| Wilhelm Batz | Germany | 237 |
| Erich Rudorffer | Germany | 222 |
| Heinz Bar | Germany | 220 |
| Hermann Graf | Germany | 211 |
| Heinrich Ehler | Germany | 209 |
The following is a list of the top Aces of World War II from each country,
sorted by number
of victories. |
| Pilot | Country | Victories |
| Erich Hartmann | Germany | 352 |
| Walter Nowotny | Austria | 258 |
| Hiroyoshi Nishizawa | Japan | 103 |
| E. I. Juutualainen | Finland | 94 |
| Ivan Kozhedub | Russia | 62 |
| Constantine Cantacuzino | Rumania | 60 |
| Dezjo Szentgyorgyi | Hungary | 43 |
| M. T. Pattle | South Africa | 41 |
| Richard Bong | USA | 40 |
| James Johnson | Great Britain | 38 |
The following is a list of the top eleven American Aces of World War II,
sorted by number
of victories. |
| Pilot | Country | Victories |
| Richard Bong | USA | 40 |
| Thomas McGuire | USA | 38 |
| David McCampbell | USA | 34 |
| Francis Gabreski | USA | 28 |
| Charles MacDonald | USA | 27 |
| Robert Johnson | USA | 27 |
| George Preddy | USA | 27 |
| Joseph Foss | USA | 26 |
| Robert Hanson | USA | 25 |
| John Meyer | USA | 24 |
| Cecil Harris | USA | 24 |
