List of World War I aces credited with 8 victories
![Young male in German aviator's uniform](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cf/Otto_Parschau_with_Pour_Le_M%C3%A9rite.jpg/170px-Otto_Parschau_with_Pour_Le_M%C3%A9rite.jpg)
The term ace (now commonly flying ace) was first used by French newspapers during World War I, describing Adolphe Pégoud as l'as ('the ace'), after he downed five German aircraft. When aircraft began to shoot or force down other aircraft, systems to count "air victories" were subsequently developed. The American qualification of five victories eventually became the standard, even though other air services had previously used differing figures.[1]
While "ace" status was most often won by fighter pilots, bomber and reconnaissance crews, and observers in two-seater aircraft such as the Bristol F.2b ("Bristol Fighter"), also destroyed enemy aircraft. If a two-seater aircraft destroyed an aircraft, both crew members were credited with a victory. Because pilots usually teamed with differing observer/gunners in two-seater aircraft, an observer might be an ace when his pilot was not, and vice versa.[2] The few aces among combat aviators have historically accounted for the majority of air-to-air victories in military history.[3]
Loss of records by mischance and the passage of time complicates reconstructing the actual count for given aces. The scores presented in the list cannot be definitive, but are based on itemized lists that are the best available sources of information.[4] Aces are listed after verifying the date and location of combat, and the foe vanquished, for every victory accredited by an aviator's home air service using their own aerial victory standards. Those victories for which the evidence is unavailable or fragmentary have been excluded from the victory count.
Aces
This list is complete. Notable aces are linked to their biographies.
This along with the symbolic dagger †, indicates that the pilot was known to be either killed in action, missing in action, died of wounds, or killed in a flying accident during World War I.
Name | Country | Air service(s) | Victories |
---|---|---|---|
Paul Achilles | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
John William Aldred | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6] |
Gerald Frank Anderson | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Flaminio Avet | ![]() |
Corpo Aeronautico Militare | 8[7] |
Geoffrey Bailey | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Paul Barbreau | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8] |
Charles Bartlett | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Bernard Beanlands | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Donald Beard | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps. Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Ludwig Beckmann | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Edwin Benbow | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Maurice Benjamin | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Henry Biziou | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Gregory Blaxland | ![]() |
Australian Flying Corps | 8[6][page needed] |
Giles Blennerhasset | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Karl Bohny | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Aloys Freiherr von Brandenstein | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Clive Brewster-Joske | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Edric Broadberry | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Alfred John Brown | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Howard Burdick | ![]() |
United States Army Air Service | 8[9] |
Ernesto Cabruna | ![]() |
Corpo Aeronautico Militare | 8[7] |
Alvin Callender | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[9] |
James Martin Child | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Henry Clay | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, United States Army Air Service | 8[9] |
Robert David Coath | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Edwin Cole | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Hamilton Coolidge | ![]() |
United States Army Air Service | 8[9] |
James Geoffrey Coombe | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Dieudonné Costes | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Leslie Court | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
William Craig | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Otto Creutzmann | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Henry Crowe | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
James Dawe | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Gilbert de Guingand | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
John D. De Pencier | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Gunther Dobberke | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Percy Douglas | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Peter Roy Maxwell Drummond | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Gordon Duncan | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
William Durrand | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Harold E. Easton | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Friedrich Ehmann | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Leonard Herbert Emsden | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
William Portwood Erwin | ![]() |
United States Army Air Service | 8[9] |
Walter Ewers | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Harold Ross Eycott-Martin | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Garfield Finlay | ![]() |
Australian Flying Corps | 8[7] |
Desmond Fitzgibbon | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Georges Flachaire | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Austin Lloyd Fleming | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Jean Alfred Fraissinet | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Hans-Eberhardt Gandert | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Jacques Gerard | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Cyril Gladman | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Clive Glynn | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Max Gossner | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
James Grant | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Gilbert W. M. Green | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[10] |
Eustace Grenfell | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Victor Groom | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Louis Prosper Gros | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Julien Guertiau | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Wolfgang Güttler | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Adolf Gutknecht | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Hans von Häbler | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Reuben Hammersley | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Frederick Harlock | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Herbert George Hegarty | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Alfred Hemming | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Heinrich Henkel | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
George Hicks | ![]() |
Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
D'Arcy Fowlis Hilton | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Ivan F. Hind | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Wilhelm Hippert | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
William Norman Holmes | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Thomas Stanley Horry | ![]() |
Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Richard Howard | ![]() |
Australian Flying Corps | 8[6][page needed] |
Hans Hoyer | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Paul Hüttenrauch | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Hubert Hunt | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Frank Hunter | ![]() |
United States Army Air Service | 8[9] |
Michael Hutterer | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Fritz Jacobsen | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Clinton Jones Jr. | ![]() |
United States Army Air Service | 8[9] |
Ernest Graham Joy | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Kenneth William Junor | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Willi Kampe | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Karl Kaszala | ![]() |
Luftfahrtruppen | 8[7][page needed] |
Fritz Kieckhäfer | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Franz Kirchfeld | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Robert Kirby Kirkman | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Arthur Gerald Knight | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps | 8[6][page needed] |
Sidney Knights | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7][page needed] |
Arthur Korff | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Heinrich Kostrba | ![]() |
Luftfahrtruppen | 8[7][page needed] |
Fritz Krebs | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5][page needed] |
Antoine Laplasse | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Kenneth Leask | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Forde Leathley | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7][page needed] |
Alvaro Leonardi | ![]() |
Corpo Aeronautico Militare | 8[7][page needed] |
Cecil Arthur Lewis | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Alan Light | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7][page needed] |
George Lloyd | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Dudley Lloyd-Evans | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Ivan Loiko | ![]() |
Imperial Army Air Service | 8 |
Carlo Lombardi | ![]() |
Corpo Aeronautico Militare | 8[7][page needed] |
William Myron MacDonald | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
William John MacKenzie | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force | 8 |
Donat Makijonek | ![]() |
Imperial Army Air Service | 8[7] |
Reginald Malcolm | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
George Ivan Douglas Marks | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Andre Martenot De Cordou | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Robert Massenet-Royer de Marancour | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Ernest Masters | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
M. B. Mather | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Hugh Maund | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
John McCudden | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps | 8[6][page needed] |
James McDonald | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Roderick McDonald | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Henry Meintjes | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force, South African Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
James Meissner | ![]() |
United States Army Air Service | 8[9] |
Alexander W. Merchant | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Karl Meyer | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Leslie Mitchell | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Kurt Adolf Monnington | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5][page needed] |
Henry Moody | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Joseph Michael John Moore | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Keith K. Muspratt | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Thomas Nash | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Gastone Novelli | ![]() |
Corpo Aeronautico Militare | 8[7][page needed] |
Luigi Olivari | ![]() |
Corpo Aeronautico Militare | 8[7][page needed] |
Eric Olivier | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
William O'Toole | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7][page needed] |
Otto Parschau | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Edwin C. Parsons | ![]() |
United States Army Air Service | 8[9][page needed] |
Eric Pashley | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps | 8[6][page needed] |
Arthur Peck | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Edmond Pillon | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Friedrich Poeschke | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Roger Poupon | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Philip B. Prothero | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps | 8[6][page needed] |
John Quested | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Lionel Rees | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps | 8[6][page needed] |
Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Claus Reimer | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Karl Ritscherle | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Charles Robson | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
William Rooper | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps | 8[6][page needed] |
Alexander Roulstone | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Richard Runge | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
William J. Rutherford | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Harold Satchell | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Franklin Saunders | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Paul Sauvage | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Karl Scharon | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Hans Schilling | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Viktor Schobinger | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Carl-August von Schoenebeck | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Owen Scholte | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Wilhelm Schwartz | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Walter Scott | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Herbert Sellars | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
John Edward Sharman | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service | 8[6][page needed] |
Walter Simon | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed][9] |
George Simpson | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Robert Sloley | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps | 8[6][page needed] |
John Henry Smith | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Langley Smith | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service | 8[6][page needed] |
William Watson Smith | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Bertram Smyth | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Martinus Stenseth | ![]() |
United States Army Air Service | 8[9] |
Vladimir Strzhizhevsky | ![]() |
Imperial Russian Air Force | 8 |
John Summers | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Leslie Sutherland | ![]() |
Australian Flying Corps, Royal Australian Air Force | 8[7] |
Alexander Tahy | ![]() |
Luftfahrtruppen | 8[7] |
Fritz Thiede | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
Clifford Tolman | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Thomas Traill | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Del Vial | ![]() |
Aéronautique Militaire | 8[8][page needed] |
Alexander Vlasto | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
John Warner | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Leslie Warren | ![]() |
Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force | 8[7] |
Wilbert White | ![]() |
United States Army Air Service | 8[9] |
Claude Melnot Wilson | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
William Wright | ![]() |
Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | 8[6][page needed] |
Wilhelm Zorn | ![]() |
Luftstreitkräfte | 8[5] |
References
- ^ Maksel, Rebecca (7 April 2008). "What does it take to become an "ace"?". Need to Know. Air & Space Magazine. Retrieved 20 October 2009.[dead link]
- ^ Franks, Bailey & Guest 1993, p. 10
- ^ Dunnigan 2003, p. 149
- ^ Shores, Franks & Guest 1990, p. 7
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am Franks, Bailey and Guest (1993).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca Shores, Franks & Guest 1990
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an Franks, Guest & Alegi 1997
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Franks & Bailey (1992).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Franks, Bailey (1992)
- ^ Shores (2001), p. 82.
Bibliography
- Dunnigan, James F. (2003). How to Make War: A Comprehensive Guide to Modern Warfare in the Twenty-first Century. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-060090-12-8.
- Durkota, Allen; Darcey, Thomas; Kulikov, Victor (1995). The Imperial Russian Air Service: Famous Pilots and Aircraft of World War I. Mountain View: Flying Machines Press. ISBN 978-0-060090-12-8.
- Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W.; Guest, Russell (1993). Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918. Oxford: Grub Street. ISBN 978-0-948817-73-1.
- Franks, Norman (2005). Sopwith Pup Aces of World War I. Aircraft of the Aces, No. 67. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-841768-86-1.
- Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell; Alegi, Gregory (1997). Above the War Fronts: The British Two-seater Bomber Pilot and Observer Aces, the British Two-seater Fighter Observer Aces, and the Belgian, Italian, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Fighter Aces, 1914–1918. Oxford: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-898697-56-5.
- Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W. (1992). Over the Front: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918. Oxford: Grub Street. ISBN 978-0-948817-54-0.
- Guttman, Jon (2009). Pusher Aces of World War 1. Aircraft of the Aces, No. 88. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-846034-17-6.
- Guttman, Jon (2001). Spad VII Aces of World War I. Aircraft of the Aces, No. 39. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-841762-22-7.
- Kulikov, Victor (2013). Russian Aces of World War 1. Aircraft of the Aces, No. 111. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-780960-61-6.
- Newton, Dennis (1996). Australian Air Aces: Australian Fighter Pilots in Combat. Motorbooks International. ISBN 978-1-875671-25-0.
- Pieters, Walter M. (1998). Above Flanders Fields: A Complete Record of the Belgian Fighter Pilots and Their Units During the Great War. Oxford: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-898697-83-1.
- Shores, Christopher (2001). British and Empire Aces of World War I. Aircraft of the Aces, No. 45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-377-4.
- Shores, Christopher; Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell (1990). Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920. Oxford: Grub Street. ISBN 978-0-948817-19-9.
- Shores, Christopher; Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell (1996). Above the Trenches Supplement: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces. Oxford: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-898697-39-8.
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