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List of World War II flying aces

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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.

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[1] pilots tended to return to the cockpit over and over again until they were killed.[N 1]

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 – if possible – film material.

AcesEdit

GalleryEdit

AcesEdit

  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
Erich Hartmann  Germany Luftwaffe 352[2] Top ace of all time. First ever with 300 victories, achieved coincident with Double-ace in a day
Gerhard Barkhorn  Germany Luftwaffe 301[2]
Günther Rall  Germany Luftwaffe 275[2]
Otto Kittel †  Germany Luftwaffe 267[2] Top Focke-Wulf 190 ace
Walter Nowotny †  Germany Luftwaffe 258[2] Double-ace in a day on two different occasions. First to 250
Wilhelm Batz  Germany Luftwaffe 237[2]
Erich Rudorffer  Germany Luftwaffe 222[2] Jet ace with 12 victories in Me 262,[3] Double-ace in a day
Credited with 11 heavy bombers shot down[4]
Heinz Bär  Germany Luftwaffe 220[2] Jet ace with 16 victories in Me 262[3]
Credited with 21 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Hermann Graf  Germany Luftwaffe 212[2] First ever with 200 victories
Heinrich Ehrler †  Germany Luftwaffe 208[2] Jet ace with 5 victories in Me 262[3]
Credited with 7 heavy bombers shot down[6]
Theodor Weissenberger  Germany Luftwaffe 208[2] Jet ace with 8 victories in Me 262[3]
Credited with 7 heavy bombers shot down[6]
Hans Philipp †  Germany Luftwaffe 206[7]
Walter Schuck  Germany Luftwaffe 206[7] Jet ace with 8 victories in Me 262[3]
Anton Hafner †  Germany Luftwaffe 204[7]
Helmut Lipfert  Germany Luftwaffe 203[7]
Walter Krupinski  Germany Luftwaffe 197[7]
Anton Hackl  Germany Luftwaffe 192[7] Credited with 34 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Joachim Brendel  Germany Luftwaffe 189[7]
Max Stotz †  Germany Luftwaffe 189[7]
Joachim Kirschner †  Germany Luftwaffe 188[7]
Kurt Brändle †  Germany Luftwaffe 180[7]
Günther Josten  Germany Luftwaffe 178[7]
Johannes Steinhoff  Germany Luftwaffe 176[7] Jet ace with 6 victories in Me 262[3]
Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert  Germany Luftwaffe 174[7]
Günther Schack  Germany Luftwaffe 174[7]
Heinz Schmidt †  Germany Luftwaffe 173[7]
Emil Lang †  Germany Luftwaffe 173[7] Triple-ace in a day
Horst Ademeit †  Germany Luftwaffe 166[7]
Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke †  Germany Luftwaffe 162[8]
Hans-Joachim Marseille †  Germany Luftwaffe 158[8] Top scoring ace outside the Eastern Front. Destroyed most Western Allied aircraft. Triple-ace in a day
Heinrich Sturm †  Germany Luftwaffe 158[9]
Gerhard Thyben  Germany Luftwaffe 157[8]
Hans Beisswenger †  Germany Luftwaffe 152[8]
Gordon Gollob  Germany Luftwaffe 150[8] First ever with 150 victories
Peter Düttmann  Germany Luftwaffe 150[8]
Fritz Tegtmeier  Germany Luftwaffe 146[8]
Albin Wolf †  Germany Luftwaffe 144[8]
Kurt Tanzer  Germany Luftwaffe 143[8]
Friedrich-Karl Müller †  Germany Luftwaffe 140[8] Credited with 23 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Friedrich Wachowiak †  Germany Luftwaffe 140[9]
Karl Gratz  Germany Luftwaffe 138[8]
Heinrich Setz †  Germany Luftwaffe 138[8]
Rudolf Trenkel  Germany Luftwaffe 138[8]
Franz Schall †  Germany Luftwaffe 137[8] Jet ace with 14 victories in Me 262[3]
Walter Wolfrum  Germany Luftwaffe 137[8] Double-ace in a day on two different occasions
Adolf Dickfeld  Germany Luftwaffe 136[8]
Horst-Günther von Fassong †  Germany Luftwaffe 136[10]
Otto Fönnekold †  Germany Luftwaffe 136[10]
Karl-Heinz Weber †  Germany Luftwaffe 136[10]
Joachim Müncheberg †  Germany Luftwaffe 135[10]
Hans Waldmann †  Germany Luftwaffe 134[10] Ace in a day
Alfred Grislawski  Germany Luftwaffe 133[10]
Johannes Wiese  Germany Luftwaffe 133[10]
Adolf Borchers  Germany Luftwaffe 132[10]
Erwin Clausen †  Germany Luftwaffe 132[10] Credited with 10 heavy bombers shot down[4]
Wilhelm Lemke †  Germany Luftwaffe 131[10]
Heinrich Sterr †  Germany Luftwaffe 130[10]
Franz Eisenach  Germany Luftwaffe 129[10]
Walther Dahl  Germany Luftwaffe 128[10] Credited with 30 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Franz Dörr  Germany Luftwaffe 128[10]
Rudolf Rademacher  Germany Luftwaffe 126[10] Jet ace with 8 victories in Me 262[3]
Credited with 11 heavy bombers shot down[4]
Josef Zwernemann †  Germany Luftwaffe 126[11] Credited with 5 heavy bombers shot down[12]
Gerhard Hoffmann †  Germany Luftwaffe 125[11]
Dietrich Hrabak  Germany Luftwaffe 125[11]
Wolf-Udo Ettel †  Germany Luftwaffe 124[11]
Herbert Ihlefeld  Germany Luftwaffe 123[10] +9 in Spanish Civil War[13] Ace in each of two wars
Wolfgang Tonne †  Germany Luftwaffe 122[11]
Heinz Marquardt  Germany Luftwaffe 121[11]
Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer  Germany Luftwaffe 121[14] Top night fighter ace. Ace in a day
Robert Weiß †  Germany Luftwaffe 121[11]
Friedrich Obleser  Germany Luftwaffe 120[11]
Erich Leie †  Germany Luftwaffe 118[11]
Franz-Josef Beerenbrock  Germany Luftwaffe 117[11]
Hans-Joachim Birkner †  Germany Luftwaffe 117[11]
Jakob Norz †  Germany Luftwaffe 117[11]
Walter Oesau †  Germany Luftwaffe 117[11] +9 in Spanish Civil War[13] Credited with 13 heavy bombers shot down[4]
Heinz Wernicke †  Germany Luftwaffe 117[11]
August Lambert †  Germany Luftwaffe 116[11] Triple-ace in a day
Wilhelm Crinius  Germany Luftwaffe 114[11]
Werner Schröer  Germany Luftwaffe 114[15] Credited with 26 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Hans Dammers †  Germany Luftwaffe 113[15]
Berthold Korts †  Germany Luftwaffe 113[15]
Kurt Bühligen  Germany Luftwaffe 112[15] Credited with 24 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Kurt Ubben †  Germany Luftwaffe 111[16]
Helmut Lent †  Germany Luftwaffe 110[14] Night fighter ace
Franz Woidich  Germany Luftwaffe 110[15]
Emil Bitsch †  Germany Luftwaffe 108[15]
Hans Hahn  Germany Luftwaffe 108[15]
Bernhard Vechtel  Germany Luftwaffe 108[15]
Viktor Bauer  Germany Luftwaffe 106[15]
Werner Lucas †  Germany Luftwaffe 106[15]
Günther Lützow †  Germany Luftwaffe 105[17] +5 in Spanish Civil War[13]
Adolf Galland  Germany Luftwaffe 104[15] Jet ace with 7 victories in Me 262[3]
Heinz Sachsenberg  Germany Luftwaffe 104[15]
Hartmann Grasser  Germany Luftwaffe 103[15]
Siegfried Freytag  Germany Luftwaffe 102[18]
Friedrich Geisshardt †  Germany Luftwaffe 102[18]
Egon Mayer †  Germany Luftwaffe 102[18] Credited with 26 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Max-Hellmuth Ostermann †  Germany Luftwaffe 102[18]
Josef Wurmheller †  Germany Luftwaffe 102[18]
Werner Mölders †  Germany Luftwaffe 101[11] +14 in Spanish Civil War[13] Ace in each of two wars, first in aviation history with 100 victories
Rudolf Miethig †  Germany Luftwaffe 101[18]
Josef Priller  Germany Luftwaffe 101[18]
Ulrich Wernitz  Germany Luftwaffe 101[18]
Reinhard Seiler  Germany Luftwaffe 100[15] +9 in Spanish Civil War[13]
Paul-Heinrich Dähne †  Germany Luftwaffe 100[19]
Leopold Steinbatz  Germany Luftwaffe 99[18]
Wolfgang Späte  Germany Luftwaffe 99[18] Jet ace with 5 victories in Me 262[3]
Heinrich Bartels †  Germany Luftwaffe 99[18]
Horst Hannig †  Germany Luftwaffe 98[18]
Gustav Rödel  Germany Luftwaffe 98[18]
Helmut Rüffler  Germany Luftwaffe 98[18]
Hans Schleef †  Germany Luftwaffe 98[20]
Helmut Mertens  Germany Luftwaffe 97[20]
Hermann Schleinhege  Germany Luftwaffe 97[21]
Diethelm von Eichel-Streiber  Germany Luftwaffe 96[20][21]
Heinrich Höfemeier †  Germany Luftwaffe 96[20][21]
Siegfried Lemke  Germany Luftwaffe 96[20] Credited with more than 5 heavy bombers shot down[12]
Leopold Münster †  Germany Luftwaffe 95[20][21]
Ilmari Juutilainen  Finland Finnish Air Force 94 Top non-German ace. Claimed 126 victories. Ace in a day. Victories were against the Soviet Union.
Rudolf Müller †  Germany Luftwaffe 94[20][21] possibly 101[22]
Anton Döbele †  Germany Luftwaffe 94[20][21]
Heinrich Klöpper †  Germany Luftwaffe 94[20][21]
Rudolf Resch †  Germany Luftwaffe 93[20][21] +1 in Spanish Civil War
Edmund Roßmann  Germany Luftwaffe 93[20][21]
Siegfried Schnell †  Germany Luftwaffe 93[20][21] Credited with 10 heavy bombers shot down[4]
Helmut Bennemann  Germany Luftwaffe 93[21]
Gerhard Loos †  Germany Luftwaffe 92[20]
Oskar Romm  Germany Luftwaffe 92[20]
Anton Resch  Germany Luftwaffe 91[20]
Eberhard von Boremski  Germany Luftwaffe 90[23] possibly 104[24]
Heinz Kemethmüller  Germany Luftwaffe 89[23][21]
Georg Schentke †  Germany Luftwaffe 87[23] possibly 90[21]
Josef Jennewein †  Germany Luftwaffe 86[23][21]
Anton Mader  Germany Luftwaffe 86[23][21]
Ulrich Wöhnert  Germany Luftwaffe 86[23]
Gerhard Köppen †  Germany Luftwaffe 85[23][21]
Walter Zellot †  Germany Luftwaffe 85[23][21]
Heinz Ewald  Germany Luftwaffe 84[23][21]
Peter Kalden  Germany Luftwaffe 84[23]
Werner Quast  Germany Luftwaffe 84[23][21]
Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein †  Germany Luftwaffe 83[14] Night fighter ace
Otto Weßling †  Germany Luftwaffe 83[23][21]
Walter Ohlrogge  Germany Luftwaffe 83[23]
Franz Beyer †  Germany Luftwaffe 83[21]
Hans Grünberg  Germany Luftwaffe 82[23] Jet ace with 5 victories in Me 262[3]
Credited with 10 heavy bombers shot down[4]
Emil Darjes  Germany Luftwaffe 82[21]
Hans Götz †  Germany Luftwaffe 82[23]
Helmut Missner  Germany Luftwaffe 82[23]
Max-Hermann Lücke †  Germany Luftwaffe 81[25]
Hugo Broch  Germany Luftwaffe 81[25]
Willi Nemitz †  Germany Luftwaffe 81[25]
Wilhelm Philipp  Germany Luftwaffe 81[25]
Rudolf Wagner  Germany Luftwaffe 81[25]
Tetsuzō Iwamoto  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 80 +14 in Second Sino-Japanese War Ace in each of two wars, analysis in 1971 suggests up to 87 WWII confirmed, his diary claimed 202 victories
Herbert Bachnick †  Germany Luftwaffe 80[25]
Otto Würfel  Germany Luftwaffe 79[25]
Georg-Peter Eder  Germany Luftwaffe 78[25] Jet ace with 12 victories in Me 262[3]
Credited with 36 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Wolfgang Ewald  Germany Luftwaffe 78[25]
Heinrich Krafft †  Germany Luftwaffe 78[25]
Karl-Gottfried Nordmann  Germany Luftwaffe 78[25]
Alexander Preinfalk †  Germany Luftwaffe 78[25]
Josef Haiböck  Germany Luftwaffe 77[25]
Johann-Hermann Meier †  Germany Luftwaffe 77[25]
Hans-Joachim Kroschinski  Germany Luftwaffe 76[25]
Maximilian Mayerl  Germany Luftwaffe 76[25]
Alfred Teumer †  Germany Luftwaffe 76[26]
Edwin Thiel †  Germany Luftwaffe 76[26]
Hans Wind  Finland Finnish Air Force 75
Johannes Bunzek †  Germany Luftwaffe 75[26]
Helmut Grollmus  Germany Luftwaffe 75[26]
Johann Pichler  Germany Luftwaffe 75[26]
Hans Röhrig †  Germany Luftwaffe 75[26]
Joachim Wandel †  Germany Luftwaffe 75[26]
Gustav Frielinghaus  Germany Luftwaffe 74[26]
Otto Gaiser †  Germany Luftwaffe 74[26]
Friedrich Haas  Germany Luftwaffe 74[26]
Hubertus von Bonin †  Germany Luftwaffe 73[25] +4 in Spanish Civil War
Anton Lindner  Germany Luftwaffe 73[26]
Gerhard Michalski  Germany Luftwaffe 73[26] Credited with more than 10 heavy bombers shot down[4]
Otto Schultz  Germany Luftwaffe 73[26]
Wilhelm Herget  Germany Luftwaffe 72[14]
Shigeo Fukumoto  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 72
Klaus Mietusch †  Germany Luftwaffe 72[26] Credited with 13 heavy bombers shot down[4]
Wilhelm Mink †  Germany Luftwaffe 72[26][27]
Karl-Heinz Schnell  Germany Luftwaffe 72[26][27]
Hans Fuß †  Germany Luftwaffe 71[28][27]
Adolf Glunz  Germany Luftwaffe 71[26][27]
Alfred Heckmann  Germany Luftwaffe 71[28]
Herbert Rollwage  Germany Luftwaffe 71[29]
Günther Scheel †  Germany Luftwaffe 71[28] highest kill-to-mission ratio[27]
Shoichi Sugita  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 70 +40 shared
Karl Hoffmann  Germany Luftwaffe 70
Hermann-Friedrich Joppien †  Germany Luftwaffe 70[28]
Heinz Lange  Germany Luftwaffe 70[28]
Rudi Linz †  Germany Luftwaffe 70[28]
Emil Omert †  Germany Luftwaffe 70[28]
Armin Köhler  Germany Luftwaffe 69[28]
Ernst Weismann  Germany Luftwaffe 69[28]
Eugen-Ludwig Zweigart †  Germany Luftwaffe 69[28] Credited with 10 heavy bombers shot down[12]
Constantin Cantacuzino  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 69 +8 unconfirmed Top Romanian ace
Kurt Dombacher  Germany Luftwaffe 68[28]
Walter Höckner  Germany Luftwaffe 68[28]
Herbert Huppertz †  Germany Luftwaffe 68[28]
Heinrich Jung  Germany Luftwaffe 68[28]
Herbert Kaiser  Germany Luftwaffe 68[30]
Richard Leppla  Germany Luftwaffe 68[30]
Fritz Losigkeit  Germany Luftwaffe 68[30]
Günther Freiherr von Maltzahn  Germany Luftwaffe 68[28]
Hans Strelow †  Germany Luftwaffe 68[28]
Ernst Süß †  Germany Luftwaffe 68[30]
Otto Tange †  Germany Luftwaffe 68[30]
Karl Hammerl  Germany Luftwaffe 68[31]
Gustav Denk †  Germany Luftwaffe 67[30]
Fritz Dinger †  Germany Luftwaffe 67[30]
Herbert Findeisen  Germany Luftwaffe 67[30] Includes 42 claims as an aerial reconnaissance pilot.[30]
Reinhold Hoffmann †  Germany Luftwaffe 67[32]
Erbo Graf von Kageneck †  Germany Luftwaffe 67[30]
Franz Schieß †  Germany Luftwaffe 67[30][33]
Franz Schwaiger †  Germany Luftwaffe 67[30][33]
Hubert Strassl †  Germany Luftwaffe 67[34][33] Triple-ace in a day
Erwin Fleig  Germany Luftwaffe 66[30][33]
Werner Streib  Germany Luftwaffe 66[14][33] Night fighter ace
Ivan Kozhedub  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 66 Top Allied ace in WWII
Grigory Rechkalov  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 65[35] including 4 shared victories
Heinrich Füllgrabe †  Germany Luftwaffe 65[36]
Waldemar Semelka †  Germany Luftwaffe 65[36]
Berthold Graßmuck †  Germany Luftwaffe 65[36]
Karl Kempf †  Germany Luftwaffe 65[36]
Manfred Meurer †  Germany Luftwaffe 65[14] Night fighter ace
Günther Radusch  Germany Luftwaffe 65[14] Night fighter ace
Karl Fuchs  Germany Luftwaffe 64[37]
Bernd Gallowitsch  Germany Luftwaffe 64[36]
Jürgen Harder †  Germany Luftwaffe 64[36]
Rolf Hermichen  Germany Luftwaffe 64[36] Credited with 26 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Walter Lindner  Germany Luftwaffe 64[33]
Viktor Petermann  Germany Luftwaffe 64[36]
Heinz Rökker  Germany Luftwaffe 64[38] Night fighter ace
Rudolf Schoenert  Germany Luftwaffe 64[38] Night fighter ace
Franz Götz  Germany Luftwaffe 63[36]
Heinrich Hoffmann †  Germany Luftwaffe 63[36]
Gerhard Homuth †  Germany Luftwaffe 63[36]
Wilhelm Schilling  Germany Luftwaffe 63[39]
Hermann Staiger  Germany Luftwaffe 63[40] Credited with 26 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Heino Cordes  Germany Luftwaffe 62[33]
Wilhelm Hübner  Germany Luftwaffe 62[36]
Helmut Neumann  Germany Luftwaffe 62[36]
Horst Haase  Germany Luftwaffe 62[41] possibly 82[21]
Karl-Heinz Meltzer †  Germany Luftwaffe 61[42]
Gerhard Beutin  Germany Luftwaffe 60[43][33]
Hans-Ekkehard Bob  Germany Luftwaffe 60[44][33]
Horst Carganico †  Germany Luftwaffe 60[45][33]
Franz Czech  Germany Luftwaffe 60[33]
Nikolai Gulayev  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 60[46] including 5 shared victories
Franz Hrdlicka †  Germany Luftwaffe 60[47] possibly 96[21]
Kurt Kelter  Germany Luftwaffe 60
August Mors †  Germany Luftwaffe 60[36]
Karl Munz  Germany Luftwaffe 60[48]
Alfred Rauch  Germany Luftwaffe 60[48]
Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt †  Germany Luftwaffe 59[49]
Franz Eckerle †  Germany Luftwaffe 59[50]
Alfred Franke †  Germany Luftwaffe 59[51]
Helmut Haberda †  Germany Luftwaffe 59[52]
Karl Steffen  Germany Luftwaffe 59[49]
Paul Zorner  Germany Luftwaffe 59[38] Night fighter ace
Siegfried Engfer  Germany Luftwaffe 59[53]
Hermann Buchner  Germany Luftwaffe 58[54] Jet ace with 12 victories in Me 262[3]
Credited with 10 heavy bombers shot down[4]
Martin Becker  Germany Luftwaffe 58[38] Night fighter ace
Herbert Broennle †  Germany Luftwaffe 58[55]
Herbert Friebel  Germany Luftwaffe 58[56]
Wilhelm Freuwörth  Germany Luftwaffe 58[57]
Gerhard Raht  Germany Luftwaffe 58[38] Night fighter ace
Hiromichi Shinohara †  Japan Imperial Japanese Army 58
Gabriel Tautscher  Germany Luftwaffe 58[58]
Lutz-Wilhelm Burckhardt  Germany Luftwaffe 57+[59]
Heinrich-Wilhelm Ahnert †  Germany Luftwaffe 57[60]
Konrad Bauer  Germany Luftwaffe 57[61] Credited with 32 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Kurt Ebener  Germany Luftwaffe 57[62]
Johannes Seifert †  Germany Luftwaffe 57[63]
Hermann Wolf  Germany Luftwaffe 57[64]
Edmund Wagner †  Germany Luftwaffe 57[65]
Gustav Francsi  Germany Luftwaffe 56[38] Night fighter ace
Heinz Hackler †  Germany Luftwaffe 56[66]
Erich Hohagen  Germany Luftwaffe 56[67] Credited with more than 8 heavy bombers shot down[6]
Helmuth Holtz  Germany Luftwaffe 56[68]
Eduard Isken  Germany Luftwaffe 56[69]
Kurt Knappe †  Germany Luftwaffe 56[70]
Josef Kraft  Germany Luftwaffe 56[38] Night fighter ace
Helmut Schönfelder  Germany Luftwaffe 56[71]
Günther Seeger  Germany Luftwaffe 56[72]
Heinz Strüning †  Germany Luftwaffe 56[38] Night fighter ace
Helmut Wick †  Germany Luftwaffe 56[73]
Kirill Yevstigneyev  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 56[74] including 3 shared victories
Eino Luukkanen  Finland Finnish Air Force 56
Herbert Bareuther †  Germany Luftwaffe 55[75]
Karl-Heinz Bendert  Germany Luftwaffe 55[76]
Hans Ehlers †  Germany Luftwaffe 55[77] Credited with 24 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Hans-Dieter Frank  Germany Luftwaffe 55[38] Night fighter ace
Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland †  Germany Luftwaffe 55[78] Credited with 8 heavy bombers shot down[6]
Herbert Puschmann †  Germany Luftwaffe 54[79]
Takeo Okumura †  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 54
Johann Badum †  Germany Luftwaffe 54[80]
Heinz Leber †  Germany Luftwaffe 54[81]
Siegfried Simsch †  Germany Luftwaffe 54[82]
Heinz Vinke †  Germany Luftwaffe 54[38] Night fighter ace
Hannes Trautloft  Germany Luftwaffe 53[83] +5 in Spanish Civil War[13]
August Geiger †  Germany Luftwaffe 53[38] Night fighter ace
Albert Brunner †  Germany Luftwaffe 53[84]
Hans-Joachim Heyer †  Germany Luftwaffe 53[32]
Willy Kientsch †  Germany Luftwaffe 53[85]
Carl Sattig  Germany Luftwaffe 53[86]
Julius Meimberg  Germany Luftwaffe 53[87]
Herbert Lütje  Germany Luftwaffe 53[38] Night fighter ace
Franz Barten †  Germany Luftwaffe 52[61]
Heinz-Edgar Berres †  Germany Luftwaffe 52[88]
Martin Drewes  Germany Luftwaffe 52[38] Night fighter ace
Alfred Gross  Germany Luftwaffe 52[89]
Ludwig Häfner †  Germany Luftwaffe 52[66]
Rudolf Pflanz †  Germany Luftwaffe 52[90]
Friedrich Rupp †  Germany Luftwaffe 52[91]
Werner Hoffmann  Germany Luftwaffe 52[38] Night fighter ace
Heinrich Wefers  Germany Luftwaffe 51[65]
Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld †  Germany Luftwaffe 51[38] Night fighter ace
Fritz Lüddecke †  Germany Luftwaffe 51[92]
Otto Schulz †  Germany Luftwaffe 51[93]
Kurt Welter  Germany Luftwaffe 50+[94] Jet ace with 20+ claimed in Me 262;[3] 56 as night fighter; possibly all time jet ace
Wilhelm Hauswirth  Germany Luftwaffe 50[31]
Hermann Greiner  Germany Luftwaffe 50[94] Night fighter ace
Dmitry Glinka  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 50[95]
Hans-Joachim Jabs  Germany Luftwaffe 50[94] Night fighter ace
Emil Knittel  Germany Luftwaffe 50
Frank Liesendahl  Germany Luftwaffe 50
Karl Willius †  Germany Luftwaffe 50[96]
Rudolf Ehrenberger †  Germany Luftwaffe 49[77]
Reinhard Kollak  Germany Luftwaffe 49[94] Night fighter ace
Klaus Quaet-Faslem †  Germany Luftwaffe 49[97]
Alexander Pokryshkin  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 49[98] including 4 shared victories
Amet-khan Sultan  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 49[99] including 19 shared victories
Walter Borchers †  Germany Luftwaffe 48+[94] possibly 59[24] Night fighter ace
Heinz Arnold †  Germany Luftwaffe 48[60] Jet ace with 7 victories in Me 262[3]
Friedrich Beckh †  Germany Luftwaffe 48[61]
Paul Gildner †  Germany Luftwaffe 48[94] Night fighter ace
Johannes Hager  Germany Luftwaffe 48[94] Night fighter ace
Werner Stumpf †  Germany Luftwaffe 48[34]
Heinz-Gerhard Vogt †  Germany Luftwaffe 48[100]
Günter Fink †  Germany Luftwaffe 48[101]
Fritz Karch  Germany Luftwaffe 47[102]
Ernst-Georg Drünkler  Germany Luftwaffe 47[103] Night fighter ace
Heinz Golinski †  Germany Luftwaffe 47[104]
Eckhard Hübner †  Germany Luftwaffe 47[47]
Herbert Kutscha  Germany Luftwaffe 47[105]
Erich Schmidt †  Germany Luftwaffe 47[106]
Alexandru Şerbănescu †  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 47
Alexander Koldunov  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 47[107] including 1 shared victory
Nikolai Skomorokhov  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 47[108] including 3 shared victories
Arseny Vorozheykin  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 46[109] +6 in Battles of Khalkhin Gol Ace in each of two wars (though Khalkhin Gol was undeclared)
Andrey Borovykh  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 46[110] including 17 shared victories
Hans-Heinz Augenstein  Germany Luftwaffe 46[94] Night fighter ace
Ludwig Becker †  Germany Luftwaffe 46[94] Night fighter ace
Wolfgang Böwing-Treuding †  Germany Luftwaffe 46[111]
Erwin Laskowski  Germany Luftwaffe 46[112]
Karl Rammelt  Germany Luftwaffe 46[113]
Franz Schulte  Germany Luftwaffe 46[114]
Paul Semrau †  Germany Luftwaffe 46[94] Night fighter ace
Karl Schnörrer  Germany Luftwaffe 45[71] Jet ace with 11 victories in Me 262[3]
Credited with 9 heavy bombers shot down[6]
Georg Seidel  Germany Luftwaffe 45[115]
Vladimir Serov †  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 45[116] including 6 shared victories
Alfred Surau  Germany Luftwaffe 45[34]
Kurt Tangermann  Germany Luftwaffe 45[58]
Ernst Düllberg  Germany Luftwaffe 45[117] Credited with 9 heavy bombers shot down[12]
Rudolf Frank †  Germany Luftwaffe 45[94] Night fighter ace
Hugo Dahmer  Germany Luftwaffe 45[118]
Gerhard Schöpfel  Germany Luftwaffe 45[119]
Otto Vinzent  Germany Luftwaffe 45[120]
Ion Milu  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 45
Urho Lehtovaara  Finland Finnish Air Force 44.5
Manfred Eberwein  Germany Luftwaffe 44+[50]
Mato Dukovac  Croatia Croatian Air Force 44 Top Croatian ace
Oiva Tuominen  Finland Finnish Air Force 44
Hans Frese  Germany Luftwaffe 44[121]
Karl-Wilhelm Hofmann †  Germany Luftwaffe 44[67]
Reinhold Knacke †  Germany Luftwaffe 44[94] Night fighter ace
Wilhelm Steinmann  Germany Luftwaffe 44[122]
Walther Wever †  Germany Luftwaffe 44[123]
Karl Borris  Germany Luftwaffe 43[124]
Ludwig Franzisket  Germany Luftwaffe 43[57]
Hubert Mütherich  Germany Luftwaffe 43[125]
Josef Pöhs †  Germany Luftwaffe 43[126]
Daniel Vizanty  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 43
Vladimir Lavrinenkov  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 43[127] including 7 shared victories
Aleksey Ryazanov  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 43[128] including 12 shared victories
Fyodor Arkhipenko  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 43[129] including 15 shared victories
Walter Brandt  Germany Luftwaffe 42[84]
Olli Puhakka  Finland Finnish Air Force 42
Norbert Hannig  Germany Luftwaffe 42[31]
Jürgen Brocke †  Germany Luftwaffe 42[55]
Tudor Greceanu  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 42
Rudolf Schmidt  Germany Luftwaffe 42[130]
Herbert Schramm †  Germany Luftwaffe 42[131]
Robert Olejnik  Germany Luftwaffe 42[132]
Nikolai Krasnov †  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 42[133] including 1 shared victory
Richard Quante †  Germany Luftwaffe 41[79]
Werner Baake  Germany Luftwaffe 41[94] Night fighter ace
Leopold Fellerer  Germany Luftwaffe 41[94] Night fighter ace
Ludwig Meister  Germany Luftwaffe 41[134] Night fighter ace
Ernst Börngen  Germany Luftwaffe 41[44]
Sergey Morgunov  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 41[135]
Mikhail Pivovarov  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 41[136] including 1 shared victory
Ivan Stepanenko  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 41[137] including 9 shared victories
Andrey Baklan  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 41[138] including 21 shared victories
Marmaduke 'Pat' Pattle †  South Africa Royal Air Force 41[139] Top British Commonwealth and South African ace, possibly 50+ victories. He scored all his victories on the Gloster Gladiator and the Hawker Hurricane and is the top ace of both aircraft.
Wilhelm Balthasar †  Germany Luftwaffe 40[73] +7 in Spanish Civil War Ace in each of two wars (+13 ground kills WWII)
Richard I. Bong †  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 40[140] Top U.S. ace
Vitaly Popkov  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 40[141]
Ivan Babak  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 40[142] including 5 shared victories
Pyotr Gnido  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 40[143] including 6 shared victories
Mikhail Komelkov  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 40[144] including 7 shared victories
Wolf-Dietrich Huy  Germany Luftwaffe 40[145]
Hermann Neuhoff  Germany Luftwaffe 40[146]
Günter Steinhausen †  Germany Luftwaffe 40[122]
Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin  Germany Luftwaffe 39[134] Night fighter ace
Dietrich Schmidt  Germany Luftwaffe 39[134] possibly 43[147] Night fighter ace
Satoru Anabuki  Japan Imperial Japanese Army 39 51 claimed
Iyozo Fujita  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 39
Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin  Germany Luftwaffe 39[134] Night fighter ace
Hans Dortenmann  Germany Luftwaffe 38[103]
Peter Bremer  Germany Luftwaffe 38[84]
James Edgar "Johnnie" Johnson  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 38[139] Top Spitfire Ace.
Cvitan Galić †  Croatia Croatian Air Force 38
Gerhard Koall †  Germany Luftwaffe 38[148]
Detlev Rohwer †  Germany Luftwaffe 38[149]
Eduard Tratt †  Germany Luftwaffe 38[150]
Thomas B. McGuire †  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 38[140]
Günther Bahr  Germany Luftwaffe 39[134] Night fighter ace
Klaus Neumann  Germany Luftwaffe 37[151] Jet ace with 5 victories in Me 262[3]
Heinz Bretnütz  Germany Luftwaffe 37[152]
Waldemar Radener  Germany Luftwaffe 37[153] Credited with 11 heavy bombers shot down[4]
Sergey Luganski  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 37
Wilhelm Beier  Germany Luftwaffe 36[134] Night fighter ace
Helmut Bergmann †  Germany Luftwaffe 36[134] Night fighter ace
Walter Ehle †  Germany Luftwaffe 36[134] Night fighter ace
Friedrich Körner  Germany Luftwaffe 36[154]
Maximilian Volke †  Germany Luftwaffe 36[65]
Hiroyoshi Nishizawa †  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 36 Claimed 86 and up to 100-150 victories
Olavi Puro  Finland Finnish Air Force 36
Nils Katajainen  Finland Finnish Air Force 35.5
Heinrich Graf von Einsiedel  Germany Luftwaffe 35
Heinz-Horst Hißbach †  Germany Luftwaffe 34[134] Night fighter ace
Wilhelm Johnen  Germany Luftwaffe 34[134] Night fighter ace
Klaus Bretschneider  Germany Luftwaffe 34[152] incl. 14 as Night fighter ace
Aleksey Alelyukhin  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 34[155] including 6 shared victories
Vladimir Bobrov  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 34[156] +13 and 4 shared in Spanish Civil War including 11 shared victories
David McCampbell  United States U.S. Navy 34[140] Top U.S. Navy ace, Ace in a day on two different occasions
Toshio Ota †  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 34
Heinz-Martin Hadeball  Germany Luftwaffe 33[134] Night fighter ace
Josef Kociok †  Germany Luftwaffe 33[134] Night fighter ace
Heinz Knoke  Germany Luftwaffe 33[70]
Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow  Germany Luftwaffe 33[134] possibly 34[157] Night fighter ace
Pierre Clostermann  France Free French Air Force;
Royal Air Force 		33[139] Top French ace
Erich Brunotte  Germany Luftwaffe 33
Günther Bleckmann †  Germany Luftwaffe 33[43]
Lauri Nissinen †  Finland Finnish Air Force 32.5
Werner Husemann  Germany Luftwaffe 32[134] Night fighter ace
Ján Režňák  Slovak Republic Slovak Air Force 32 Top Slovak ace, possibly 35 victories
Kyösti Karhila  Finland Finnish Air Force 32
Hugo Frey †  Germany Luftwaffe 32[57] Credited with 25 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Kazuo Sugino  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 32
Adolph 'Sailor' Malan  South Africa Royal Air Force 32
George F. "Buzz" Beurling  Canada Royal Air Force 31.5[139] Top Canadian ace of WWII
Hans-Karl Mayer †  Germany Luftwaffe 31[158] +8 in Spanish Civil War Ace in each of two wars
Paul-Hubert Rauh  Germany Luftwaffe 31[134] Night fighter ace
Karl-Heinz Scherfling †  Germany Luftwaffe 31+[134] Night fighter ace
Alexandr Kumanichkin  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 31
Jorma Karhunen  Finland Finnish Air Force 31
Dezső Szentgyörgyi  Hungary Royal Hungarian Air Force 30.5 Top Hungarian ace
Pavel Golovachev  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 30+
Gerhard Friedrich †  Germany Luftwaffe 30[134] Night fighter ace
Paul Brandt  Germany Luftwaffe 30[124]
Karl-Heinz Langer  Germany Luftwaffe 30[159]
Robert Roland Stanford Tuck  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 30
William Vale  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 30 +6 shared
Franz Blazytko  Germany Luftwaffe 30[43]
Erich Bartz  Germany Luftwaffe 30[160]
Friedrich-Karl "Nasen" Müller  Germany Luftwaffe 30[161] Night fighter ace
Kaneyoshi Mutoh †  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 30
Ryotaro Jobou  Japan Imperial Japanese Army 30
Emil Vesa  Finland Finnish Air Force 29.5
Paul Szameitat †  Germany Luftwaffe 29[161] Night fighter ace
Günther Bertram  Germany Luftwaffe 29[43] Night fighter ace
Heinrich Wohlers †  Germany Luftwaffe 29[161] Night fighter ace
Bob Braham  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 29[139] Night fighter ace
Clive Caldwell  Australia Royal Australian Air Force 28.5[139] Top Australian ace of WWII. Top P-40 ace. Ace in a day.
Tapio Järvi  Finland Finnish Air Force 28.5
Izidor Kovárik  Slovak Republic Slovak Air Force 28 possibly 29
Igor Kaberov  Soviet Union Soviet Naval Aviation 28[162] including 18 shared victories
Max Bucholz  Germany Luftwaffe 28[59] Ace in a day
Ernst Andres †  Germany Luftwaffe 28
Anton Benning  Germany Luftwaffe 28[163][161] Night fighter ace
Hans-Heinrich Koenig †  Germany Luftwaffe 28[164]
Yasuhiko Kuroe  Japan Imperial Japanese Army 28 +2 in Actions in Mongolia 51 claimed
"Paddy" Finucane †  Ireland Royal Air Force 28 Top Irish ace
"Ginger" Lacey  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 28[139]
Francis "Gabby" Gabreski  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 28 +6.5 in Korean War Ace in each of two wars (+2.5 ground kills WWII)
Gregory "Pappy" Boyington  United States American Volunteer Group; U.S. Marine Corps 28 Ace status on 2 different air forces. Includes six kills he claimed with the AVG, though records indicate he had only 2 aerial kills and 1.5 kills on the ground.
Saburō Sakai  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 28 Includes unknown number of shared. Claims 64 total victories.
Willi Reschke  Germany Luftwaffe 28[165] Credited with 20 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Colin Falkland Gray  New Zealand Royal Air Force 27.5 Top New Zealand ace
Rudolf Busch  Germany Luftwaffe 27+[59]
Heinz Beyer  Germany Luftwaffe 27[43]
Alfred Burk  Germany Luftwaffe 27[59]
Neville Duke  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 27
Wilhelm Mayer †  Germany Luftwaffe 27[166]
Lothar Linke †  Germany Luftwaffe 27[167]
Constantin Rozariu  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 27
Robert S. Johnson  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 27
Charles H. MacDonald  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 27
Junichi Sasai †  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 27
Sadaaki Akamatsu  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 27
George E. Preddy, Jr. †  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 26.83 Ace in a day (+5 ground kills)
Eric Lock †  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 26.5
Emil Clade  Germany Luftwaffe 26[59]
Franz Stigler  Germany Luftwaffe 26[34]
Klaus Alakoski  Finland Finnish Air Force 26
Nobuo Ogiya  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 26
Ján Gerthoffer  Slovak Republic Slovak Air Force 26
Joseph J. Foss  United States U.S. Marine Corps 26 Top ace under USMC-only service
György Debrődy  Hungary Royal Hungarian Air Force 26
Lajos Tóth  Hungary Royal Hungarian Air Force 26
Russell Bannock  Canada Royal Canadian Air Force 25.5 includes 19 V-1 flying bombs
Egon Albrecht-Lemke †  Germany
 Brazil 		Luftwaffe 25[168]
Lance C. Wade †  United States Royal Air Force 25[169] Top US ace in RAF
Ludwig Bellof  Germany Luftwaffe 25
Wolfgang Lippert †  Germany Luftwaffe 25[170] +5 in Spanish Civil War Ace in each of two wars
Robert M. Hanson †  United States U.S. Marine Corps 25
Boris Safonov †  Soviet Union Soviet Naval Aviation 25 +14 shared
Naoshi Kanno  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 25
László Molnár †  Hungary Royal Hungarian Air Force 25
Frank Reginald Carey  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 25
Josef Fözö  Germany Luftwaffe 24[171] +3 in Spanish Civil War
John C. Meyer  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 24 +2 in Korean War (+13 ground kills)
Walter Adolph †  Germany Luftwaffe 24[168] +1 in Spanish Civil War
Willy Unger  Germany Luftwaffe 24[5] Credited with 21 heavy bombers shot down[5]
Karl-Heinz Krahl †  Germany Luftwaffe 24[172]
Cecil E. Harris  United States U.S. Navy 24
Johannes Le Roux  South Africa Royal Air Force 23.5 Generally credited with attacking & wounding Erwin Rommel in his staff car in Normandy on 17 July 1944
Horst Patuschka †  Germany Luftwaffe 23[173]
Peter Spoden  Germany Luftwaffe 23[82] Night fighter ace
Fritz Müller  Germany Luftwaffe 23[174] Jet ace with 6 victories in Me 262[3]
Erich Woitke †  Germany Luftwaffe 23[175] +4 in Spanish Civil War
Fred Ohr  United States U.S. Army Air Corps 23 Top Korean-American ace, +17 Ground kills
Marcel Albert  France Free French Air Force;
Royal Air Force 		23 Probably 2 more
Douglas Bader  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 23[139] All 23 kills scored after losing both legs in a 1931 aircraft crash
Eugene A. Valencia  United States U.S. Navy 23[140]
Kalevi Tervo  Finland Finnish Air Force 23
Jorma Saarinen  Finland Finnish Air Force 23
Eero Kinnunen  Finland Finnish Air Force 22.5
David C. Schilling  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 22.5[140] (+10.5 ground kills)
Rolf Pingel  Germany Luftwaffe 22[126] +6 Spanish Civil War Ace in each of two wars
Teresio Vittorio Martinoli †  Italy Regia Aeronautica 22 Top Italian ace of WWII; +14 shared
Leonardo Ferrulli †  Italy Regia Aeronautica 22
Artur Beese †  Germany Luftwaffe 22[176]
Edward F. Charles  Canada Royal Canadian Air Force 22
Alan Christopher Deere  New Zealand Royal Air Force 22[139]
Gerald R. Johnson  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 22[140]
Neel E. Kearby †  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 22
Jay T. Robbins  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 22
Ion Mucenica  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 22
Dominic S. Gentile  United States Royal Air Force;
U.S. Army Air Forces 		21.83 victories with 2 air forces (+7 ground kills)
Rolf Kaldrack †  Germany Luftwaffe 21+[177] +3 in Spanish Civil War
Donald Kingaby  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 21 +2 shared
Antti Tani  Finland Finnish Air Force 21.5
William V. Crawford-Crompton  New Zealand Royal Air Force 21.5
Raymond Brown Hesselyn  New Zealand Royal New Zealand Air Force 21.5
Fred J. Christensen  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 21.5
Ray S. Wetmore  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 21¼ (+2 ground kills)
Branse Burbridge  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 21[139] Top RAF night fighter ace
Archie McKellar †  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 21[178] Ace in a day
Jean Demozay  France Royal Air Force 21[139]
Franco Lucchini †  Italy Regia Aeronautica 21 +6 in Spanish Civil War Ace in each of two wars (+52 shared WWII)
Franz von Werra †  Germany Luftwaffe 21[179]
John J. Voll  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 21[140]
Kenneth A. Walsh  United States U.S. Marine Corps 21[180]
Paavo Myllylä  Finland Finnish Air Force 21
Walker 'Bud' Melville Mahurin  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 20.75 +3.5 in Korean War
Helmut Baudach  Germany Luftwaffe 20+[160] Jet ace with 5 victories in Me 262[3]
Donald N. Aldrich  United States U.S. Marine Corps 20[180]
Rudolf Artner  Germany Luftwaffe 20[60]
Hans Berschwinger  Germany Luftwaffe 20
Helmut-Felix Bolz  Germany Luftwaffe 20 +3 in Spanish Civil War
Ernst Richter  Germany Luftwaffe 20 12 claimed at the Eastern front and 8 at the Western front
Cristea Chirvasuta  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 20
Michael Crossley  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 20
Thomas J. Lynch †  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 20
Evan Mackie  New Zealand Royal New Zealand Air Force 20 +3 shared
Henry Wallace McLeod †  Canada Royal Canadian Air Force 20
Gerhard Sommer †  Germany Luftwaffe 20[181]
Robert B. Westbrook †  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 20
Vernon Crompton Woodward  Canada Royal Air Force 20
Viktor Pyötsiä  Finland Finnish Air Force 19.5
Väinö Suhonen  Finland Finnish Air Force 19.5
Winfried Schmidt  Germany Luftwaffe 19[106]
Geoffrey Allard  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 19 +5 shared
Paul Becker  Germany Luftwaffe 19[176]
Erhard Peters †  Germany Luftwaffe 19[90] Night fighter ace
Adolf Kalkum  Germany Luftwaffe 19[177]
Franco Bordoni  Italy Regia Aeronautica 19 5 victories with biplane; +18 shared
Mark Henry Brown †  Canada Royal Air Force 19 First Canadian ace of WWII
Roy Dutton  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 19
W. G. G. Duncan Smith  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 19 DSO*, DFC**
Luigi Gorrini  Italy Regia Aeronautica 19 1 victory with biplane, 24 victories claimed
John "Cat's Eyes" Cunningham  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 19 Night fighter ace
Glenn E. Duncan  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 19 (+7.8 ground kills)
James Francis Edwards  Canada Royal Canadian Air Force 19
Patrick D. Fleming  United States U.S. Navy 19
Cornelius N. Nooy  United States U.S. Navy 19
John Lucian Smith  United States U.S. Marine Corps 19
Alexander Vraciu  United States U.S. Navy 19
Erik Teromaa  Finland Finnish Air Force 19
Constantin Lungulescu  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 19
Stanisław Skalski Poland Poland Polish Air Force;
Royal Air Force 		18.91 Top Polish ace, first Allied ace of the WW2
Arthur J. Benko  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 18.5 highest scoring American aerial gunner of the WW2
Marion E. Carl  United States U.S. Marine Corps 18.5
Lauri Pekuri  Finland Finnish Air Force 18.5
Leonard K. Carson  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 18.5 (+3.5 ground kills)
Glenn Eagleston  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 18.5 +2 in Korean War (+5 ground kills)
Wilbur J. Thomas  United States U.S. Marine Corps 18.5
Lev Shestakov †  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 18[182] +2 and 1 shared in Spanish Civil War +9 shared
Yukiyoshi Wakamatsu  Japan Imperial Japanese Army 18+
Motomitsu Aoki †  Japan Imperial Japanese Army 18 Korean pilot during the Japanese occupation era. Up to 23 claimed. KIA during the Korean War as Brig. Gen. Geun-Seok Lee of the ROK Air Force
Tateo Katō  Japan Imperial Japanese Army 18 up to 30 claimed
Karel Kuttelwascher  Czechoslovakia Royal Air Force 18 possibly 20
Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp  Germany Luftwaffe 18 +6 in World War I Ace in each of two wars
Witold Urbanowicz Poland Poland Polish Air Force;
Royal Air Force 		18
Walter C. Beckham  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 18
Herschel H. Green  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 18
John C. "Pappy" Herbst  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 18
Albert Gerald Lewis  South Africa Royal Air Force 18 Ace in a day
Miklós Kenyeres  Hungary Royal Hungarian Air Force 18
Charles H. Older  United States American Volunteer Group;
U.S. Army Air Forces 		18 Ace status on 2 different air forces
Takeo Tanimizu  Japan Imperial Japanese Navy 18
Pierre Le Gloan †  France French Air Force;
Free French Air Force 		18 Ace in a day
Hubert Zemke  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 17.75
John B. England  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 17.5
Duane W. Beeson  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 17⅓ (+4.8 ground kills)
Jouko Huotari  Finland Finnish Air Force 17.5
John F. Thornell  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 17¼ (+2 ground kills)
Henry William Brown  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 17.2 (+14.5 ground kills)
Theodor Rossiwall  Germany Luftwaffe 17[149] +2 Spanish Civil War
Michael Arooth  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 17 B-17 Flying Fortress tail gunner
Rudolf Božík  Slovak Republic Slovak Air Force 17
Ugo Drago  Italy
 Italian Social Republic 		Regia Aeronautica;
Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana 		17
Edgar Kain †  New Zealand Royal Air Force 17 First RAF fighter ace of WWII
William "Willie" McKnight  Canada Royal Air Force 17
Josef Frantisek  Czechoslovakia Royal Air Force 17
Jorma Sarvanto  Finland Finnish Air Force 17 Ace in a day (four minutes)
Yrjö Turkka  Finland Finnish Air Force 17
Gerald W. Johnson  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 17
James S. Varnell Jr.  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 17
Bolesław Gładych Poland Poland Polish Air Force;
French Air Force;
Royal Air Force;
U.S. Army Air Forces 		17 victories with 3 air forces
Keith Truscott  Australia Royal Australian Air Force 17
Petrus Hugo  South Africa Royal Air Force 17
Stanley Orr  United Kingdom Fleet Air Arm 17
Paul Galland †  Germany Luftwaffe 17[37]
Tony Lovell  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 16 +6 shared (+1 ground kill)
Eugeniusz Horbaczewski Poland Poland Polish Air Force;
Royal Air Force 		16.5
William T. Klersey †  Canada Royal Canadian Air Force 16.5 (+2 ground kills)
Aulis Lumme  Finland Finnish Air Force 16.5
James MacLachlan  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 16.5 7.5 after the amputation of his left arm
Eero Riihikallio  Finland Finnish Air Force 16.5
Nigel Cullen  Australia Royal Air Force 16.5
John T. Godfrey  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 16⅓ (+18 ground kills)
Adrian Goldsmith  Australia Royal Australian Air Force 16¼
Clarence E. Anderson  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 16¼ Highest scoring living American air ace. (+1 ground kill)
Les Clisby  Australia Royal Air Force 16
Franjo Dzal  Croatia Croatian Air Force 16
Douglas Baker †  United States U.S. Navy 16
Eero Halonen  Finland Finnish Air Force 16
Bill Harris  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 16
Buck McNair  Canada Royal Canadian Air Force 16
John Plagis  Rhodesia Royal Air Force 16 Top Rhodesian ace
Ioan Dicezare  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 16
Ira C. Kepford  United States U.S. Navy 16
Charles R. Stimpson  United States U.S. Navy 16
Stan Turner  Canada Royal Canadian Air Force 16
William T. Whisner, Jr.  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 16 +5.5 in Korean War Ace in each of two wars (+3.5 ground kills WWII)
George Welch  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 16
Edmond Marin la Meslée †  France French Air Force 16
Mario Visintini  Italy Regia Aeronautica 16 +1 in Spanish Civil War Top Biplane ace of WWII (+32 ground kills)
Vasile Gavriliu  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 16
Ernest Mason  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 15+ +2 shared
John Lloyd Waddy  Australia Royal Australian Air Force 15.5
Donald M. Beerbower  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 15.5
Brian Carbury  New Zealand Royal Air Force 15.5 Ace in a day
Richard A. Peterson  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 15.5 (+3.5 ground kills)
James E. Swett  United States U.S. Marine Corps 15.5 Ace in a day
David Lee "Tex" Hill  United States American Volunteer Group;
U.S. Army Air Forces 		15¼ Ace status on 2 different air forces
Semyon Bychkov  Soviet Union
 Germany 		Soviet Air Force
Luftwaffe 		15[183] including 5 shared victories. Taken as prisoner and served in Luftwaffe
Martti Alho  Finland Finnish Air Force 15
Ljudevit Bencetic  Croatia Croatian Air Force 15
Jack T. Bradley  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 15
Samuel J. Brown  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 15
Edward "Porky" Cragg  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 15
František Cyprich  Slovak Republic Slovak Air Force 15 possibly 18
Kenneth H. Dahlberg  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 15
Robert Francis Thomas "Bob" Doe  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 15 Includes two shared. One more probable.
William D. Dunham  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 15
Robert W. Foy  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 15
John "Jack" Frost †  South Africa South African Air Force 15
Raymond Harries  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 15 +3 shared
Ralph K. Hofer  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 15 (+14 ground kills)
Cyril F. Homer  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 15
Paterson Hughes  Australia Royal Air Force 15
Don C. Laubman  Canada Royal Canadian Air Force 15
Ian Roy MacLennan  Canada Royal Canadian Air Force 15
Harold L. Spears †  United States U.S. Marine Corps 15
Stoyan Stoyanov  Bulgaria Royal Bulgarian Air Force 15
Alois Vašátko †  Czechoslovakia Royal Air Force 15
Donald H. Bochkay  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 14.84
Donald J. Blakeslee  United States Royal Air Force;
U.S. Army Air Forces 		14.5 victories with 2 air forces
John D. Landers  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 14.5 (+20 ground kills)
Aaro Nuorala  Finland Finnish Air Force 14.5
Joseph H. Powers, Jr.  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 14.5
Johnnie Checketts  New Zealand Royal New Zealand Air Force 14.5
Henry Brown  United States U.S. Army Air Force 14.5 (+14.5 ground kills)
Charles Scherf  Australia Royal Australian Air Force 14.5 (+9 ground kills)
David Fairbanks  Canada Royal Canadian Air Force 14 Top Hawker Tempest ace with 13 of his 14 victories scored on it.
Mario Bellagambi  Italy Regia Aeronautica 14
Svein Heglund  Norway Royal Air Force 14
Sophus Baagoe †  Germany Luftwaffe 14[184]
Günther Wegmann  Germany Luftwaffe 14[65] Jet ace with 8 victories in Me 262[3]
František Brezina  Slovak Republic Slovak Air Force 14
Bruce W. Carr  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 14 (+10 ground kills)
Robert C. Curtis  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 14
Robert M. DeHaven  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 14
Archie Donahue  United States U.S. Marine Corps 14
Wallace N. Emmer  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 14
James A. Goodson  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 14 (+13 ground kills)
Arthur R. Hawkins  United States U.S. Navy 14
Arthur F. Jeffrey  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 14
Edward O. McComas  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 14
Elbert S. McCuskey  United States U.S. Navy 14
Daniel T. Roberts, Jr.  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 14
Gray Stenborg †  New Zealand Royal New Zealand Air Force 14[185]
John L. Wirth  United States U.S. Navy 14
István Fábián  Hungary Royal Hungarian Air Force 14
István Kálmán  Hungary Royal Hungarian Air Force 14
George Carpenter  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13.833 (+4 ground kills)
William Henry Franklin  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 13.5
George Chamberlain Duncan  United States U.S. Navy 13.5
Pekka Kokko  Finland Finnish Air Force 13.5
Heimo Lampi  Finland Finnish Air Force 13.5
Roger W. Mehle  United States U.S. Navy 13.5
Donald J. Strait  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13.5
Donald S. Bryan  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13.3 Ace in a day
Darrell S. Cramer  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13
Ivo von Lubich-Edler Milowa*  Germany Luftwaffe 13[167]
John Wong Pan-Yang  United States Chinese Nationalist Air Force 13
James L. Brooks  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13
Jan Zumbach Poland Poland Polish Air Force;
Royal Air Force 		13
Safet Boskic  Croatia Croatian Air Force 13
Mervyn Shipard  Australia Royal Australian Air Force 13
Daniel A. Carmichael, Jr.  United States U.S. Navy 13
James N. Cupp  United States U.S. Marine Corps 13
Clyde B. East  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13
Robert E. Galer  United States U.S. Marine Corps 13
John F. Hampshire  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13
Bruce K. Holloway  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13
William P. Marontate  United States U.S. Marine Corps 13
Willard. W. Millikan  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13 (+2 ground kills)
Glennon T. Moran  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13 (+3 ground kills)
Robert Neale  United States American Volunteer Group 13 (+2.5 ground kills)
László Pottyondi  Hungary Royal Hungarian Air Force 13
László Máthé  Hungary Royal Hungarian Air Force 13
Robin Olds  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13 +4 in Vietnam War (+11 ground kills)
James O'Meara  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 13
Yrjö Pallasvuo  Finland Finnish Air Force 13
Harry A. Parker  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13
Roy W. Rushing  United States U.S. Navy 13
Edward O. Shaw †  United States U.S. Marine Corps 13
AJ "Jackie" Sewell  United Kingdom Fleet Air Arm 13
Robert W. Stephens  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13
John R. Strane  United States U.S. Navy 13
Robert Lee Scott, Jr.  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13
Wendell V. Twelves  United States U.S. Navy 13
Tony Bartley  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 13
Ian Richard Gleed  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 13
Felix D. Williamson  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 13
Tiberiu Vinca  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 13
Ioan Maga  Romania Royal Romanian Air Force 13
Henryk Pietrzak Poland Poland Polish Air Force;
Royal Air Force 		12.5
Lasse Aaltonen  Finland Finnish Air Force 12.5
Ted Thorn  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 12.5
Frederick James Barker  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 12.5 rear gunner of Ted Thorn
Andrew "Nicky" Barr  Australia Royal Australian Air Force 12.5
Tony Gaze  Australia Royal Air Force 12.5
Lowell K. Brueland  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12.5 +2 in Korean War
Kenneth D. Frazier  United States U.S. Marine Corps 12.5
David Charles "Foob" Fairbanks  United States Royal Canadian Air Force 12.5
Irving Farmer Kennedy  Canada Royal Canadian Air Force 12.5
Eino Koskinen  Finland Finnish Air Force 12.5
Onni Paronen  Finland Finnish Air Force 12.5
Urho Sarjamo †  Finland Finnish Air Force 12.5
Per-Erik Sovelius  Finland Finnish Air Force 12.5
James C. Stewart  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12.5 (+1 ground kill)
James H. Howard  United States American Volunteer Group;
U.S. Army Air Forces 		12⅓ victories with 2 air forces (6⅓ with AVG and 6 with USAF)
Quince L. Brown  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12⅓ (+2 ground kills)
Lydia Litvyak †  Soviet Union Soviet Air Force 12 range 6-12 highest ranking female ace
Luigi Baron  Italy Regia Aeronautica 12
Mato Culinovic  Croatia Croatian Air Force 12
John A. Kent  Canada Royal Air Force 12 (+1 ground kill)
Eduard Martinko  Croatia Croatian Air Force 12
Veca Mikovic  Croatia Croatian Air Force 12
Zlatko Stipcic  Croatia Croatian Air Force 12
Marian Pisarek Poland Poland Polish Air Force;
Royal Air Force 		12
John Dundas  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 12
John Freeborn  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 12
Jozef Štauder  Slovak Republic Slovak Air Force 12 possibly 13
Pavol Zeleňák  Slovak Republic Slovak Air Force 12
Bruce Bretherton  Australia Royal Australian Air Force 12
Charles Crombie  Australia Royal Australian Air Force 12
Peter Turnbull  Australia Royal Australian Air Force 12
John Yarra  Australia Royal Australian Air Force 12
Anton Matúšek  Slovak Republic Slovak Air Force 12
Leo Ahokas  Finland Finnish Air Force 12
Michael Brezas  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12
Levi R. Chase  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12
Clement M. Craig  United States U.S. Navy 12
Nicholas Gresham Cooke †  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 12 Ace in a day
David B. Eastham  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12
Loren D. Everton  United States U.S. Marine Corps 12
Luigi Giannella  Italy Regia Aeronautica 12
George W. Gleason  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12 (+2.5 ground kills)
Leroy E. Harris  United States U.S. Navy 12
Coatsworth B. Head, Jr.  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12
Roger R. Hedrick  United States U.S. Navy 12
Howard D. Hively  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12 (+2.5 ground kills)
Georg Kraft †  Germany Luftwaffe 12 Night fighter ace
Kenneth G. Ladd  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12
Albert Lippett †  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 12 Ace in a day, turret gunner on a two-man fighter plane
William J. Masoner, Jr.  United States U.S. Navy 12
Pierce McKennon  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12 (+9.7 ground kills)
Robert W. Moore  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12
József Málik †  Hungary Royal Hungarian Air Force 12
Ferenc Málnássy †  Hungary Royal Hungarian Air Force 12
František Peřina  Czechoslovakia Royal Air Force 12
Michael J. Quirk  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12 (+5 ground kills)
Jack Rae  New Zealand Royal New Zealand Air Force 12[186]
Attilio Sanson  Italy Regia Aeronautica 12
LeRoy A. Schreiber  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12 (+2 ground kills)
Harold E. Segal  United States U.S. Marine Corps 12
James A. Shirley  United States U.S. Navy 12
Norman C. Skogstad  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12
William J. Sloan  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12
Giorgio Solaroli di Briona  Italy Regia Aeronautica 12
Eugene A. Trowbridge  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12
Richard E. Turner  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12 possibly just 11 (+2 V-1 flying bombs)
James A. Watkins  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12
Edward Wells  New Zealand Royal New Zealand Air Force 12[187] (+4 probables)
Richard L. West  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 12
Nicholas Megura  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 11.84 (+3.8 ground kills)
George R. Carr  United States U.S. Navy 11.5
James A. Clark, Jr.  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 11.5 (+4.5 ground kills)
Paul A. Conger  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 11.5
Olin E. Gilbert  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 11.5
William T. Halton  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 11.5 (+2 ground kills)
John A. Kirla, Jr.  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 11.5 (+.5 ground kill)
William N. Snider  United States U.S. Marine Corps 11.5
Albert O. Vorse Jr.  United States U.S. Navy 11.5
Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager  United States U.S. Army Air Forces 11.5 Ace in a day
Basilios Michael Vassilios "Vass" Vassiliades  Greece Royal Air Force 11.5
Liu Chi-Sheng / Liu Zhesheng  China Chinese Nationalist Air Force 11.3 Top Chinese ace
Howard Mayers  Australia Royal Air Force 11.3
Louis H. Norley  United States