List of World War I aces credited with 9 victories

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An imperious young man in Greek naval uniform
Aristeidis Moraitinis carried out the first naval-air operation in history in 1913.
See also: Flying ace, Aerial victory standards of World War I, and Aviation in World War I

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[edit]

This list is complete. Notable aces are linked to their biographies.

  This along with the symbolic sword †, 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
Cyril John Agelasto  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force[a] 9[5]
Ernst Freiherr von Althaus  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6][page needed]
Charles Arnison  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Paul Frank Baer  United States Aéronautique Militaire, US Army Air Service 9[8][page needed]
Harold H. Balfour  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Gottfried Freiherr von Banfield  Austria-Hungary Luftfahrtruppen 9[5][page needed]
William Thomas Barnes  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 9[5]
Walter Beales  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[5]
Rex George Bennett†  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Arno Benzler  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
James Binnie  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Fernand Bonneton  France Aéronautique Militaire 9[8]
John Denis Breakey  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Konrad Brendle  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Alexandre Bretillon  France Aéronautique Militaire 9[8]
Frederick Britnell  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
William Henry Brown  Canada Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
George William Bulmer  Canada Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Francis Dominic Casey  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service 9[7]
Thomas Cassady  United States Aéronautique Militaire, United States Army Air Service 9[8]
Leonard Arthur Christian  Canada Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[5]
Arthur Coadou  France Aéronautique Militaire 9[8]
Théophile Henri Condemine  France Aéronautique Militaire 9[8]
Eric Douglas Cummings  Australia Australian Flying Corps 9[7]
Donald Cunnell  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps 9[7]
Hector Daniel  South Africa Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force, South African Air Force 9[7]
George Darvill  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[5]
Richard Dawes  Canada Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Roger Del'Haye  Canada Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force 9[7]
Marcel Marc Dhome  France Aéronautique Militaire 9[8]
Albert Dietlen  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
George Dixon  Canada Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Gustave Douchy  France Aéronautique Militaire 9[8]
René Dousinelle  France Aéronautique Militaire 9[8]
John Doyle  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Christopher Draper  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Arthur Thomas Drinkwater  Australia Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Otto Fitzner  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
James Henry Forman  Canada Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Frederick Gordon  New Zealand Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Robert MacIntyre Gordon  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Acheson Goulding  Canada Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force 9[7]
William Edward Green  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[5]
George Hackwill  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
James Hardman  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Friedrich Huffzky  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Frederick Hunt  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 9[7]
Otto Jindra  Austria-Hungary Luftfahrtruppen, Czech Air Force 9[5]
Reginald Johns  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Norman Cyril Jones  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Georg Kenzian  Austria-Hungary Luftfahrtruppen 9[5]
Harold Spencer Kerby  Canada Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Leslie Walter King  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Francis Kitto  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Herbert Knappe  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Egon Koepsch  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Fritz Kosmahl  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Walter Kypke  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Georges Lachmann  France Aéronautique Militaire 9[8]
Helmut Lange  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Jens Frederick Larsen  United States Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[8]
Charles Lavers  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
George V. Learmond  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[5]
Gustav Leffers  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
James Leith Leith  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Selden Long  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Cyril Lowe  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Norman Macmillan  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Herbert Mahn  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Cecil Marchant  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Jean Matton  France Aéronautique Militaire 9[8]
Ronald Mauduit  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Reginald Maxwell  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
John Sutholand McDonald  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Christopher McEvoy  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
David MacKay McGoun  Canada Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Horace Merritt  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[5]
John Theobald Milne  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps 9[7]
Eberhard Mohnicke  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Basil Moody  South Africa Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Aristeidis Moraitinis  Greece Hellenic Naval Air Service, Royal Naval Air Service 9[9]
Hans Karl Müller  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Richard Burnard Munday  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Charles Napier  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Giovanni Nicelli  Italy Corpo Aeronautico Militare 9[5]
Ernest Norton  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Arthur Noss  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps 9[5]
Conn Standish O'Grady  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps 9[7]
Samuel Parry  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[5]
Karl Pech  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Henri Albert Péronneau  France Aéronautique Militaire 9[8]
Edmond Pierce  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Frank Ransley  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Valentine Reed  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps 9[5]
William Reed  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
George Reid  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
William Wendell Rogers  Canada Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Willi Rosenstein  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Herbert Rowley  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Ernest James Salter  Canada Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Karl Schattauer  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Adolf Schulte  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte 9[6]
Joseph Siddall  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Charles Sims  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Arthur Solly  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps 9[7]
Anthony Spence  Canada Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Grigoriy Suk  Russia Imperial Army Air Service 9[5]
Mathieu Tenant de la Tour  France Aéronautique Militaire 9[8]
Louis Mark Thompson  Canada Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[5]
Ronald Thornely  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Frederick Dudley Travers  United Kingdom Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Ronald William Turner  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[5]
Ferdinand Udvardy  Austria-Hungary Luftfahrtruppen 9[5]
Marcel Viallet  France Aéronautique Militaire 9[8]
Guy Wareing  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Kenneth Bowman Watson  Canada Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Albert Edward Wear  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps 9[5]
Georg Weiner  German Empire Luftstreitkräfte, Luftwaffe 9[6]
Thomas Williams  South Africa Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Alec Williamson  United Kingdom Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force 9[7]
Chester Wright  United States United States Army Air Service 9[8]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ In 1918 the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Navy Air Service were combined to form the Royal Air Force

References[edit]

  1. ^ 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]
  2. ^ Franks, Bailey & Guest 1993, p. 10
  3. ^ Dunnigan 2003, p. 149
  4. ^ Shores, Franks & Guest 1990, p. 7
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Franks, Guest and Alegi (1997)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Franks, Bailey and Russell (1993).
  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 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 Shores, Franks, Guest (1990).
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Franks, Bailey. (1992)
  9. ^ "Bombing of Constantinople". Flight. Vol. 9, no. 47. 22 November 1917. p. 1220.



Bibliography[edit]

  • 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.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_World_War_I_aces_credited_with_9_victories&oldid=1184685831"