I've shortened the list to reflect Russians only.
I've also underlined the points.
This is just to keep the topic of the site.
Skipped countries are marked with [Country].
Here is the complete version.
-jno
Last revised: 10 November 1996
A co-authored list by:
Al Bowers bowers@wilbur.dfrc.nasa.gov
David Lednicer dave@amiwest.com
This list has some problems relative to the previous list, but this list is much more comprehensive compared to the previous list (thanks to Dave Lednicer). Note that some aces are alphabetical by last name (hand sorted) and some are by first name (machine sorted), apologies for that. I also have to take responsibility for all typos and errors. Several sources were used to compile this list, notably the works of Tolliver, Costable, Shores, Jackson, the American Fighter Aces Association and several others. Scores are as recognized by the certifying agency of the time and country (eg: the USA system in WWI was the same as the French, but was later changed). No single scoring system could be used for all names in the list. There also remains the question of scores themselves, and some variation has been found in recognized authorities. In these cases, where most of a single list are given in a single recognized system, and possible scores are listed in parens.
That said, the list is complete in the following ways:
In WWI France, Belgium, Italy, Russia and the US used the term ace. It was first used to describe the exploits of Roland Garros, who when he was captured had 5 kills, which became the standard by which "acedom" was achieved. The Germans used the word kanone and used ten victories to signify this title. In WWI there were 550 British men who qualified for the word "ace", though it was not used as the British felt that courage was a person's duty. In WWI there were 160 French aces, 41 Italians, 8 Belgians, three Russians, and one Romanian. America had 108 aces from WWI.
And I expect some of the numbers to generate some controversy (especially the WWII Luftwaffe numbers), but the numbers are as accurate as possible (references available). Also in the WWII era, the names of two women appear, Lidiya Litvyak and Katya Budanova, the only two women I know of that have downed 5 or more opponents. Keep in mind that there is some dispute about the accuracy of the numbers, John Lundstrom has done considerable research and I would not presuppose to believe my work is as all encompassing as his, or Christopher Shores' or Dan Ford's work.
Kills from a particular conflict are listed, and totals (if any additional kills made) in parens with additional conflict listed. Note that WWII German aces also have parens for jet and rocket kills. Immediately below is a list by conflict, country and numbers of aces.
I believe that the total number of aces in the world are about 10000 names recognized. This list is about one-third of that. Here is a breakdown by country and conflict:
Germany 363 France 158 Great Britain 550 (+110 bomber pilots and crew) Russia 18 Belgium 5 Austro-Hungary 30 Italy 43 USA 110 Greece 1
USA 1281 Belgium 9 Great Britain 1200+ Bulgaria 2 China 9 Czech 9 Slovakia 7 Denmark 2 Netherlands 0 (see below) Finland 92 France 21? Germany 967+ (scores of 20 or more, possibly as high as 5000 total aces) Greece 1 Hungary 9? Iceland 1 Italy 15? Japan 26? Norway 15 Poland 41 (43?) Rumania 4? USSR 203+ (20 or more) Spain 15? Croatia 14 Yugoslavia 1
USA 38 USSR 23
USA 2 (see below) PRV 13
Israel 15? Egypt 5? Pakistan 2
My heartfelt thanks to those who have taken the time to correct the errors, and make additions to the list. The list will never be definitive, as the actual numbers will always be in dispute. I hope the list is as useful for you as it was for me.
Al Bowers
Name Victories Conflict Country
WWI
[Germany]
[France]
[Ireland]
[Canada]
[South Africa]
[UK]
[Australia]
[Scotland]
[AustroHungary]
[Italy]
[Belgium]
[USA]
Alexander A. Kazakov 17(32?) WWI Russia
P.V. d'Argueeff 15 WWI Russia
Alexander P. Seversky 13 WWI Russia
I.W. Smirnoff 12 WWI Russia
M. Safonov 11 WWI Russia
Boris Sergievsky 11 WWI Russia
Eduard M. Tomson 11 WWI Russia
[Spain]
WWII
[Germany]
[Japan]
[Finland]
Ivan N. Kozuhedub 62 WWII USSR
Aleksandr I. Pokryshkin 59 WWII USSR
Grigori A. Rechkalov 58 WWII USSR
Nikolai Gulayev 57(56?) WWII USSR
Arsenii V. Vorozheikin 52(46?) WWII USSR
Kirill A. Yevstigneev 52 WWII USSR
Aleksandr F. Klubov 50 WWII USSR
Dimitriy B. Glinka 50(56?) WWII USSR
Ivan M. Pilipenko 48 WWII USSR
Nikolai M. Skomorokov 46 WWII USSR
Vasilii N. Kubarev 46 WWII USSR
Georgi D. Kostilev 43(40?) WWII USSR
Vladimir I. Bobrov 43(13 in Spain)WWII USSR
Sergi Morgunov 42 WWII USSR
Vitalii I. Popkov 41(40?) WWII USSR
Aleksi V. Alelyukin 40 WWII USSR
Lapanskii 40 WWII USSR
Viktor F. Golubev 39 WWII USSR
Vasilii F. Golubev 38 WWII USSR
Mikhail Y. Pivovarov 37 WWII USSR
Sergi D. Luganskii 37 WWII USSR
Aleksandr I. Koldunov 36(46?) WWII USSR
Anatoli G. Dolgikh 36 WWII USSR
Grigorii K. Gul'tyaev 36 WWII USSR
Nikolai F. Kuznetsov 36 WWII USSR
Ivan I. Babak 35 WWII USSR
Nikolai S. Pavlushkin 35 WWII USSR
Pavel M. Kamozin 35(46?) WWII USSR
Vladmir D. Lavrinenkov 35 WWII USSR
Aleksandr M. Chislov 34 WWII USSR
Aleksandr V. Kotchekov 34 WWII USSR
Fedor M. Chubkob 34 WWII USSR
Ivan N. Sytov 34 WWII USSR
Petr A. Gnido 34 WWII USSR
Sergi I. Lukyanov 34 WWII USSR
Aleksei K. Ryazanov 32 WWII USSR
Andreii Y. Borovykh 32 WWII USSR
Ivan N. Stepanenko 32 WWII USSR
Mikhail M. Zelenkin 32 WWII USSR
Mikhail S. Komelkov 32 WWII USSR
Nikolai F. Krasnov 32 WWII USSR
Pavel Y. Gololvavchev 31 WWII USSR
Victor V. Kirilyuk 31 WWII USSR
Aleksei S. Khobystov 30 WWII USSR
Boris B. Glinka 30 WWII USSR
Fedor F. Arkhipenko 30 WWII USSR
Ivan D. Likhobabiyi 30 WWII USSR
Petr A. Pokryshev 30 WWII USSR
Petr Y. Likholetov 30 WWII USSR
Sultan Akmet-khan 30 WWII USSR
Velentin N. Makharov 30 WWII USSR
Boris F. Safnov 22 WWII USSR
Stepan Suprun 15 WWII USSR
Lily Litvak (f) 12 WWII USSR
Katya Budanova (f) 6 WWII USSR
[USA]
[UK]
[Australia]
[New Zealand]
[Canada]
[South Africa]
[France]
[Belgium]
[Bulgaria]
[China]
[Croatia]
[Czech]
[Denmark]
[Greece]
[Hungary]
[Iceland]
[Italy]
[Netherlands]
[Norway]
[Poland]
[Romania]
[Slovakia]
[Yugoslavia]
Korea
[USA]
Yevgeny Pepelyaev 23 Korea USSR
Nick Sutyagin 23 Korea USSR
Alexandr Smortzkow 12 Korea USSR
L. Schukin 10+ Korea USSR
D. Oskin 10+ Korea USSR
G. Pulov 10+ Korea USSR
G. Ohay 10+ Korea USSR
S. Veshnyakov 10+ Korea USSR
G. Ges 10+ Korea USSR
A. Boytzow 10+ Korea USSR
D. Samaoylov 10+ Korea USSR
Anatoly Karelin 9 Korea USSR
Mikhail Mihin 9 Korea USSR
Nikolay Ivanov 6 Korea USSR
Nikolay Shkodin 5 Korea USSR
Vietnam
[USA]
[Vietnam]
Middle East
[Israel]
[Egypt]
Indo-Pakistani
[Pakistan]
For more detailed information of Israeli tallies, Dave Lednicer has prepared these lists.
Footnotes:
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