💡 Interesting Facts
Norman Williams shot down eight German aircraft while serving as an air gunner in Halifax bombers in the Second World War, becoming the most highly decorated non-commissioned officer in the RAAF and its only "ace" who was not a fighter pilot?Pavel Argeyev, a Russian flying ace, fought on both the Eastern Front and the Western Front for both Russia and France during the First World War?John "Jack" Frost, the highest-scoring South African Air Force ace of World War II, went missing in action, and his body and plane have never been found?John "Willy" Williams , the Australian World War II air ace who later took part in the "The Great Escape", became a POW merely three days after being promoted to command No.450 Squadron RAAF?Harrison Thyng was one of only six US Air Force pilots to be recognized as an ace in two wars?Indra Lal Roy of the Royal Air Force became India's first flying ace after he achieved 10 victories in thirteen days during World War I?Samuel Frederick Henry Thompson, a British flying ace of World War I, scored 30 kills in five months of service and won both the DFC and MC?Australian flying ace Raymond Brownell was awarded the Military Cross for shooting down six enemy aircraft over a three month period in the First World War?during its one year of existence, the Tainan Air Group produced more aces than any other fighter unit in the Imperial Japanese Navy?to join the Australian Flying Corps in 1917, future fighter ace Roy Phillipps (pictured) falsified his age by declaring he was four years younger?despite the amputation of his left leg and injury to his left hand, Russian World War I fighter ace Juri Gilsher continued to fly and scored five kills in 1917?aviator Aristeidis Moraitinis (pictured), apart from being Greece’s only ace in World War I, was at the same time in command of the Hellenic Naval Air Service?LtCol. John F. Bolt, Korean War Navy Cross recipient, remains the only U.S. Marine Corps jet aircraft flying ace?Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weissenfeld was an Austrian aristocratic night fighter flying ace who fought for the German Luftwaffe in World War II?Charles B. DeBellevue (pictured), who had the most MiG kills during the Vietnam War, was the last American ace on active duty?Flight Lieutenant Eric Lock was the most successful British ace during the Battle of Britain, shooting down 16.5 German aircraft over the course of the 17-week long battle?Flying Officer Les Clisby (pictured), Australia's first fighter ace of World War II, once landed beside a German bomber he had forced down and captured the crew at gunpoint?Australian flying ace Russell Foskett was credited with 6½ aerial victories during the Second World War, before he was killed over the Aegean Sea in October 1944?Australian Second World War flying ace Virgil Brennan shot down 10 Axis aircraft over Malta in a five month period during 1942?Australian Second World War flying ace Adrian Goldsmith was credited with shooting down 12¼ Axis aircraft over Malta between the months of February and July 1942?air ace John S. Loisel spent more time in combat than any other American pilot in World War II and also served in the Korean War?Luftwaffe ace Erich Rudorffer flew more than 1000 missions during World War II, and was shot down sixteen times by enemy flak and fighters?World War II RAAF fighter ace John Waddy later became a Minister of the Crown, while British Army paratrooper John Waddy went on to command the SAS?World War II fighter pilot Nigel Cullen, who became an ace with 16 aerial victories, was nicknamed "Ape" for his imposing physique?World War II flying ace Franz Barten is credited for shooting down a total of 55 enemy aircraft?World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker's memoirs influenced 1930s "flying pulp" magazines such as Flying Aces?American flying ace John C. "Pappy" Herbst painted a swastika on his P-51B Mustang to indicate an aerial victory he said he earned while flying with the Royal Canadian Air Force?Australian flying ace Charles Scherf (pictured) was credited with 14½ aerial victories from 38 operational sorties during the Second World War, with an additional nine aircraft destroyed on the ground?