Who was the greatest Ace of WWII?

Friar Tuck

http://users.senet.com.au/~wingman/hartmann.html - German ace of WWII, Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann is the world's all time 'Ace of Aces' with 352 confirmed victories. Nicknamed the 'Blonde Knight of Germany', Hartmann spent his entire career on Germany's Eastern front, where he recorded 345 victories against Soviet aircraft and 7 against the Americans. He flew an amazing 1,425 combat missions, all in the the Messerschmitt Bf-109. During this time he was involved in over 800 dogfights and was shot down 18 times. For his victories, he was personally awarded the Knights Cross to the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds by Adolf Hitler. Hartmann's skills were so effective that the Soviets placed a 10,000 ruble price on his head and singled him out as a war criminal for destroying so much Soviet property. During his fighting career he earned many nicknames. His squadron mates called him 'Bubi' for his youthful appearance. The Russian's called him the 'Black Devil of the Ukraine'. But the world knows him as the 'Greatest Ace of all Time'. Jun 18 02, 8:56 PM

elburcher

Here is a web site that gives acomplete listing of 'Ace's' from all contries involved as well as WW I, Spanish Civil War, Korea, Vietnam and the Arab-Israili Wars. It also gives a brief history of the term 'Ace' http://aeroweb.lucia.it/~agretch/RAFAQ/aces.html Jun 19 02, 7:50 PM