List of top World War II aces
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This is a list of the top World War II aces. Fighter aces in World War II had tremendously varying kill scores, as they were affected by many factors: the pilot's skill level, the performance of the airplanes a pilot flew and of the airplanes he flew against, and how long they had to serve.
Russian pilots had a hard time surviving long enough to become aces, as they often received little training, fought against more experienced Nazi pilots, and had planes that favored a skilled pilot rather than a beginner. Germany has the highest scoring aces due to often superior aircraft, many pilots having a lot of experience from earlier fighting, and the fact that German pilots had to serve until they were shot down. American pilots could go home after a tour of duty, and often did not have as much training as other nation's pilots.
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 chance of getting enough skill to be successful. It is not clear what impact each individual nation's rules for score crediting have on the counts listed below, although the impact is likely to be significant.
This list is not comprehensive and includes a partial listing of the highest scoring aces overall and from each country, with many of the lower scoring aces excluded. Rank/position is listed when availble. See List of World War II aces by country for a full listing.
| Credited Kills | Name | Nationality |
| 28.5 | Group Captain C.R. Caldwell | Australia |
| 31.33 | Flight Lieutenant G.F. Beurling | Canada |
| 21.875 | Squadron Leader V.C. Woodward | Canada |
| 21 | Squadron Leader H.W. McLeod | Canada |
| 20 | Karel Kuttelwascher | Czechoslovakia |
| 17 | Sergeant Josef František | Czechoslovakia |
| 75 | Captain Hans H. Wind | Finland |
| 33 | Squadron Leader Pierre Clostermann | France |
| 23 | Captain Marcel Albert | France |
| 21 | Wing Commander J.E.F. Demozay | France |
| 18 | Pierre Le Gloan | France |
| 15 | Captain Edmond Marin la Meslee | France |
| 14 | Captain Michel Dorance | France |
| 14 | Sous Lieutenant Camille Plubeau | France |
| 352 | Major Erich Hartmann | Germany |
| 302 | Major Gerhard Barkhorn | Germany |
| 275 | Major Guenther Rall | Germany |
| 267 | Oberleutnant Otto Kittel | Germany |
| 258 | Major Walter Nowotny | Germany |
| 237 | Major Wilhelm Batz | Germany |
| 222 | Major Erich Rudorffer | Germany |
| 220 | Major Heinz Bär | Germany |
| 212 | Oberst Hermann Graf | Germany |
| 208 | Major Theo. Weissenberger | Germany |
| 206 | Oberleutnant Walter Schuck | Germany |
| 206 | Oberstleutnant Hans Philipp | Germany |
| 204 | Major Heinrich Ehrler | Germany |
| 204 | Oberleutnant Anton Hafner | Germany |
| 203 | Hauptmann Helmut Lipfert | Germany |
| 197 | Major Walter Krupinski | Germany |
| 192 | Major Anton Hackl | Germany |
| 189 | Hauptmann Joachim Brendel | Germany |
| 189 | Hauptmann Max Stotz | Germany |
| 188 | Hauptmann Joachim Kirschner | Germany |
| 180 | Major Kurt Braendle | Germany |
| 178 | Oberleutnant Guenther Josten | Germany |
| 176 | Oberst Johannes Steinhoff | Germany |
| 174 | Hauptmann Guenther Schack | Germany |
| 174 | Oberleutnant Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert | Germany |
| 173 | Hauptmann Emil Lang | Germany |
| 173 | Hauptmann Heinz Schmidt | Germany |
| 166 | Major Horst Ademeit | Germany |
| 162 | Oberst Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke | Germany |
| 158 | Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Marseille | Germany |
| 157 | Hauptmann Heinrich Sturm | Germany |
| 157 | Oberleutnant Gerhard Thyben | Germany |
| 152 | Oberleutnant Hans Beisswenger | Germany |
| 150 | Leutnant Peter Duettmann | Germany |
| 150 | Oberst Gordon Gollob | Germany |
| 32 | Wing Commander B. Finucane | Ireland |
| 87 | Hiroyishi Nishizawa | Japan |
| 80 | Shoichi Sugita | Japan |
| 64 | Saburo Sakai | Japan |
| 58 | Hiromichi Shinohara | Japan |
| 55 | Waturo Nakamichi | Japan |
| 54 | Takeo Okumura | Japan |
| 52 | Naoshi Kanno | Japan |
| 51 | Satoshi Anabuki | Japan |
| 51 | Yasuhiko Kuroe | Japan |
| 27.5 | Wing Commander C.F. Gray | New Zealand |
| 22 | Wing Commander A.C. Deere | New Zealand |
| 22 | Wing Commander E.D. Mackie | New Zealand |
| 21.5 | Flight Lieutenant R.B. Hessely | New Zealand |
| 21.5 | Wing Commander W.V. Crawford-Compton | New Zealand |
| 21 | Wing Commander S. Skalski | Poland |
| 18 | Flight Lieutenant B. Gładych | Poland |
| 17 | Wing Commander W. Urbanowicz | Poland |
| 16.5 | Squadron Leader E. Horbaczewski | Poland |
| 12.5 | Wing Commander Jan Zumbach | Poland |
| 12 | Wing Commander M. Pisarek | Poland |
| 41 | Squadron Leader M.T. St. J. Pattle | South Africa |
| 35 | Group Captain A.G. Malan | South Africa |
| 23.5 | Squadron Leader J.J. Le Roux | South Africa |
| 22 | Wing Commander P.H. Hugo | South Africa |
| 38 | Group Captain J.E. Johnson | United Kingdom |
| 29 | Wing Commander J.R.D. Graham | United Kingdom |
| 29 | Wing Commander R.R.S. Tuck | United Kingdom |
| 28 | Squadron Leader J.H. Lacey | United Kingdom |
| 26 | Flight Lieutenant E.S. Lock | United Kingdom |
| 24.5 | Wing Commander B. Drake | United Kingdom |
| 24 | Squadron Leader W. Vale | United Kingdom |
| 23 | Flight Lieutenant G. Allard | United Kingdom |
| 23 | Wing Commander D.R.S. Bader | United Kingdom |
| 40 | Major Richard I. Bong | United States |
| 38 | Major Thomas B. McGuire | United States |
| 34 | Captain David McCampbell | United States |
| 31 | Colonel Frances S. Gabreski | United States |
| 28 | Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Boyington | United States |
| 28 | Lieutenant Colonel Robert S. Johnson | United States |
| 27 | Colonel Charles H. MacDonald | United States |
| 26 | Major George E. Preddy | United States |
| 26 | Major Joseph J. Foss | United States |
| 25 | First Lieutenant Robert M. Hanson | United States |
| 24 | Colonel John C. Meyer | United States |
| 24 | Lieutenant Cecil E. Harris | United States |
| 23 | Commander Eugeane A. Valencia | United States |
| 22.5 | Captain Ray S. Whetmore | United States |
| 22.5 | Colonel David C. Schilling | United States |
| 22 | Lieutenant Colonel Gerald R. Johnson | United States |
| 22 | Lieutenant Colonel Jay T. Robbins | United States |
| 22 | Major Neel E. Kearby | United States |
| 21 | Major Kenneth A. Walsh | United States |
| 20 | Captain Donald M. Aldrich | United States |
| 62 | Ivan Kozhedub | USSR |
| 59 | Aleksandr Pokryshkin | USSR |
| 58 | Grigorii Rechkalov | USSR |
| 57 | Nikolai Gulaev | USSR |
| 52 | Kirill Yevstigneev | USSR |
| 50 | Aleksandr Klubov | USSR |
| 50 | Dmitrii Glinka | USSR |
| 48 | Ivan Pilipenko | USSR |
| 46 | Arsenii Vorozheikin | USSR |
| 46 | Nikolai Skomorokhov | USSR |
| 46 | Vasilii Kubarev | USSR |