List of World War I aces from Australia

Serny, France, November 1918. A score board recording the claims for enemy aircraft destroyed by No. 80 Wing RAF from July – November 1918. The squadrons listed include No. 2 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps and No. 4 Squadron, AFC. The other columns are headed "In Flames", "Crashed", "O.O.C." (Out of Control), "Driven Down" and "Balloons Destroyed"."

The following is the list of World War I aces from Australia. During the war Australian pilots served in a range of units in the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) and in the British Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and later the Royal Air Force (RAF). Australia was the only Dominion to have its own independent air arm during the war.[1] Pilots were considered to be "aces" after they had shot down five or more enemy aircraft; 81 Australians are believed to have achieved this feat, with the highest scorer being Robert Alexander Little, who is credited with 47 air victories.

Australian WWI aces

Name Squadron(s) Victories Notes
Robert Alexander Little No. 1 Naval Wing, No. 8 Squadron RNAS, No. 203 Squadron RAF 47 [2]
Roderic Stanley Dallas No. 1 Naval Wing, No. 1 Squadron RNAS, No. 40 Squadron RAF 39 [2]
Arthur Henry Cobby No. 4 Squadron AFC 29 [2]
Elwyn Roy King No. 4 Squadron AFC 26 [2]
Alexander Augustus Pentland No. 16 Squadron RFC, No. 29 Squadron RFC, No. 19 Squadron RFC, No. 87 Squadron RAF 23 [2]
Edgar McCloughry No. 23 Squadron RFC, No. 4 Squadron AFC 21 [2]
Richard Pearman Minifie No. 1 Naval Wing, No. 1 Squadron RNAS 21 [2]
Edgar Charles Johnston No. 24 Squadron RFC, No. 88 Squadron RAF 20 [2]
Andrew King Cowper No. 24 Squadron RAF 19 [2]
Cedric Ernest Howell No. 45 Squadron RAF 19 [2]
Fred Parkinson Holliday No. 48 Squadron RFC 17 [2]

Australian-born; as a child, lived in UK and later moved to Canada before WW1

Allan Captain Hepburn No. 24 Squadron RFC, No. 40 Squadron RFC, No. 88 Squadron RAF 16 [2]
Francis Ryan Smith No. 2 Squadron AFC 16 [2]
John Rutherford Gordon No. 62 Squadron RAF 15 [3]
Roy Cecil Phillipps No. 32 Squadron RFC, No. 2 Squadron AFC 15 [2]
Arthur Coningham No. 32 Squadron RFC, No. 92 Squadron RAF 14 [2]
Herbert Gilles Watson No. 4 Squadron AFC 14 [2]
Harold Alan Hamersley No. 60 Squadron RFC 13 [2]
Eric John Stephens No. 41 Squadron RAF 13 [2]
Thomas Charles Richmond Baker No. 4 Squadron AFC 12 [2]
Raymond James Brownell No. 45 Squadron RFC 12 [2]
Roby Lewis Manuel No. 2 Squadron AFC 12 [2]
Cecil Roy Richards No. 20 Squadron RFC 12 [2]
Leonard Thomas Eaton Taplin No. 67 Squadron RFC, No. 1 Squadron AFC, No. 4 Squadron AFC 12 [2]
Henry Garnet Forrest No. 43 Squadron RFC, No. 32 Squadron RFC, No. 2 Squadron AFC 11 [2]
Geoffrey Herbert Hooper No. 11 Squadron RFC, No. 20 Squadron RAF 11 [2]
Geoffrey Forrest Hughes No. 62 Squadron RAF 11 [2]
Herbert Joseph Larkin No. 5 Squadron RFC, No. 87 Squadron RAF 11 [2]
Ross Macpherson Smith No. 67 Squadron RFC, No. 1 Squadron AFC 11 [2]
Adrian Trevor Cole No. 1 Squadron AFC, No. 2 Squadron AFC 10 [2]
Stanley James Goble No. 1 Naval Wing, No. 8 Squadron RNAS, No. 5 Squadron RNAS, No. 205 Squadron RAF 10 [2]
Alfred Seymour Shepherd No. 29 Squadron RFC 10 [2]
Eric Douglas Cummings No. 2 Squadron AFC 9 [2]
Arthur Thomas Drinkwater No. 57 Squadron RFC, No. 40 Squadron RAF 9 [2]
Richard Watson Howard No. 68 Squadron RFC, No. 57 Squadron RFC, No. 2 Squadron AFC 9 [2]
Gregory Hamilton Blaxland No. 2 Squadron AFC 8 [2]
Clive Alexander Brewster-Joske No. 1 Squadron RFC, No. 46 Squadron RFC 8 [2]
Roy Maxwell Drummond No. 67 Squadron RFC, No. 111 Squadron RFC 8 [2]
Garfield Finlay No. 1 Squadron AFC 8 [4]
George Clifton Peters No. 1 Squadron AFC 8 [2]
Richard Watson Howard No. 57 Squadron RFC, No. 68 Squadron RFC, No. 2 Squadron AFC 8 [5]
George Goodman Simpson No. 8 Squadron RNAS 8 [6]
Leslie Sutherland No. 1 Squadron AFC 8 [7]
Frank Alberry No. 2 Squadron AFC 7 [2]
Thomas Henry Barkell No. 4 Squadron AFC 7 [2]
Ernest Edgar Davies No. 2 Squadron AFC 7 [2]
George Jones No. 4 Squadron AFC 7 [2]
Edward Patrick Kenney No. 1 Squadron AFC 7 [2]
Walter Kirk No. 1 Squadron AFC 7 [8]
Paul Joseph McGinness No. 1 Squadron AFC 7 [2]
Arthur John Palliser No. 4 Squadron AFC 7 [2]
George Clifton Peters No. 1 Squadron AFC 7 [9]
Lancelot Lytton Richardson No. 25 Squadron RFC 7 [2]
Albert Ernest Robertson No. 4 Squadron AFC 7 [2]
Charles Owen Stone No. 2 Squadron AFC 7 [10]
Norman Charles Trescowthick No. 4 Squadron AFC 7 [2]
George H. D. Gossip No. 4 Squadron RNAS 6 [11]
John Hay No. 40 Squadron RFC 6 [2]
Philip Andrew Johnston No. 8 Squadron RNAS 6 [12]
George Alexander Lingham No. 43 Squadron RAF 6 [2]
Garnet Francis Malley No. 4 Squadron AFC 6 [2]
Robert William McKenzie No. 2 Squadron AFC 6 [2]
Harry Alexander Rigby No. 40 Squadron RFC, No. 1 Squadron RAF 6 [2]
Eric Landon Simonson No. 2 Squadron AFC 6 [2]
Claud Robert James Thompson No. 19 Squadron RFC 6 [2]
Albert Tonkin No. 1 Squadron AFC 6 [13]
James Hamilton Traill No. 1 Squadron AFC 6 [14]
William James Alexander Weir No. 1 Squadron AFC 6 [15]
James Joseph Wellwood No. 2 Squadron AFC 6 [2]
Allan Runciman Brown No. 1 Squadron AFC 5 [2]
Alexander Clark No. 2 Squadron AFC 5 [2]
George Cox No. 2 Squadron AFC 5 [2]
Sydney Dalrymple No. 24 Squadron RFC, No. 27 Squadron RFC, No. 139 Squadron RAF 5 [16]
Herbert James Edwards No. 32 Squadron RFC, No. 92 Squadron RFC 5 [2]
Wilmot Hudson Fysh No. 1 Squadron AFC, No. 67 Squadron RAF 5 [17]
Walter Irving Newby Grant No. 88 Squadron RFC 5 [13]
Eustace Headlam No. 1 Squadron RFC, No. 2 Squadron RFC, No. 67 Squadron AFC 5 [18]
Les Holden No. 2 Squadron AFC 5 [2]
Ernest Mustard No. 1 Squadron AFC 5 [19]
Patrick Gordon Taylor No. 66 Squadron RFC 5 [20]
John Seymour Turnbull No. 56 Squadron RFC, No. 41 Squadron RAF 5 [21]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ McGibbon 2000, p. 7.
  2. ^ 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 Newton 1996, pp. 60–61.
  3. ^ Franks et al, pp. 20–21.
  4. ^ Franks et al, p. 9.
  5. ^ Shores et al, 1997, p. 200.
  6. ^ Shores et al 1990, p. 339.
  7. ^ Franks et al, 1997, p. 47.
  8. ^ Franks et al, 1997, p. 29.
  9. ^ Shores et al 1990, p. 302.
  10. ^ Shores et al 1990, p. 353.
  11. ^ Shores et al 1990, p. 173.
  12. ^ Shores et al 1990, p. 214.
  13. ^ a b Morgan, Gareth (12 November 2021). "The Fighter Aces from Australia" (PDF). By the Seat of their Pants: The Proceedings of the Conference Held at the RAAF Museum Point Cook. Military History and Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  14. ^ Franks et al 1997, p. 50.
  15. ^ Shores et al 1990, p. 56.
  16. ^ Franks et al 1997, pp. 132–133.
  17. ^ Franks et al 1997, p. 9.
  18. ^ Franks et al 1990, p. 191.
  19. ^ Shores et al 1997, p. 38.
  20. ^ Franks 2012, p. 36.
  21. ^ "Turnbull, John Semour". Virtual War Memorial. Retrieved 28 December 2021.

References

  • Franks, Norman; Guest, Russel; 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. Volume 4 of Fighting Airmen of WWI Series: Volume 4 of Air Aces of WWI. Oxford: Grub Street. ISBN 978-1-898697-56-5.
  • Franks, Norman (2012). Sopwith Pup Aces of World War I. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-78200-727-2.
  • McGibbon, Ian, ed. (2000). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History. Auckland: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-558376-0.
  • Newton, Dennis (1996). Australian Air Aces: Australian Fighter Pilots in Combat. Fyshwick, Australian Capital Territory: Aerospace Publications. ISBN 1-875671-25-0.
  • 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. London: Grub Street. ISBN 978-0-948817-19-9.