The World War II Allied ‘Ace’ pilots who became legends of the air 

During World War II, allied pilots were among the most fearless and revered figures from the six-year conflict that consumed over 75% of the global population.  

The early stages of the war saw the introduction of some of aviation’s most iconic aircraft such as the Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane and the Messerschmitt Bf 109. 

While later stages of the conflict saw the US enter the fray with the Lockheed P-38 Lightning followed by the P-51 Mustang. 

The men that learned to harness the speed and power of these incredible aircraft became heroes in their home countries, defending the skies against their nation’s enemies.  

While the British Royal Air Force (RAF), US Air Force (USAF), Red Army Air Forces (VVS), Free French Air Forces (FAFL) and several air forces from the Commonwealth were all celebrated for their valor and their defining contribution to the war effort, some individuals rose to the top and captured the imagination of the world. 

Among these pilots were some of the most highly decorated military personnel who accomplished feats that surpassed all those around them.  

Ivan Kozhedub (Soviet Union) 

Born on June 8, 1970, Soviet Ukrainian fighter pilot Ivan Kozhedub experienced a meteoric rise to fame from humble beginnings in Obrazhivka, a small village in the Sumy region. 

By the end of World War II, he was recognized as having achieved the highest number of German aircraft takedowns among the Allied counties.  

The ‘Flying Ace’ first joined a flying school in the late 1930s and then in 1940 he joined a military flying school of the Russian Red Army where he excelled.  

Due to his incredible talents, he continued to stay at the school as an instructor, but in November 1942 he finally joined a fighter regiment in Moscow.  

In March 1943, 22-year-old Kozhedub had his first taste of active warfare at the controls of the Soviet single-engine fighter, the Lavochkin La-5.  

Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot Ivan Kozhedub near Iași, Romania, 1944 pic.twitter.com/XwcU1vco9c— USSR Pictures (@PicturesUssr) May 16, 2023 Struck by anti-aircraft fire, Kozhedub waited until July 6, 1943, to claim his first win against a German aircraft.  

Famously when the German jet-powered Messerschmitt Me 262 joined the war effort, it is thought that flying a Lavochkin La-7, Kozhedub became the first Soviet pilot to destroy one of the aircraft.  

By the end of World War II, Kozhedub had flown 330 sorties and destroyed 62 Luftwaffe aircraft in over 100 dog fights – and was never shot down himself.  

He was given a gold star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union three times (twice in 1944, and once in 1945) during World War II and went on to command the 324th Fighter Aviation Division during operations in the Korean War.  

Kozhedub died on August 8, 1981, at the age of 71, and was buried at Novodevitchy Cemetery in Moscow, close to the graves of high-ranking Red Army generals and Soviet politicians.  

James Edgar Johnson (UK) 

Imperial War Museum / RAFJames Edgar Johnson was known as ‘Johnnie’ to his Royal Air Force pals, but by the end of World War II it would be a nickname even British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was familiar with. 

Johnson was born on March 9, 1915, Barrow-upon-Soar, near Loughborough, while World War I raged across the English Channel in Europe.  

He enjoyed shooting and paid for his first flying lessons using his own savings with big dreams of one day becoming a pilot.  

Before World War II began, Johnson had tried to join the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) but was rejected. This was followed by further disappointment as he tried desperately to get his foot in the door. 

After a period of time with the Army Reserves he was finally accepted by the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) in July 1939. 

Following his Spitfire training, in September 1940 he flew in an X-Raid patrol in a Spitfire X4330, qualifying for the Battle of Britain clasp but a reoccurring injury with his right arm required surgery if he was going to continue flying.  

RAF Historical BranchAt the start of 1941, after so many setbacks, Johnson finally returned to his assigned squadron and could get on with his career as an RAF pilot.  

On June 26, 1941, Johnson secured his first victory destroying a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and took down two more the following month.  

In August 1941, the young pilot got the better of two further Me109s, and then, on September 21, 1941, he destroyed two more. 

As the war progressed, Johnson was given more responsibility and took on leadership roles, including commanding his own squadrons.  

By the end of World War II, his record included 34 individual victories over enemy aircraft, on no less than 700 operational sorties, making him the highest scoring RAF pilot against the Luftwaffe. 

He received the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) from the US and was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal as his last rank. In 1960 he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).  

Johnson died on January 30, 2001. 

Richard Bong (US) 

U.S. Air ForceThe World War II US pilot Richard ‘Dick’ Bong is perhaps the most famous aviator from the conflict having destroyed 40 enemy aircraft. 

Born in 1940, he was the first of nine siblings and was raised by his parents on a working farm in Superior in northwestern Wisconsin, where his passion for planes first began.  

In 1938, while studying at what was then the State Teachers College in Superior, he joined the newly formed Civilian Pilot Training program which was designed by the government to find the next generation of pilots.  

This was his springboard to successfully join the Army Air Copps cadet program in 1940, and train to become a US fighter pilot in the war.  

Bong initially joined the war effort as a fighter pilot with the 9th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group in Australia in 1942.   

According to the Air Force Historical Support Division, later that year he went on to join the USAF 39th Squadron of the 35th Group where he destroyed five Japanese fighter planes before returning to the 9th Squadron in January 1943. 

By the end of 1943, he had continued combat missions in P-38s and increased his enemy aircraft kills to 28 and by September 1944 he had reached 40.   

US Air ForceIn January 1945, Bong went home to the US for good as the air force’s most successful pilot of World War II. He had flown over 200 missions for more than 500 combat hours.  

Reflecting his incredible achievements during the war, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, seven Distinguished Flying Crosses, 15 Air Medals and the Medal of Honor.   

Bong sadly died at the age of 24, on August 6, 1945, while working as a Lockheed test pilot on a P-80 Shooting Star jet fighter. 

In May 2024, a team of researchers found Bong’s famous crashed P-38 Lightning fighter plane, in Papua New Guinea. Bong named the aircraft ‘Marge’ after Marjorie Vattendahl, who would later become his wife. 

When the recovered P-38 fighter went down in Papua New Guinea, Thomas E. Malone was at the controls.  

He was on a weather reconnaissance mission with another aircraft on March 24, 1944, but encountered testing conditions and turbulence.   

The two aircraft lost radio contact with each other and one of Malone’s P-38 engines failed. After entering a spin, he was forced to bail, and Marge’s fate was sealed.   

Pierre Clostermann (France) 

PICRYL.comDescribed by no less than General Charles de Gaulle as ‘France’s first fighter’, Pierre Clostermann was the country’s greatest pilot during World War II. 

In 1921, Clostermann was born in Curitiba, Brazil, and was the son of a French diplomat. He was educated in France but returned to the country of his birth at the age of 16. 

There, he learned to fly at a Brazilian flying club in Manguinhos, on the Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann and Bü 133 Jungmeister.  

In 1940, Clostermann signed up with the Free French air force, having been refused entry two years earlier.  

Based with the RAF at Biggin Hill, Clostermann was trained to fly the Submarine Spitfire and subsequently destroyed his first enemy aircraft in July 1943.  

22 mars 2006 : mort de Pierre Henry Clostermann, le « 1er chasseur de France ».L’as français de la chasse était un personnage hors normes : à 24 ans, il possédait 33 victoires homologuées en combat aérien.#Thread pic.twitter.com/QtEaWiC0ve— 𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓸𝓕𝓲𝓵 (@ChronoFil) March 22, 2019 In 1944, during the Normandy landings, Clostermann provided air cover to protect Allied forces as thousands of soldiers arrived in France.  

 By the close of the war, Clostermann was credited with 33 victories, the most by any French pilot. 

In the following years he was heralded as a French hero and entered politics as Charles de Gaulle’s deputy in the national assembly in Paris. 

He went on to publish a highly successful book about his life and was later a director of Air France and Renault.  

He passed away on March 22, 2006, having been granted the Legion of Honour, France’s highest and most prestigious accolade. 

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