In 1942, he was moved to Britain, promoted to flight lieutenant, and awarded the Air Force Cross two years later for his work training other pilots. Noted for his valor, Vale received the DFC. Ten of these kills were in a Gloster Gladiator, a biplane, no less. With 30 enemy craft down, Vale reaches number 5 on the ace list. “Cherry” Vale served as a pilot in the RAF mostly flying out of Egypt and Crete. The Germans were so impressed, they congratulated him heartily before shipping him off to a POW camp. This was because he had fired so many rounds. Within a month’s time, he had earned the DFC, which was presented to him by King George VI himself on June 23 rd.Īfter being shot down and captured by German troops on January 28 th, 1942, the men who captured him noticed that one of his 20mm machine-guns had gone right down to the barrel of a similar-sized weapon on the ground, causing a banana peel effect. He shot down two more planes the next day and his success only continued. In his first combat patrol, flying over Dunkirk on May 23 rd, 1940, he shot down three German fighters. Born to Jewish parents in Catford, Southeast London, Tuck was serving as an acting pilot officer when war broke out. With 29 confirmed kills, Tuck comes in at 6 on the ace list. 6 – Robert Roland Stanford Tuck A Cuthbert Orde oil painting of Robert Stanford Tuck On top of being the best British pilot in a twin-engine craft (the De Havilland Mosquito) Braham was also one of Britain’s most successful nighttime fighter pilots.
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Less than two years later, he was a wing commander and would become the highest decorated pilot in RAF Air Command by the time he was captured by the Germans in June 1944 after being shot down. Defending his homeland during The Blitz, he received the DFC at the age of 20. “Bob” Braham brought down 29 enemy aircraft during WWII. He was also decorated with two bars on his DFC and received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) before his death on July 15 th, 1942 when his plane crashed into the English Channel and he disappeared. In May, 1941, at the age of 20, Finucane had already earned the DFC and now was the well-liked commander of 23 pilots and over 100 ground crew. He joined the RAF in 1938 at the age of 17, the bare minimum required. This number could be as high as 32 as official reports do differ. Known to his comrades as Paddy, the Irish-born Finucane racked up at least 28 confirmed kills. After the war, he became the first pilot to fly a Spitfire over Japan. On operational duty the first and last days of WWII, Lacey also fought from a posting in India which began in March 1943. Not just highly decorated with British awards, however, he also earned the Croix de Guerre from France for his action in the Battle of France.īetween Germany’s invasion of France and their Attacks on Britain, Lacey was forced to land planes damaged while he fought the enemy nine times.
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Nicknamed Ginger, Lacey has 28 confirmed kills.