The Flying Tigers were subsumed into the USAAF’s 23rd Fighter Group, but it’s very difficult to track the continuity of a single squadron in such a situation. An honorary mention also goes to one of the most iconic fighter units of all, the American Volunteer Group, the Flying Tigers.
#CLONE FIGHTER SQUADRONS FREE#
That said, honorary mention should be made for the Red air force’s Normandie fighter wing, where exiled Free French pilots flew Yaks with great success from 1942 onwards. The Soviet Air Force is unfortunately not represented, simply due to the lack of information available. And of course, the numbers matter less than the fact that they all helped achieve real strategic success. Over-claiming happened, but the numbers here assume this wasn’t a particular problem with any of the squadrons. And of course, a caveat must always be made for the ‘confirmed’ victories assigned to each squadron. All of the squadrons mentioned had a significant strategic impact and are worthy of consideration for that reason alone.
So this isn’t strictly a top ten by scoring alone. Time is running out to pledge to The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes. So our three chosen USAAF squadrons are representative of a number of high-scoring squadrons, and are chosen partly out of interest, similarly with the inclusion of Polish and Canadian RAF squadrons. With at least five USAAF fighter groups exceeding 600 victories, logic suggests that there’s a lot of USAAF squadrons hidden in the 200-250 kill range. Fighter groups contained three squadrons, so in order to compare like with like, the top ten includes the best individual squadrons within US Fighter Groups. In addition, most of the information available on the USAAF is at fighter group level. However, that would mean six of the top seven scorers would be RAF, and would squeeze out US squadrons, which of course fought a shorter war. Which fighter squadrons were most successful for the allies? This top ten started as an attempt to list the top squadrons by numbers of kills. The squadrons mentioned here certainly displayed extraordinary bravery and skill, and were also in the right time and place to accrue heavy losses on the enemy. As with any top 10, this is a discussion starter rather than a definitive answer.
It may seem ghoulish to use the metric of total ‘kills’ (enemy aircraft destroyed) to determine the most successful squadron of the Second World War, and though in that world of blood and fire it is a meaningful determinant, Eddie Rippeth has also considered other factors.
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