Over 100 air to air kills (The 100 Club)

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Teresa Maria

Unfortunately, the fact of shooting down a plane is called a 'kill'
Teresa

Probably deriving from the British officer classes' love of shooting wild birds. They used the same term for bringing down planes as they did for grouse and pheasant. Squadron diarists referred to a day's total victories as "the bag", another shooting term. It was easier to concentrate on the fate of the enemy machine and not think about the fate of the pilot