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Old 23rd March 2018, 11:22
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Heavy bomber aces

Good morning Gentlemen,

in WW2 heavy bomber pilots usually were not credited with the kills of their gunners. But if they were, who would be the top scoring pilots of their plane types respectively ? These are my suggestions:
  • B-17: Felix Hardison, possibly 26 kills, pilot of John Irons
  • B-24: Samuel Skousen, possibly 16 kills, pilot of Arthur Benko
  • B-29: Robert Haynes, possiby 13 kills
  • Halifax: James Keys, possibly 9 kills, pilot of Peter Engbrecht
  • Lancaster: John Grey, possiby 7 kills, pilot of Wallace McIntosh
Who were the gunners of Robert Haynes ?

Michael
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Old 23rd March 2018, 12:37
KM1957 KM1957 is offline
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Re: Heavy bomber aces

While I can add nothing further to the topic, I ran across a document I discovered at the U.S. Air Force Museum over 30 years ago when going through their files. It was a listing of aces from the various theaters of operations and also included some bomber gunners. Their names and details follow, but again, others will have to supply units, pilots, if the information is accurate, etc. I will type them word-for-word as shown on the sheets.

China-Burma-India (Includes 14th and 10th AFs)
Benko, Arthur J., S/Sgt. Bisbee, Ariz. 9
Gouldthrite, George W., T/Sgt. Spokane, Wash. 5

Thirteenth Air Force (Including crew members credited with 5 EAD)
Agnew, John W., S/Sgt. 5
Bowen, Wilbur L., T/Sgt. 5
Cielinski, Joseph J., S/Sgt. 5
Held, Charles F., Jr., S/Sgt. 5
Lee, Harold E., S./Sgt. 5
O'Brien, Frank, Jr. T/Sgt. 5
Stefanski, Edward J., Sgt. 5

Twelfth Air Force
Bruner, Robert M., T/Sgt. Dixon, California 6
Goerard, Jack D., S/Sgt. Beaufort, S.C. 6
Bowkar, Fred E., Sgt. Oak Park, Illinois 5
Myshall, Joseph E., S/Sgt. Millinocket, Maine 5


Twelfth Bomber Command
Warner, Benjamin F., S/Sgt. San Francisco, California 9

Kent
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Old 3rd May 2018, 12:55
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Re: Heavy bomber aces

Good morning Kent,

thanks for your list.
I remember some fellow told me Benko's score might have been only 9.
My impression of his score being 16 is from Christophe Cony's article "Les Dessous de l'Histoire N°5: Arthur Benko et the Goon" in AVIONS #198. The article features a photo of Benko's B-24 adorned with 16 victory symbols and a photo of a monument in Arizona that acknowledges 16 kills for Benko.

Have a nice Thursday,

Michael
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Old 26th May 2023, 20:36
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Re: Heavy bomber aces

Good evening,

did Short Stirling gunners ever shoot anything down ?

Cheers,

Michael
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Old 26th May 2023, 21:43
MW Giles MW Giles is offline
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Re: Heavy bomber aces

Does evidence mean nothing to you?

I demonstrated, using multiple original sources, that Engbrecht/Gillanders claimed 6 and 1 probable between them that were accepted and documented by Bomber Command and still you peddle 9.

NB that is 6,1,0 with no attempt to reconcile with reality. Reality is very likely less than that.

Why bother with finding the truth when you can just carry on collecting fanciful data til the cows come home

Did Stirling crews make any claims? Oh please

Martin
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Old 26th May 2023, 22:03
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Re: Heavy bomber aces

I learned to mistrust those who lay claim on reality and also those who define their opinions as evidence. Luckily, they can easily be identified by their aggressive wording. Then it's easy to ignore them.
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