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Which U.S. ETO unit had the most aces?

Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:18 pm

I have a list of every U. S. ace and their units, but there are hundreds of them, and collating it in order to answer my own question would be an enormous job.

So I ask the question here in hopes that somebody can answer it without having to count on their fingers and toes:

Which ETO fighter group (FG) had the most aces in its World War II roster?

I saw a brief interview with the Pattillo twins in which one of them said he "thought" their group, the 352nd FG, did. Might he be correct?

Re: Which U.S. ETO unit had the most aces?

Fri Jun 22, 2012 6:39 am

357th FG. http://www.cebudanderson.com/357fghist.htm

"At wars end the Group had the highest number of aces in the 8th AF (43), five of these were triple aces and four were double. The 357th is credited with 695 air victories, 2nd only to the great Hub Zemke’s 56th Group, which was in combat much longer. Considering the time factor, the 357th was thee highest scoring group in 8th Air Force."

http://www.cebudanderson.com/357aces.htm

I believe the 56th FG was second with 39 Aces.

Re: Which U.S. ETO unit had the most aces?

Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:30 am

I am not sure about highest amount of aces, but the 4th fg had over 1,000 destroyed by the end of the war. Of course, being an Eagle Squadron to begin with did give them a head start.
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