My favorite has to be Douglas Bader. In 1942 he had 22.5 victories in two years of flying. If he wasn't shot down then he was well on the way to beating Johnsons score who took intill 1945 to reach his score. Basically Bader would have been our top scoring pilot if he either managed to escape or wasn't shot down in the first place.

I remember reading "Reach for the Sky"......must be at least 20 years ago now. As I recall, the Germans finally took away Bader's "tin legs" after repeated escape attempts. I believe he finally wound up at Colditz prison, until the liberation.

Sorry, I've been offline for a couple of days. No reason, just busy with other crap. I can't have the house falling down around my ears now, can I........

Thanks for all the fresh info, and perspectives. 

I realised I didn't actually list my favourite. That is of course, if I can decide on one. I really don't know. probably one of the Brits (for reasons later to be explained).

I don't know much, personally about any of them except their scores and maybe a few stories I've heard along the way.

I suppose the blokes in the BoB and shortly afterwards, were up against a 'tougher foe', in terms of experience, depth (reserves with experience and training), and of course superior or matching technology.
At the risk of getting blasted by the Americans, I will try to explain the above statement, which is a 'generalisation' on my part. Not a rule.

Of course there were US pilots in England during BoB and after. Acknowledged.
And when they came up against the Japanese, they were up against a superior fighter in overall performance, in the Zero. But it did have weaknesses that allowed the Yanks to take advantage of it, to great effect, once they became known.

The Zero's lack of armour and non-sealing tanks made it a pretty easy plane to shoot down. The US planes were far tougher and this, IMO, lent itself to making a US pilot's first mistake "possibly forgivable and survivable", because of the armour and overall strength of his Grumman (in most cases).
The British pilots were up against a far better equipped foe and we all know, the mistake made by the RAF pilot, was usually his last.

So for this reason, at least, in the earlier years, the Brits (and Commonwealth pilots) were in a tougher fight.
It wasn't really until the 'Island hopping' really got under way, that the Americans got to fly against the Japs with any kind of 'regularity'. Comparing this with the 'impossible' conditions the BoB (and after) pilots were up against, with the continual raids. They were flying 5 and 6 combat missions per day.
Your American pilot based on a US carrier, saw the Japs three times, in the space of 6 months. Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal (that's if he swapped ships at least once, because no Carrier was in all three Battles).


Patiently awaiting the onslaught now...................

Oops. Now you've done it. LOL
I always thought the guys of all nations in remote theatres had the worst of it. Places like North Africa & Burma. They were usually operating in extreme conditions & equipped with outdated/inferior aircraft & lack of spares/supplies.

As I was careful to state, these were my personal observations. In no way a rule, as far as individual areas or circumstances ar concerned. 

I do think that 'overall', the early European Theatre, i.e. BoB, Nth Africa and the Med, were a tougher place to be a fighter pilot than the first twelve months (at least) of the Pacific.
I think my comment regarding the 3 'initial' battles that took place in the Pacific (save Pearl and Wake, which in all fairness, weren't "battles" per se), basically paints the picture of the Carrier Fighter Pilot's life, for the first year.
Of course there would have been small 'skirmishes' in S.E. Asia etc, but by and large, their really wasn't alot going on.
I'm not mentioning the USAAF, simply because as far as I know, there wasn't really any 'noteable' action in the first year. It didn't really get going for the USAAF until Guadalcanal, and that was a relatively limited 'caper' in terms of the number of airmen involved. (Actually, I think most were Marine Pilots).

P.S. Are Marine Pilots (in WWII) attached to the USAAF or USN in any way, or were they an "Outfit" all to themselves? Did they ever fly from Carriers or were they delegated to SeaBee built (or captured) airfields? ???

As Hawk said, the AVG in China would have been more comparable to the level of action and competiion as experienced in early Europe.
Of course, the later years in Europe, especially after the Invasion, were a completely different story for the US fighter pilots, both attack and escort.

As someone has also said, I imagine the relatively 'comfortable' living or billet conditions for British Pilots in BoB and after, would have been "utter bloody luxury" (in Yorkshire accent) , compared to the Yanks in the Pacific or S.E. Asia. 

There are lots of stories about Bader. As with other aces & war heroes some were pure wartime propaganda to keep up public morale. These were often embellished in their "autobiographies" published soon after WWII. These were mainly written by ghost writers & it's often difficult to separate myth from the truth. The proper autobiographies published many years later are probably more accurate.

It's a while since I read "Reach for the Sky" or saw the excellent film based on it starring Kenneth More as Bader. I think it's probably true that Bader had to unstrap one tin leg or broke the harness while escaping from his damaged aircraft. When this was discovered back home, Bomber Command allegedly dropped replacement legs, possibly while on the way to another target. He was regarded as a troublemaker & tried several unsuccessful escape attempts. Naturally his German captors got fed up with this & the story goes that they confiscated his legs for a while to stop his nonsense. Whether or not this is actually true I believe they were returned when he was sent to Colditz castle where they could keep an eye on the troublesome prisoners. Wartime or not, they wouldn't risk being accused of mistreating a legend.

PS. Brensec. Here's one story I've never heard before. http://pages.zdnet.com/hookares/royal-navy-medic-1945/id36.html
Strangely enough it's by an Aussie. I think you're possibly the only person here who will have the patience to read it through carefully. The man himself was an enigma & stranger things have happened. Maybe he liked it that way & this is just another fascinating mystery.

Quote:

I have to agree on that point. On thinking about this I'm a little surprised that Bader was not repatriated. This would have been the ideal way for the Germans to rid themselves of a troublesome prisoner. I don't think it would have suited him or the British authorities. It would have meant being confined to a desk & taking no further part in the hostilities. I'm sure he was too proud & determined to accept this even if the offer had been made.