According to the official German WW2 records, these five Luftwaffe Fighter Pilots were their Top Guns:
Major Erich Hartmann 352 kills
Gerhard Barkhorn 301
Gunther Rall 275
Otto Kitel 267
Walter Nowotny 258
In contrast, Britain's Top Ace Johnny Johnson had 38 kills.
The United States top man Richard Bong had 40.
Yet the German Steinhoff with 176 kills was 'only' the 20th Luftwaffe ranking ace.
The Germans also list 34 Aces as having scored 150 or more kills in air-to-air combat. According to official figures, these men shot down in aerial combat no less than 6902 enemy aircraft. Another 60 Aces the Germans state shot down between them 7095 machines. So according to the official German records, 94 Aces of the Luftwaffe accounted for 13,997 enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat.
The Germans deny The BOB Battle of Britain ever took place. Yet, they claim, 'They only had 20-minutes Free Chase over Southern England'.
It is time for a re-match. Ten years later, they do it.
Bill Gunstone. Do not hesitate to let me know if I can help in any way. I say this because I think you have a winner. Bill helped with some technical stuff here. He’s the best when talking Aircraft.
Bill Kerr Actor. Best script I've read in years. Get Russell Crowe to read.
Enigma Productions London (Lord David Putnam). Ref Cast of Eagles. There are a couple of projects I would dearly love to produce, and sadly I’m unable to help you develop this further. I do hope you understand and appreciate my decision, and I wish all the luck in the world with this project. (Lord Putnam took up two government Task Forces.
Barron Entertainment Perth, W. Australia Unfortunately the epic scale of many of your submitted projects prohibits our company supporting further development. In fact, almost all the historical stories (particularly those set in WWII) could not proceed without the backing of a major Hollywood studio. That said let me say how much I enjoyed reading such a diverse range of story ideas.