Mick Mannock - Mannock's Score

Mannock's Score

• See also Aerial victory standards of World War I

Mannock is officially credited with 61 victories: 1 balloon destroyed, 3 (and 2 shared) captured, 30 (and 5 shared) destroyed, 17 (and 3 shared) "out of control" in an itemised list of his approved claims (as seen below). He frequently did not claim a share in kills to which he had contributed — official policy treated a shared victory as a kill for each pilot involved. Mannock himself did not appear particularly motivated to accumulate a score, though he is known to have said, "If I have any luck, I think I may beat old Mac's (James McCudden) 57 victories. Then I shall try and oust old Richthofen..."

There was a posthumous attempt by former 74 Squadron comrade and fellow ace Ira Jones to credit his old friend with 73 victories and therefore the top scoring British/Commonwealth ace. However research suggests that assertion was unbacked by fact. Some of the 73 accredited by Jones to Mannock and published in full in "Mick", by James Dudgeon in 1981, appear duplicated in error, misdated, shared claims, or unconfirmed claims.