Billy Barker and Mick Mannock

[spad]

Watched this last night and found a lot of similarities between the two. Especially their tallies as air aces. Barker only claims thirty-seven aerial victories, thirty in Italy, before his last combat in October 1918, Mannock claims forty-one before adding a few more before he is lost in July 1918.

Neither claims the fifty-plus or seventy plus credited to them post-war. Even Ira Jones never claims forty-victories despite promoting Mannocks seventy-three victories for reasons much discussed in this forum.

Tallies are no more than a detail in the complex character of any scout pilot but they also reflect the character of the individual.