Morning clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
What warbird pilot do I describe?
1. This pilot was remarkably proficient at shooting down enemy aircraft.
2. He downed more enemy aircraft than he flew combat missions.
3. His complete combat career lasted just over five months.
4. Although he wasn’t at the top of his country’s ace list, he scored more victories than most leaders on their country’s list of aces.
5. He also flew quite a few ground attack missions.
6. He got a late start in his war.
7. And he was a bit late in another sense; being a little older than some new combat pilots.
8. He was 21 years old when he went into combat for the first time.
9. Initially, he was noted for destroying a number of ground targets.
10. Still, he scored his tenth aerial victory in well under two months of combat.
11. By the end of his third month, he had scored over 20 victories.
12. It was in his final month of combat that he really started rolling.
13. In just over two weeks, he added over forty victories to his list.
14. Almost all his victims were fighter aircraft.
15. But then, after scoring yet another victory, he collided with a second enemy aircraft.
16. He crash landed behind enemy lines.
17. He was seen to escape the wreckage.
18. Records show he was seen in an enemy POW camp; and was treated for illness at another.
19. Still, he is officially listed as missing; because he never returned home.
20. Twenty of his victims were Sturmoviks.
21. His tenth victory was a P-39.
22. In his last month of combat, July 1943, he scored over forty victories in just over two weeks. He shot down eight aircraft on the 5th; four of which were Sturmoviks.
23. On the 7th, he shot down seven more; including four more Sturmoviks.