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Bill, sorry if this is stupid, but I remember flying a scenario in a flight sim (CFS or EAW) that had IIRC two P-51s wade into a large force of LW fghters. Would this be one of the actions you previously mentioned?
My vote goes for Werner Voss from WWI.....
Werner Voss - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"After shooting down a No. 57 Squadron DH 4 bomber on 23 September, he went out on a further patrol and was engaged by six Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5s of the elite 56 Squadron. Voss fought a single-handed dogfight against several aces: Capt. James McCudden (57 victories), Lt. Richard Maybery (21), Lt. Geoffrey Hilton Bowman (32), Capt. Reginald Hoidge (28 ), Lt. Arthur Rhys Davids (23). Keith Muspratt (8 ) and Lt V.P. Cronyn, with Lt. Harold A. Hamersley (13) and Lt. Robert L. Chidlaw-Roberts (10) of 60 Squadron. The dogfight developed over Poelkapelle. Another German ace, Karl Menckhoff, attempted to assist Voss but was downed by Rhys-Davids, (though surviving). Voss fought the RFC aces for just 10 minutes, eluding them and achieving hits on SE5. Using the triplane's superior rate of climb and its ability to slip turn (using the rudder to turn quickly), Voss managed to evade his opponents. He was able to turn at high speeds and attack those behind him. After flying past McCudden in a head-on confrontation however, Voss's Fokker was hit with bullets on the starboard side by Hoidge. One round pierced his right side and passed through his lungs. Nearing death, Voss did not see Rhys-Davids approach from the 6 O'clock position, directly behind his tail.
Rhys-Davids got below him and poured two drums of Lewis fire into the underside of the triplane, then attacked again with both guns. The Fokker fell away, stalled and crashed into the British line. McCudden recalled:
Voss crashed near Plum Farm north of Frezenberg in Belgium. Only the rudder, cowling, and parts of the undercarriage were salvaged; the new type of aircraft was the subject of a intelligence report by 2nd Lieutenant G. Barfoot-Saunt.
One of the British pilots he fought that day, then-Captain James McCudden, a recipient of the Victoria Cross and who would become a leading English ace of the war, expressed sincere regret at Voss's death: Lieutenant Arthur Rhys-Davids, who himself would fall in combat just one month later, had said to McCudden,
Voss did much damage to B Flight of 56 Squadron ; Muspratt force-landed at No. 1 Squadron's aerodrome with a bullet in his radiator. Mayberry's SE5 was hit in the upper right hand longeron and badly damaged, force landing at St Marie Cappel. Hamersley and Chidlaw-Roberts' SE5s were badly damaged, whereas Hamersley's machine was eventually sent to No.1 Air Depot for repair. Cronyn's airplane was also damaged, as related in a letter he wrote to his father:
Was one of the first I thought of, but discounted as Voss died. Truely a Great pilot, but maybe showing bad judgement from being tired. If I remember correctly the British pilots said he had several chances to disengage.
