Distinguished Flying Cross Recipients
Updated October 14, 2018 131.9K views61 items
List of most famous Distinguished Flying Cross recipients since its inception. Photos are included for almost every Distinguished Flying Cross medal winner. Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross in every year are listed here alphabetically, but you can sort this Distinguished Flying Cross list by any column. Here are also notable Bronze Star Medal recipients as well as famous Purple Heart winners.
List features Bernard W. Rogers, Bud Day, and more notable US airmen. Featuring civilian DFC winners, WWII winners, and more, this list has it all.
Ranked by
Adrian Cole
Air Vice Marshal Adrian Lindley Trevor Cole, CBE, DSO, MC, DFC (19 June 1895 – 14 February 1966) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Joining the army at the outbreak of World War I, he transferred to the Australian Flying Corps in 1916 and flew with No. 1 Squadron in the Middle East and No. 2 Squadron on the Western Front. He became an ace, credited with victories over ten enemy aircraft, and earned the Military Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1921, he was a founding member of the RAAF. "King" Cole rose to the position of Air Member for Supply in 1933 and gained promotion to group captain in 1935. The following year he was appointed the first commanding officer of Headquarters RAAF Station Richmond. During World War II, he led North-Western Area Command in Darwin, Northern Territory, and held a series of overseas posts in North Africa, England, Northern Ireland, and Ceylon. As Forward Air Controller during the Dieppe Raid in 1942, he was wounded in action and awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Cole served on corporate boards of directors following his retirement from the RAAF in 1946. He died in 1966 at the age of seventy.Alan Smith
Sir Alan Smith, CBE, DFC*, was a British World War II Royal Air Force Supermarine Spitfire fighter ace and businessman.- William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an American film actor who is often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He began his career as an extra in Hollywood silent films between 1924 and 1926, and progressed to supporting roles with a few films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1930. He landed his first leading role in 1931, and was a leading man in more than 60 motion pictures over the following three decades. Gable was nominated for his starring role in Gone with the Wind (1939), as Rhett Butler opposite Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Frank Capra's It Happened One Night (1934), and was nominated for his role in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). He also found success commercially and critically with Red Dust (1932), Manhattan Melodrama (1934), San Francisco (1936), Saratoga (1937), Test Pilot (1938), Boom Town (1940), The Hucksters (1947), Homecoming (1948), and The Misfits (1961), which was his final screen appearance.Gable appeared opposite some of the most popular actresses of the time. Joan Crawford was his favorite actress to work with, and he partnered with her in eight films. Myrna Loy worked with him seven times, and he was paired with Jean Harlow in six productions. He also starred with Lana Turner in four features, and with Norma Shearer and Ava Gardner in three each. Gable is considered one of the most consistent box-office performers in history, appearing on Quigley Publishing's annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll 16 times. He was named the seventh-greatest male star of classic American cinema by the American Film Institute.
- Andrew Frederick Weatherby (Anthony) Beauchamp-Proctor, (4 September 1894 – 21 June 1921) was a South African airman and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was South Africa's leading ace of the First World War, being credited with 54 aerial victories.
- Bernard William Rogers (July 16, 1921 – October 27, 2008) was a United States Army general who served as the 28th Chief of Staff of the United States Army, and later as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and Commander in Chief, United States European Command. Besides the Distinguished Service Cross, Rogers' decorations included the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, four awards of the Legion of Merit and three awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross.
- William Avery Bishop, (8 February 1894 – 11 September 1956) was a Canadian flying ace of the First World War. He was officially credited with 72 victories, making him the top Canadian and British Empire ace of the war. He was an Air Marshal and a Victoria Cross recipient. During the Second World War, Bishop was instrumental in setting up and promoting the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
