Better research shows Mick Mannock probably scored @60 "destroyed". Thats from RAF records, personal accounts and other sources. Personally I think McCudden was the better pilot (another Irishmen, and a master tactician).
You have to be very carefull about victory totals. They differed as to how they were tallied in WW1 and WW2, and also by air force. Some countries went to great lengths to verify claims, others didnt pay as much heed to them. There is a lot of grey area with many aces "kill #s".
Just one example, some aces tallies include barrage balloons (WW1) or V-1 Buzz bombs (WW2), also some will include ground kills (a/c strafed). Some tallies include what we would consider today as "probables", and were not confirmed, some even include damaged claims, so always be critical of what you read in this regard. Its nowhere near cut and dry, I would say especially in the case of WW1.
Its hard to just look at kill #s, they will tell you maybe who the top 10 or so were, in each country, from then you can debate it untill the cows come home as it were, but its not a "provable" question. Who was the best? we will never really know.
I recommend "Air Aces" by Christopher Shores, its a good book and doesn't just copy all the old #s that other books do, it has some original stuff in there, very interesting...
