Aviation was one of the most romanticised elements of the First World War. 'Air aces' in particular achieved celebrity status both during and after the war and their photographs regularly appeared in newspapers.

The French first coined the term 'l'as' to describe the high-scoring fighter pilot Adolphe Pegoud and the expression stuck. The term 'ace' is generally taken to mean any fighter pilot credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft.

Lone aerial combat provided an outlet for acts of personal bravery. The aces were seen as chivalrous heroes engaged in honest and impressive one-to-one fighting. However, the lives of air aces were often cut short through combat or because of mechanical failure. This only fuelled their status as heroic martyrs. Of the eight aces listed here, seven were killed in action between 1916 and 1918 or died in flying accidents during or after the war.