The notion of an aerial "victory" arose from the first aerial combats, which occurred during the early days of World War I. Different air services developed their own definitions of exactly what an aerial victory might be, as well as different methods of assessing and assigning credit for aerial victories. All standards had accuracy flaws that led to overclaiming aerial victories. Former
Wings editor Wayne Ralph (2008) observed: 'In the First World War, the Second World War and also the Korean War, overclaiming was common; it varied by theatre, nation and individual, but it was inevitable.' Ownership of the terrain below had its effect on verifying victory. An enemy aircraft that crashed in enemy held territory obviously could not be verified by the victor's ground troops. Because aerial combat commonly took place over or behind the German lines, German scores are generally considered more accurate because German aces' victories were more easily confirmed on the ground. Additionally, the British handicap of returning home against prevailing wind on the Western Front fattened German scores. The scores presented in the lists cannot be definitive, but are based on itemized lists that are the best available sources of information. Loss of records by mischance and the passage of time complicates reconstructing the actual count for given aces. ==Lists==