German Panzer Aces of WWII

During World War II the concept of "Panzer aces" received little attention. To the extent that the concept existed, it was mainly advanced by the Waffen-SS as part of its contributions to Nazi Germany's propaganda campaigns . In most German Army ( Heer ) units, tank crews and commanders generally received awards for mission performance rather than tank kills. 

German highly decorated tank commanders were most often soldiers who served in units equipped with Tiger I or Tiger II tanks between mid-1943 and mid-1944. The Allies did not have any tanks capable of easily defeating the Tigers during this period. Few soldiers who operated Panther tanks at this time received the same high decorations as these tanks were more vulnerable to Allied tanks and less mechanically reliable than the Tiger. 
                      

Historian Dennis Showalter has suggested that the confidence which the crews of Tigers and the operators of other relatively advanced weapons had in the capabilities of their equipment may have reinforced their ideological conditioning, and encouraged them to take risks in combat. 

The United States Army did not adopt the concept of "tank aces" during World War II, with proposals to do so being rejected. US Army tank commanders such as Lafayette G. Pool and Creighton Abrams were responsible for the destruction of large numbers of German tanks and other armoured vehicles. The US Army's weekly magazine Yank featured several successful tank commanders such as Pool. The March 1945 Yank described Pool as "the ace of American tankers" and stated that "is an almost unbelievable document of total victory." 1943 New York Times story also labelled Chinese Major General Hoo Hsien-Chung as a "tank ace" for the actions of a force under his command during the 1938 Battle of Taierzhuang.

Similarly, the British Army did not recognise any tank aces.  Opportunities for British commanders to destroy large numbers of enemy tanks were limited as the various tanks operated by the Army generally did not outclass German tanks. Some British Sherman Firefly tank commanders were responsible for destroying multiple German tanks. In the opinion of George Forty, the Soviet Red Army did not regarded destroying tanks as an act of particular heroism for its tank commanders, as the main role of its armoured units was to support infantry. 

                     

According to Russian military historian Mikhail Polikarpov, in contrast to the German model, the Russian concept was based on the heroic acts or deeds the soldier achieved. The Soviet Military Review magazine notes further: "The tankmen's heroic deeds were popularised over the radio, in special orders of the day, in newspapers and leaflets, and in individual talks with servicemen. Some tank whose crews had distinguished themselves most in action, were given, by order of tank formation commanders, the name of Russian generals or of the heroes of the units, who had fallen fighting for their country."  The most successful award recipient of the Hero of the Soviet Union was published in accommodation of a portrait photo. 

Overall, English Newspapers devoted a lot of space to aircraft and Naval tallies, human interest stories, and the Eastern Front, but paid little attention to Tank combat.
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Please note: Martin Schroif Tiger Commander of s.SS.Pz.Abt.102 is credited with 61 destroyed Tanks. Hs first combat as Commander were in Normandy 1944! 

I think these are (mostly) sherman wagons