In the afternoon we were on patrol when I experienced the first really serious result of the Squadron’s losses and lack of leadership.
There were several small formations of 109s (as depicted in Figure 6-11) high above us over the south coast and every now and then one or two of them would start to dive towards us but I always turned to meet them head-on and they would break off their attack.
For some reason the German pilots seemed to loathe head-on attacks and would invariably break always if one turned and flew ...