Chasing southwards towards the enemy, things get worse, before they get better. I'm forging ahead again when, glancing back to check on the others, a flash of fire followed by diverging smoke trails catches my eye. Two of the boys have collided!



Chastened. I let the rest catch up. No point worrying over it now. We have Huns to catch, and now have another reason not to fail.Two more reasons, probably, as it seems likely both pilots have been lost.



And there they are at last! At least I'm assuming they're Huns, as the last Vector led us straight to them. But what are they, and what are they doing? They are split up and wheeling around, seemingly aimlessly. There's one visible inside my prop disc in the pic below, and two more inside the inverted 'L' shape formed to the left by the dark clouds.



I steer for the nearest (presumed) enemy aircraft, just as one of the others reports them on the R/T. He must have better eyesight than me, or perhaps he's simply made the same assumption as I did.



Sure enough, they're Huns - Messerschmitt 110s in fact. They could be dogfighting, except that we seem to be the only RAF fighters in the vicinity. How curious!



The nearest 110 banks towards me but can't get his powerful front battery to bear. I bank right with the intention of coming around onto his tail. Going head on with these fellows is not wise.



The 110 rolls left and dives, as if aware of what I'm planning. Or perhaps he's going for the aircraft down there, which I didn't notice at the time.



I cut the corner and close the range rapidly. The big Messerschmitt disappears below my nose as I start shooting. I ease the back pressure on the stick to let him fly through my line of fire...



...which he does. I don't seem to have done too much damage on the first pass, but firing my guns at last has certainly boosted my confidence. I go below the Hun, out of his rear gunner's field of fire, determined to finish the job with my next attack.



...to be continued!