As I became Airborne I switched on the electric sight and turned the gun button from ‘safe’ to ‘fire’. We went in at the bombers and as I broke away, I saw two dropping back from the formation streaming white smoke from one engine but before I could take hold of the situation, the Messerschmitt were on me. I turned quickly to see if there was anything on my trail and at the same moment, two Messerschmitt 109s went past beneath my nose. The thin streaks of yellow tracer flame ran parallel for what had appeared to be seventy five yards before bending away in a succession of curves. The hiss of pneumatics, the smell of cordite in the cock pit and the feel of the nose dipping slightly under the recoil, all lent excitement to my first real combat. Most of my shots appeared to be going into the engine cowling and cockpit. It was the tracer, fired on a turn, which produced an eerie illusion of the shot entering at right angles. I had no fear of his bullets, even though a shower of tracer came at me whenever I went within range, but I felt no compunction in shooting something damaged. I just felt a primitive urge to chase and to kill. The Hun flew straight for a while and then turned gently onto his back. After a short burst of about four seconds, I stopped firing and as I did so, I saw sunlit pieces of shattered Perspex spiralling aft like a shower of tracer. The Hun slewed slightly while on his back, his nose dropped and he dived beneath out of my sight, going straight down.
I began returning home alone at 18,000 feet, weaving hard and losing height gradually to keep my speed up. Suddenly, two Me 109’s passed 1000 feet above me and slightly to the left, going the opposite way. I was then at 13,000 feet. I climbed into the sun, intending to beat these two up as soon as I was alone, but I soon ascertained just the opposite and immediately became the centre of a large gaggle consisting of nine or ten Me and one spitfire. I don’t remember feeling frightened; only highly interested and thoroughly keyed up. I took a lot of evasive action and the Huns did a lot of inaccurate shooting till it began to look as though I could float about all afternoon without being hit. Yet suddenly, there was a terrific bang inside the cockpit and something feeling like a stream hammer hit me on the back of the head and knocked me for six. I don’t think I was ever quite conscience or if I was, it could only have been for a few seconds, but complete darkness descended and I hadn’t the energy to move a finger. I felt myself fading away as though going under an anaesthetic. There was nothing left but pitch darkness and a pain behind my right ear. But a tiny corner of my mind, aloof from everything else, still seemed to be functioning, and I remember thinking detachedly in the dark:
‘‘So after all, it’s happened to me too…it’s come to you who always told himself there’s a way out of every scrape. But there’s no way out of this one; because you’re quite blind and you haven’t the strength to move a muscle and you are diving towards the sea with a lot 109s which are ready to polish you off as soon as you show any signs of revival. So there!! Just one almighty holocaust as we hit the sea; then no more fighting; no more fear; no more pain in the back of your head. Just peace. God, how marvellous!!
I woke up with the doctor peering over me asking how I felt in which I realised that I was conscience then before asking; ‘‘when can I go back in?’’
Two of our five got split away by a few stray ‘Jerries’ buzzing around and then the next thing I knew was a ruddy great earthquake in my aircraft and my control column was almost solid. On my left, another Hurricane was floating about over a complete network of smoke trails left by cannon shells and incendiary. We had been attacked by another unseen bunch of Me 110s. After shaking the bleeder of my tail, I managed to get some fairly close but ineffective deflection shots into him, but he used his extra speed and dropped clean away, down out of range leaving me with plenty of others to contend with
I turned quickly diving on one and gave him a burst. Nothing happened. Presumably, I thought I had missed him but the noise of my 8 guns gave me confidence. I gave the second Me 109 a burst and whoopee. A sudden burst of brilliant flame, a cloud of smoke and vast piece flew off and down he went; but there was not time to watch because there was something behind me shooting. I turned to the right and saw a Me 109 go past which vicious yellow nose and the large black crosses on the fuselage.
While attacking the formation, I was frightened and excited but once it had left the others, I began to experience the most wonderful and jubilant excitement imaginable. I took a joyful pleasure in the thought that I had made it leave the formation, and all I wanted to do was close it and kill.
