The Caudron G.IV two-seaters retreated south along the Moselle – with Göring and Loerzer after them in hot pursuit. Göring shot down one of the attackers over Mamey, some thirty kilometres southwest of Metz within French territory. French records show that the pilot, Sergent Girard-Varet of Escadrille C 10,²⁷ was wounded; no mention is made of the Caudron’s observer, who most likely was uninjured.

Even when Göring did not succeed in knocking down his target, he earned praise, as seen in this 2 August communiqué from FAA 203 to the commander for heavy artillery of the 12th Reserve Corps: ‘Yesterday, the combat single-seat aeroplanes of the Abteilung made nine fighter flights. There were three aerial combats in the morning; one in the afternoon, all by Leutnant Göring. The enemy aeroplanes were dispersed.’²⁸

Göring and Loerzer were ordered back to FFA 25 on 31 July²⁹ and must have taken a well-deserved short leave, as they did not return to the unit until 5 August.³⁰ Göring continued to pursue French aeroplanes at every opportunity. Indeed, on the day of his return he made nine flights and became involved in three aerial combats.³¹ During the following three days, Göring made eleven to fourteen flights per day and drove off French aircraft attempting to cross into German territory.³²

Göring’s aggressiveness was not without cost, as Kulenkampff noted in his letter of 10 August: ‘Yesterday, the good Göring came within a hair’s breadth of being brought down. He was shot through the sleeve and in every … part of his machine’s [fuselage].’³³ FFA 25’s war diary offers only a hint of the superior airmanship and daring that Göring showed that day, attacking three Nieuport fighters so he could get at the Caudron reconnaissance aeroplane they were escorting. Apparently, he drove them off, but, among other damage he sustained, his Halberstadt – a newer D.III model – was hit in the fuel tank and engine.³⁴