As soon as the three Spitfires were airborne, Captain Simms radioed the other two pilots, "Get a feel for the controls now, while we're climbing. When we reach six thousand feet, we're going to roll and dive to engage the Messerschmitts."
Simms noticed Hyatt and Gainey working the flight surfaces of their Spitfires while they gained altitude. A veteran pilot, Captain Simms was surprised at how well his new airplane responded to his control.
"Captain," Gainey radioed to Simms," this thing handles like a dream!"
"Bloody well does, Captain," Hyatt confirmed.
"Well, gentlemen, I'm glad you feel you're experienced Spitfire pilots after simply climbing to six thousand feet," Simms sarcastically called back to the other two young pilots. "But now the time has come to dive in and prove our worth. Break on my mark!"
Simms threw the control stick over and rolled his Spitfire into a dive. Gainey and Hyatt followed. As they dove for the German Me 109 fighters, Simms had a clear view of the airfield below, and suddenly realized just how much damage had been done.
Smoke was rising from the hardstand area at the north end of the field, mostly from the three destroyed Hurricanes. One hanger had collapsed to the ground and was burning, threatening to start the other hangers on fire as well. At the south end of the field, several fuel trucks and field equipment had also been hit by the enemy Stuka dive bombers. Worst of all, the landing strip itself had been reduced to a treacherous stretch of craters and rubble.
The three powerful Spitfires immediately closed on a group of four Me 109 fighters firing on the airfield. Surprised by the RAF fighters, the squad of German planes instinctively split up. Rolling left to follow one of the Me 109s, Simms was pleased with the sheer power of his Spitfire, especially when he lined up right behind his target. Simms quickly maneuvered, trying to place his opponent in the crosshairs of his gun sight.
"She is a little lighter on the touch than my Hurricane," Simms thought to himself. "But stick and rudder just the same."
Skillfully stalking the German fighter directly in front of him, Simms murmured under his breath, "Come on...come on. Got em!"
Simms let loose a burst of machine gun fire that smashed through the tail and fuselage of the Me 109. When the German plane turned to clear the rain of bullets, Simms fired more rounds into the wings and engine of the enemy fighter. The damaged Messerschmitt lurched, trailing smoke, and then slid along an uncontrolled path to the ground below.
Chasing the second Me 109, Lieutenant Hyatt tested his new plane. The German pilot dove for the tree tops and Hyatt rolled his Spitfire in pursuit, just as in the training flight with Captain Dawson the day before. For a brief instant, Hyatt's gun sight filled with the black cross painted on the side of the German fighter. Triggering the red button on his control stick at the precise moment, the guns in Hyatt's plane trained on the enemy in front of him.
In a desperate move, the pilot of the Me 109 tried to climb out of danger, but to no avail. Hyatt's guns had damaged the plane's engine, leaving it choking for fuel and powerless. As Hyatt raced by, he watched the crippled Messerschmitt stall in the air and fall back into the tree tops at the south end of the airfield.
Meanwhile, the other two Me 109s had turned to pursue Lieutenant Gainey. A natural pilot, Gainey found himself using every ounce of power in his 1500 horsepower Merlin engine, as well as every piloting trick he knew, to outrun the enemy fighters. Streams of tracer bullets ripped past his cockpit while he rolled and twisted in a desperate attempt to shake the Germans.
"Lets try climbing," Gainey thought to himself, and pulled back on the control stick of his plane.
Instantly, Gainey was pushed back in his seat as the Spitfire pitched up in a steep climb. But the two Me 109s closely followed Gainey's move.
"All right," he thought, "let's try a dive."
Gainey threw the yoke forward. Pitching down, the Spitfire hurtled earthward. Still, bright tracer bullets continued to fire past the canopy of his plane. Leveling out and rolling right, Gainey began to turn.
"How tight can you turn?" The young Lieutenant shouted out loud.
The Spitfire's wings tipped sharply as Gainy held the stick hard right. While he continued his turn, the German Me 109 fighters that had followed him so closely, began to spread out in the sky.
Gainey found his answer! The Spit could circle tighter than the German fighters. Within moments, his tight turn allowed him to reposition on the tail of one of the Me 109s. Trying to concentrate, Gainey shook his head to stop the spinning sensation he felt from his hard turn. With a couple of strained blinks of his eyes and a deep breath, the young English pilot focused on his gun sight, preparing to fire upon the fighter that had threatened him earlier. Now it was the Me 109's turn to bank and roll, twist and climb in order to avoid Gainey's gunfire.