The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

Meanwhile, both 54 and 64 Squadrons had been sent to protect the
convoy from above. Spitfires from 64 Squadron had been vectored to a low
height to catch the Stukas as they came out of their dives, while 54
Squadron tackled Dolfo Galland’s Me 109s. Dolfo was soon on the tail of a
Spitfire flown by Flying Officer Basil Way, twenty-two years old and an
experienced pre-war pilot who had won the Groves Memorial Prize as best
all-round pilot at RAF Cranwell. He was also ‘B’ Flight commander and
had a number of claims to his name already. It seems likely Dolfo’s burst of
fire killed him right away. At any rate, his Spitfire turned away in a lazy arc
then burst into flames and plummeted into the Channel.
When the Stukas disengaged, the German fighters followed. Incredibly,
despite the mass of swirling fighters, Dolfo’s men had destroyed only two
Spitfires, while the RAF pilots had shot down just one Me 109.
Paul Hozzel’s men had done their work for the day, but more Stukas
attacked the convoy just after four o’clock. By the time they then turned for
home, the losses from the two attacks were mounting. Five ships had been
sunk and a further five were so badly damaged, they were now struggling to
Dover and would not complete the treacherous journey.
Although the Stukas had finished with CW8 for the day, more divebombers
were sent to attack two destroyers near Dover later that evening,
and this time it was pilots of III/JG 52 who were sent as escorts including
Günther Rall and his Staffel. Once again, they were forced to fly so slowly
it was all they could do to stop their machines stalling. And, once again,
there were Spitfires waiting for them, this time from 610 Squadron. By the
time they landed back at Coquelles, just after 8 p.m., four more pilots had
been lost, including Oberleutnant Keidel; the 7th Staffel had lost its second
commander in just over twenty-four hours. The Gruppe’s adjutant had also
been lost, as had one of Günther Rall’s men. All had been good, highly
experienced pilots – the more senior men from the Gruppe – and yet they
were being mauled. Günther was in no doubt as to why. ‘As a fighter pilot,’
he says, ‘it should be up to you to make a plan how best to protect the
bombers. It was stupid to escort Stukas at their slow speed. We should have
been higher and had the freedom to manoeuvre.’
Despite the losses suffered by the Luftwaffe – nineteen aircraft compared to
Fighter Command’s nine – the German airmen had certainly wreaked havoc