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

being knocked down, the German rear-gunner managed to plant a line of
bullets across David’s wing. ‘I learnt not to be over enthusiastic after this
show,’ noted David, ‘and always took my time. Much better – and safer!’
Meanwhile, Bee Beamont was considering whether to use the speed of
his dive to make a split turn and then head back into the fray, but glancing
back at the lines of tracer he saw the Me 109s were already amongst them,
so continued diving and, when he eventually pulled out, briefly blacked out
as a result of the negative-g. He was now at around 5,000 feet above
Dorchester. Up above, a confused action was still going on. A burning
Hurricane suddenly hurtled past, a livid ball of flame, followed by a wheel
leg from a bomber. Climbing back up again, he then saw an Me 109 dart
from a cloud, evidently intent on heading back home. As Bee turned on to
his tail, the German pilot spotted Bee and broke left. Firing across the
turning circle, Bee saw his De Wildes strike the fuselage. Half rolling, the
German dived. Following, Bee unleashed another burst as he rolled out of
the dive, which proved a crippling blow. Slowing dramatically, he tried one
more turn, but seeing Bee positioned for the kill, he deliberately stalled and
dropped, which took Bee’s sights off him. He then dived down and
sideslipped into a field near Abbotsbury, a thick trail of smoke following
him down. Bee watched him hit the ground, the Messerschmitt slewing
amidst a cloud of dust and smoke. Circling, Bee saw the pilot on the wing,
firing into his machine. Flames licked from the cowling, then the German
raised his hand as Bee roared over him. The pilot was Gefreiter Bröcker of
1/JG 53, and he had been attacked by one Spitfire and two Hurricanes, of
which Bee was the second.
Bee landed back down at Exeter to find most of the squadron already
back, and talking excitedly. Then more sobering news: Sergeant James
Cowley had been shot down and wounded, and then they saw a Hurricane,
that of Peter Comely, the last man back, approaching the airfield. Suddenly,
his plane flipped over and dived towards the ground. When it was found,
the aircraft was discovered to be riddled with bullet holes and Peter had had
most of his hand shot away. He had probably passed out through loss of
blood.
Siegfried Bethke had led his Staffel over to Warmwell, but a barrel burst in
one of his cannons, badly damaging his wing so he had been forced to turn
for home. The first Gruppe had claimed three kills that day, two going to