A Spitfire pilot's first combat

Our pilot is in his early twenties. Recently out of flight school, he sometimes has fewer than 20 hours on Spitfires before his first real engagement. In August 1940 Fighter Command is adding barely 50 pilots a week, and the young recruits join squadrons exhausted by weeks of combat over the Channel.

The tactical instruction is clear: when several squadrons are vectored onto an enemy formation, the faster Spitfires take on the escorting Me 109 fighters while the Hurricanes attack the bombers. The absolute priority is to break up the bombers before the '109 umbrella' falls on the attackers.

Here is his first interception. He dives toward a mass of German bombers. Within seconds the sky fills with aircraft diving and turning. The temptation is to fix on his target and press the trigger at all costs — but with eyes locked on the prey, one no longer sees one's tail. Suddenly tracer cracks around the canopy. Press on, break to survive, or freeze a second too long?