The Most Famous Dogfight of World War II?

This story follows the legendary dogfight between two of the greatest aces the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Luftwaffe have ever seen- Adolph “Sailor” Malan and Werner Molders. This took place on July 28th, 1940, and remains highly debated to this day.

Head-to-Head in Combat

From the Luftwaffe’s side, 27-year-old Werner Molders has 25 kills to his name, not counting the nine he scored during the Spanish Civil War. During his first few months in combat, Moulders created and implemented the Finger Four Formation. This enables fighter pilots to maintain a clearer field of vision during patrol and facilitates effective cooperation between wingmen and leaders during combat. He became one of the most respected combat leaders in the German military.

On the British side was the 74th squadron, a unit of brand new RAF Spitfires operating in defense of the Midlands of England. Climbing into one of her aircraft was 29-year-old Adolph Malan. Malan goes by the name of “Sailor” after his time of service in the Royal Navy.  Like Moulders, he was starting to make a name for himself. Although just entering combat weeks prior, he already reached the status of ace, had just been promoted to flight lieutenant. He would then soon find himself in command of the entire squadron. Malan would eventually go on to rewrite RAF fighter doctrine and pin down Malan’s 10 rules of dogfighting, which would later be taught in the RAF Fighter Command. Although fighting on different sides of the conflict, the two men were, in many ways, very similar.

The Attack

As the aircraft of the Luftwaffe got airborne, the pieces for Herman Goring’s plan for this date fell into place. 109s of both Moulders’ JG-51 as well as Malan’s JG26 were headed to escort an extensive formation of H111 bombers. However, this was a diversionary tactic as the German bombers were ordered to head for home shortly after making it over the channel, leaving the elite German fighters ready to dive on the British fighters that would be scrambled to intercept.

A few minutes later, while climbing to meet their adversary, 41 squadron was pounced by Malan’s JG26. Shortly thereafter, Moulders would join the action, leading his unit as he opened fire at the leader. He tore into the aircraft. Shortly after pulling off this attack, all hell would break loose. With Spitfires now filling the sky around him, he attempted to pick a target and try to escape.

However, in that moment, the British pilot he was after did something he didn’t expect. In a skilled and bold move, the Spit turned sharply towards one of the Luftwaffe’s best pilots. In the tight turn, got a brief burst on his Messerschmitt before Moulders could even get a shot. The aircraft took a hit and Moulder’s aircraft started to shake violently.

Moulders had no choice but to turn away and head straight for the coast of France. Upon reaching it, his engine began to run poorly and after the landing gear failed to deploy, he had to bring his shot up 109 for a belly landing on the coastline. As he exited the plane, he found shrapnel throughout his legs, an injury that would take him off flight duty for weeks. Across the channel, headed home was one of the clear victors for the day. Sailor Milan, who had claimed two German fighters shot down in an engagement.

The Aftermath

However, who was the pilot who had taken down the Luftwaffe’s best pilot and leading ace? The first answer wouldn’t arrive after the war’s end when the stories and reports from both sides could be cross-examined. It was later put together that Sailor Malan had to have been the RAF pilot who shot down Moulders. However, the truth can be harder to find. Decades after the war’s end, this dogfight became the subject of debate and scrutiny among historians and aviation enthusiasts.

In his 1982 book, The Battle of Britain, Then and Now, author and historian Peter Cornwell realized that there might be another pilot who might have a better claim– Flight Lt. JT Webster, who flew with 41 Squadron that day. He submitted a combat report and a claim for severely damaging a Me-109. However, the critical information from his claim was that the fighter that he attacked emitted smoke and was last seen dashing for the coast of France with an altitude of 50 ft. This kill, compared to Malan’s, made a lot more sense. With Malan’s kill claims, one of the Germans that he hit slowly turned to the right and notably decreased speed.

Meanwhile, the other went down into a spiral. Neither of these lined up with Moulders’ description of what happened after he was hit, hightailing it downwards and towards the coast at 700 km/hr. However, JT Webster’s claim of damaging a 109 that dove and dashed home over the channel certainly does. However, we may never get any further information from Flight Lt. Webster as he was killed in combat a few weeks later.