[Graham Boak]

The date is stated in a later post as just before the El Alamein breakthrough. It is then, even later, stated as being after Marseille's death. This does narrow the possible dates (and units) down somewhat.

When dealing with the death of Marseille, Shores and Ring state that September 1942 had been a very bad month for I/JG27, three of the unit's most successful pilots having been killed. (Presumably this includes Marseille himself.) That would certainly weaken the unit's experience level.

Evidence of the operations of the remaining three Jagdgruppe in this period suggests that they regularly operated in small numbers, and could only assemble any significant number by combining elements from all three units. This is entirely consistent with units at the end of a long and troubled supply line, having difficulty maintaining serviceability.

I certainly make no claim for 92 squadron being a collection of aces: most RAF units in the Desert at this time were suffering from the massive expansion of the RAF and the inevitable dilution of experience. However, 92 does seem to have a fairly creditable record against the Jagdwaffe in this period. Certainly a number of successful pilots flew with this unit, not least Neville Duke, one of DAF's top scoring pilots. Sadly, Fighters over the Desert does not have an index to aid any kind of checking.