Spitfires of the Digby Wing were escorting B26s in a typical Ramrod mission to attack the railway yards at Lille, Roubaix and St. Pol. Out of the ground haze came 15 Messerchmitt Bf 109s climbing for superior altitude. Not wanting them to gain an advantage the Digby Spitfires dove on them. The haze was so thick that aircraft appeared and disappeared in the gloom. Tracer bullets cut across at crazy angles. The danger of collision was high. At one point four Spitfire pilots were closing in on the same Bf 109. The tracers all met at the same point and the German exploded. Frantically the four RCAF pilots pulled in different directions to avoid the same fate. Soon the dogfight was over and the Canadian squadron collected as many of their pilots as they could. Six of them formed up and headed back to England. Over the coast they were bounced by 10 FW190s. One Spitfire pilot bailed out, but one German plane went down in flames.