few minutes later, Oberleutnant Ernst Weigand in Albatros D.V. number 1187/17 led a second flight skyward; three Pfalz D. IIIs followed him, piloted by Leutnants Erich Löwenhardt, Alois Heldmann, and Max Kuhn. None of these Jasta 10 aircraft would ever catch up with their Staffelführer. The fighting begins The dogfight developed over Poelkapelle at about 18:30 hours. The Germans chasing Voss found themselves stalemated by British Sopwith Camels, as well as some SPADs and Bristol F.2 Fighters patrolling under the overcast. Two flights of the elite 56 Squadron formed a lower layer of British patrols at altitude. Below that, Lieutenant Harold A. Hamersley, flying as a rear guard to his squadronmates in 60 Squadron, had a wary eye on a nearby enemy formation of 20 to 25 German aircraft. At about 18:25 hours, he turned to help what he believed to be a Nieuport threatened by a German Albatros, firing a short burst of machine-gun fire to distract the German. The "Nieuport", Voss's misidentified Fokker Triplane, rounded on Hamersley and raked him with Spandau fire. Hamersley flung his Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a into a spin that went inverted, with Voss continuing to fire at him, holing his wings and engine cowling. Lieutenant Robert L. Chidlaw-Roberts, a squadronmate of Hamersley, rushed to his aid. Within seconds, Voss shredded Chidlaw-Roberts's rudder bar, also driving him out of the fray into a forced landing. While they fell away seriously shot about, and the rest of 60 Squadron exited the scene, Voss was engaged by 'B' Flight of 56 Squadron, in their SE.5as. Captain McCudden and his wingmen attacked in pairs from above Voss. In a pincer movement, McCudden hooked into an assault from the right while his wingman, Lieutenant Arthur Rhys Davids, swooped in from the left. Muspratt trailed them down, while Cronyn brought up the rear. Jeffs and Young held high as top-cover in case Voss climbed. Voss now found himself boxed in from above and below, with assailants pouncing from either side. To further worsen Voss's situation, there was a British fighter patrol beneath him. To the attackers' surprise, Voss did not try to escape the trap. Instead, he flicked his tri-plane about in a flat spin and fired at his attackers in a head-on firing pass, holing McCudden's wings. Voss then riddled Cronyn's SE.5 from close range, putting him out of the dogfight. Cronyn had to turn in under his