emulate him. Anxious to get more experience, Finucane loitered around dispersal hoping to build up flight time on the Spitfire by asking as many senior officers for as many hours practice as was possible. Finucane was granted a few flights to improve his handling of the fighter before he was assigned to B Flight or Green Section. On 24 July, the squadron moved to a satellite airfield RAF Rochford in Essex. The following day, he became operational. The Battle of Britain was slowly escalating and air fighting increased with a series of German air attacks against British shipping in the English Channel, a phase of the battle termed Kanalkampf by the Luftwaffe. Finucane's first scramble came on 25 July 1940. Flying Spitfire N3128 code YT-W, he took off at 08:45. The Spitfire was worn, having served in combat since April. It developed a glycol leak whilst climbing and the cockpit filled with escaping vapour from the cooling liquid condensing on the hot engine. Suddenly his radio transmission failed. Still, he managed a wheels-up landing at Rochford. 65 Squadron was in action again at 12:20 and engaged enemy aircraft but suffered no losses. For the next few days, Finucane did not scramble. On 1 August, he was assigned Spitfire R6818 which had been taken on charge by the unit on 26 July. On 12 August, he took off to intercept a raid at 11:30. Climbing to , off North Foreland, the squadron attacked 30 Messerschmitt Bf 109s several thousand feet below them. Evading a German counterattack Finucane dived upon a formation of 12 enemy fighters. He fired from , causing one Bf 109 to crash into the Channel. The victory was witnessed by Sergeant Orchard in Finucane's flight. He landed at 11:45. While the squadron was refuelling and assembling for another patrol at RAF Manston, the airfield came under a low-level attack by Messerschmitt Bf 110s and Dornier Do 17s covered by Bf 109s. The Bf 110s were led by Hauptmann Walter Rubensdörffer, commanding Erprobungsgruppe 210. 18 Do 17s from Kampfgeschwader 2 supported them. Not many of the Spitfires got airborne. Alongside Jeffrey Quill, Finucane took off downwind as the first bombs started to fall. Both Quill and Finucane sighted Bf 109s and engaged. Quill hit a Bf 109 and Finucane fired on two, claiming a probable and one damaged. According to another account Quill had taken off without permission when