was awarded the first bar to his DSO on 24 September 1943. Four nights later, on the 28/29 September whilst carrying out an intruder operation between Celle and Hanover Braham encountered what he identified to be a Do 217 which engaged him in a dogfight. He downed the enemy aircraft which hit the ground and exploded. He then gained another contact on an enemy aircraft but could not quite catch it then witnessed a crash or explosion nearby. One source suggests the victim of the crash was German ace Hans-Dieter Frank (55 victories), flying a Heinkel He 219, who collided with another German fighter while trying to evade Braham. The very next night he claimed a Bf 110. His victim was identified as German ace August Geiger of IV./NJG 1 (53 victories). Geiger parachuted out of his fighter but drowned. Within minutes Braham fired on a Ju 88 which he claimed as damaged. Frank, Vinke and Geiger were the 17th, 18th and 19th most successful night fighter aces of the Second World War (and aerial warfare). Against his wishes Braham was rested from operations and posted from No 141 Squadron on 1 October 1943 to attend a staff officer course at Camberley. Braham resisted the move as much as he could. He complained directly to Air Marshal Roderick Hill, commanding Fighter Command at that time. Hill refused to countenance Braham's request and denied his plea for one last operation. Within days Braham was posted to No. 9 Group RAF. Daylight intruder For three months Braham remained inactive. In February 1944 he was posted to No. 2 Group RAF as 'wing commander night operations' attached to the 2nd Light Bomber Group, RAF Second Tactical Air Force. Although a staff officer at HQ, Braham was able, with persistence, to persuade his commanding officer, Air Vice Marshal Basil Embry to allow him to 'free-lance' intruder operations using a De Havilland Mosquito borrowed from one of the various squadrons in the group on the proviso he asked his permission beforehand. Braham also had his former radar operators transferred to the group's headquarters so he could fly with them. He frequently borrowed aircraft from No. 613 Squadron RAF. On 28 February 1944 he took off and claimed a German lorry destroyed south of Paris in a daylight sortie. The Mosquitoes did not carry radar but were fitted with Gee navigational aids. It allowed for accurate