from Drake, which the German record asserts as the cause of the crash. Fighter Command records list only one claim for Drake made over Thionville. Battle of France and Netherlands On 10 May 1940 the Wehrmacht (Nazi German armed forces) began Operation Yellow (Fall Gelb). The German forces occupied Luxembourg, invaded the Netherlands, and Belgium, part of the wider Battle of France. 1 Squadron operated from a small village, Berry-au-Bac, near Rennes. On the morning of the attack Drake was driving to the airfield when German aircraft appeared over the region. Four pilots of A Flight intercepted a reconnaissance aircraft of 7./Kampfgeschwader 3 and destroyed it but one Hurricane force-landed due to return-fire. Drake scrambled with B Flight and, with Flying Officer Boy Mould, claimed a Heinkel He 111 each. The victories were confirmed. A bomber flown by Oberleutnant Willy Partl crashed with all the airmen killed while another crashed with the crew taken as prisoner of war. The German aircraft were from 5./Kampfgeschwader 53. A third bomber was damaged with a crew member wounded. A Hurricane pilot survived a bale out after being hit by return fire. Drake's records indicate he was credited with only a shared victory. Fighter Command records list the victory clearly as a solo claim, filed at circa 05:00 near Verdun. Other sources state this combat occurred in the afternoon. The airfield came under attack as A and B Flight returned. A hangar was destroyed and three French labourers and their horses were killed. On 11 May, 1 Squadron fought inclusive engagements with Kampfgeschwader 2 and other German formations. On 12 May, 1 Squadron flew as fighter escort for Fairey Battle squadrons in the Battle of Maastricht. The French and British made a vain attempt to destroy the bridges. Drake wrote; "all we saw were 10/10ths [reference to cloud coverage severity] and Bf 109s". Drake stated there was little he could do, "so we pissed off". The following day Drake was on a combat air patrol but was forced to leave his formation because of oxygen failure. On the return flight he spotted three Dornier Do 17s he thought were unescorted and claimed one shot down. Lining up a second Drake was shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and was forced to bale out. Drake was credited with one bomber destroyed. The claim against the second Dornier was unconfirmed. The Bf 110 belonged to