pilot, a Canadian, Flying Officer Jack Campbell was killed. Galland claimed his third Hurricane later that same day over Tienen. He had long believed that his opponents had been Belgian, not knowing that all of the Belgian Air Force's Hurricanes had been destroyed on the ground in the first two days, without seeing combat. On 19 May, Galland shot down a French Potez aircraft. During this flight he ran out of fuel short of the runway and landed nearby, at the base of a hill. With the help of soldiers from a German Flak battery, he pushed the Bf 109 up the hill and then half-flew, half-glided down to the Charleville-Mézières airfield in the valley below. He sent back a can of fuel for his wingman, who had also landed short of the runway. He continued flying and the next day, claimed another three more aircraft, making a total of seven. For this he was awarded the Iron Cross First Class from Erhard Milch on 22 May. With the effective defeat of Belgium JG 27 was moved into forward airfields to support the invasion of France. During the Battle of Dunkirk, after encountering the Supermarine Spitfire for the first time, Galland was impressed with these aircraft and their pilots. On 29 May, Galland claimed he had shot down a Bristol Blenheim over the sea. Over Dunkirk, the Luftwaffe suffered its first serious rebuff of the war. As Galland has noted, the nature and style of the air battles over the beaches should have provided a warning as to the inherent weaknesses of the Luftwaffe's force structure. On 3 June during Operation Paula, he claimed another French aircraft, a Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 for his 12th victory. On 6 June 1940, Galland took over the command of III./Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" (III./JG 26–3rd group of the 26th Fighter Wing) with the position of Gruppenkommandeur. Under his command were the 7., 8. and 9. Staffels with an establishment of 39 Bf 109Es. His Staffelkapitäns included Joachim Müncheberg, Wilhelm Balthasar and Gerhard Schöpfel. Balthasar, Staffelkapitän of 7. Staffel had mistakenly attacked Galland during Fall Rot (Case Red). Being on the same radio frequency, Galland was able to warn Balthasar before he opened fire. The remainder of the campaign passed without incident and on 26 June, Major Gotthard Handrick took over command of JG 26. Galland was pleased, having served under him during his Condor Legion days.