9° Gruppo, 4° Stormo, based at Fouka, for a test flight. But the one-off flight ended in a wheels-up landing, when the German ace accidentally switched the engine off, as the throttle control in Italian aircraft was opposite to that of the German aircraft. The event was photographed. Marseille had nearly surpassed his friend Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt's score of 59 victories in just five weeks. However, the massive material superiority of the Allies meant the strain placed on the outnumbered German pilots was now severe. At this time, the strength of German fighter units was 112 (65 serviceable) aircraft against the British muster of some 800 machines. Marseille was becoming physically exhausted by the frenetic pace of combat. After his last combat on 26 September, Marseille was reportedly on the verge of collapse after a 15-minute battle with a formation of Spitfires, during which he scored his seventh victory of that day. Of particular note was Marseille's 158th claim. After landing in the afternoon of 26 September 1942, he was physically exhausted. Several accounts allude to his Squadron members being visibly shocked at Marseille's physical state. Marseille, according to his own post-battle accounts, had been engaged by a Spitfire pilot in an intense dogfight that began at high altitude and descended to low-level. Marseille recounted how both he and his opponent strove to get onto the tail of the other. Both succeeded and fired but each time the pursued managed to turn the table on his attacker. Finally, with only 15 minutes of fuel remaining, he climbed into the sun. The RAF fighter followed and was caught in the glare. Marseille executed a tight turn and roll, fired from 100 metres range. The Spitfire caught fire and shed a wing. It crashed into the ground with the pilot still inside. Marseille wrote, "That was the toughest adversary I have ever had. His turns were fabulous... I thought it would be my last fight". Unfortunately the pilot and his unit remain unidentified. Death The two missions of 26 September 1942 had been flown in Bf 109 G-2/trop, in one of which Marseille had shot down seven Allied aircraft. The first six of these machines were to replace the Gruppe'''s Bf 109 Fs. All had been allocated to Marseille's 3. Staffel. Marseille had previously ignored orders to use these new aircraft because of its high engine failure rate, but on the orders of