his opponent by pulling up into a tight chandelle to gain an altitude advantage before diving and firing. The British fighter was struck in the engine, pitched over and dived into the English Channel; this was Marseille's first victory. Marseille was then engaged from above by more Allied fighters. By pushing his aircraft into a steep dive, then pulling up metres above the water, Marseille escaped from the machine gun fire of his opponents: "skipping away over the waves, I made a clean break. No one followed me and I returned to Leeuwarden [sic—Marseille was based near Calais, not Leeuwarden]." The act was not praised by his unit. Marseille was reprimanded when it emerged he had abandoned his wingman, and Staffel to engage the opponent alone. In so doing, Marseille had violated a basic rule of air combat. Reportedly, Marseille did not take any pleasure in this victory and found it difficult to accept the realities of aerial combat. While returning from a bomber-escort mission on 23 September 1940 flying (Werknummer 5094—factory number), his engine failed off Cap Gris Nez after combat damage sustained over Dover. Pilot Officer George Bennions from 41 Squadron may have shot Marseille down. According to another source, Werknummer 5094 was destroyed in this engagement by Robert Stanford Tuck, who had pursued a Bf 109 to that location and whose pilot was rescued by a Heinkel He 59 naval aircraft. Marseille is the only German airman known to have been rescued by a He 59 on that day and in that location. Tuck's official claim was for a Bf 109 destroyed off Cap Gris Nez at 09:45—the only pilot to submit a claim in that location. Although Marseille tried to radio his position, he bailed out over the sea. He paddled around in the water for three hours before being rescued by the float plane based at Schellingwoude. Exhausted and suffering from exposure, he was sent to a field hospital. When he returned to duty, he received a stern rebuke from his commander, Herbert Ihlefeld. In engaging Bennions, or Tuck, Marseille had abandoned his leader Staffelkapitän Adolf Buhl, who was shot down and killed. During his rebuke, his commander tore up Marseille's flight evaluations. Other pilots also voiced their dissatisfaction concerning Marseille. Because of his alienation of other pilots and his arrogant and unapologetic nature, Ihlefeld eventually dismissed Marseille from LG 2. A different account recalled