 During one such mission on 20 March, Lieutenant Frank McNamara earned the Victoria Cross for landing his Martinsyde in the desert under enemy fire and rescuing a fellow pilot whose B.E.2 had been forced down.On 26 March, No.1 Squadron took part in the First Battle of Gaza; it suffered its first combat death the next day, when one of its B.E.2s was attacked by a German Rumpler.