 This was virtually the only part of the Western Front , during the Phoney War , where there was significant aerial activity in the early months of the war , as RAF bombers flew unescorted raids on the German naval bases . So it did not take long for Specht to score his first victories : two Handley Page Hampden medium bombers in a squadron conducting an armed reconnaissance operation near Heligoland , shot down on 29 September . Needing a long @-@ range fighter to better intercept the British bombers at distance , I. / ZG 26 was thus the next Gruppe selected for re @-@ equipping onto the Bf 110 . 
