 The Luftwaffe launched a major attack against key Maltese airfields at dawn on 20 March . Leggo , who had not slept for over 24 hours , returned to the airfield in the early hours having spent the night with a girlfriend . As the German planes approached he was ordered to prepare to fly . Plagis attempted to stop his friend from going , but Leggo insisted on flying , and took off at 08 : 05 as part of a group of four Spitfires and 12 Hurricanes aiming to intercept a squadron of Messerschmitt Bf 109s . He was soon seen to be flying poorly . A German pilot noticed this and attacked Leggo from close range , seriously damaging his aircraft and forcing him to bale out . Another Bf 109 then swooped and either fired at Leggo or collapsed his parachute with its slipstream , causing him to fall to his death . When Plagis learned what had happened , he was inconsolable , holding himself responsible . In his journal , he vowed to " shoot down ten for Doug — I will too , if it takes me a lifetime " . 
