 Malan had fought with great distinction when the odds were against him . He matched his handful of Spitfires against greatly superior numbers of Luftwaffe fighters and bombers . He had been forced to fight a defensive battle over southern England and often at a tactical disadvantage , when the top @-@ cover Messerschmitts [ Bf 109s and Bf 110s ] were high in the sun . I had always fought on the offensive , and , after 1941 , I had either a squadron , a wing or sometimes two wings behind me . 
