The young airman was in the hospital for six days and was left with a permanent scar on his face. A court of inquiry absolved him of blame for the accident, and he was flying again nine days later. The incident changed Tuck’s flying style, however. His nerve remained steady, his judgment good and his enthusiasm high–but he no longer took needless risks in flying. “He knew that only luck–not skill, not daring–had saved him,” Forrester wrote, “and he had learned that in military flying there were unpredictable factors that killed the best and the worst pilots with terrible impartiality.”

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Eleven months later, in December 1938, Tuck was chosen from 65 Squadron to be trained in the new Supermarine Spitfire Mark I monoplane fighter. He reported to Duxford RAF Station, where he was checked out in the new fighter by Supermarine’s chief test pilot, Jeffery Quill. Soon, Tuck became a Spitfire enthusiast. He remained at Duxford for a week, then returned to 65 Squadron at Hornchurch on January 9, 1939, as one of the RAF’s first qualified Spitfire pilots.

Tuck remained with 65 Squadron during the first months of World War II. On May 1, 1940, he was transferred to 92 Squadron, based at Croyden and commanded by Squadron Leader Roger Bushell. The new Spitfire convert saw no action until May 23, when 92 Squadron joined three other Spitfire squadrons at Hornchurch–Nos. 54, 65 and 74–to fly patrols over Dunkirk in northern France, where Allied troops were being evacuated. Tuck’s squadron took off at 10:30 that morning and began patrolling off Dunkirk, flying in a tight V-on-V formation, which Tuck didn’t like. The formation was so tight that Tuck could see the pilots in two Spitfires flying near him giving a V-for-Victory salute.

Seconds later, 92 Squadron was attacked from above and behind by Messerschmitt Me-109E fighters. The squadron broke formation, and Tuck latched on to a lone Me-109. He opened fire at 500 yards with his eight .303-caliber Browning machine guns, striking the enemy airplane’s right wing. The German fighter stalled, rolled to its left and spiraled down. Tuck followed it down through the clouds and watched it slam into a field near St. Omer, France. Feeling “quietly satisfied” with his first kill, Tuck climbed back into the clouds and returned to Hornchurch.

The Squadron took off again that afternoon for another patrol near Dunkirk, where the British fighters attacked 30 twin-engine Messerschmitt Me-110C fighters. Tuck shot down one of them and then went after a second that had nearly collided with him. A chase ensued at low altitude for several minutes, pursuer and pursued skimming over roofs and treetops. At one point, Tuck chased the Me-110 beneath some electrical wires. He pulled up to avoid the wires, exposing his Spitfire’s belly to the 110’s tail gunner, who fired a few rounds from his machine gun into the Spitfire. Tuck dropped his nose, caught up with the Me-110 and riddled its gunner. The Me-110 pilot crash-landed in an empty field before Tuck could fire again.

Tuck circled the wrecked Me-110 as the German pilot climbed out of the cockpit. The British pilot slid open his canopy and waved at the downed flier. The German fired a pistol at Tuck, narrowly missing his head. Angered, Tuck swung his Spitfire around and killed the German pilot with a last burst from his eight Brownings, then headed for home.

It was a victorious first day of combat–Robert Tuck had shot down three enemy fighters. His squadron claimed 20 German aircraft shot down, with the loss of five pilots, including Squadron Leader Bushell. Tuck, as the next senior officer, was given temporary command of 92 Squadron.

The next day, Tuck led 92 Squadron on patrol near Dunkirk. Instead of bunching his Spitfires in tight formation, he opened up the formation until the planes were 200 feet apart. “I decided…that our rigid flying tactics with formations and that sort of thing were almost useless in mixed combat with the more experienced Messerschmitt 109 pilots,” Tuck later recalled. When 92 Squadron reached Dunkirk, Tuck spotted 20 Dornier Do-17 bombers, escorted by Me-110 fighters. A Hurricane squadron took on the 110s, and Tuck’s squadron attacked the bombers. Tuck opened fire on one Dornier at a range of 400 yards, striking its port wing and fuselage. The Dornier dropped out of formation and Tuck went after it, but he was hit in the right thigh before he could fire. Ignoring his wound, Tuck closed on the stricken bomber and set it on fire with another burst from his .303s. He watched two of the Dornier’s four-man crew bail out, then rejoined 92 Squadron’s attack on the remaining bombers. He downed a second Dornier over the beach, bringing his score to five in less than 24 hours.

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