 Leaving his fiancée in Rome, Marseille returned to combat duties on 23 August. 1 September 1942 was Marseille's most successful day, destroying 17 enemy aircraft (nos. 105 – 121), and September would see him claim 54 victories, his most productive month. The 17 enemy aircraft shot down included eight in 10 minutes; as a result of this feat, he was presented with a Volkswagen Kübelwagen by a Regia Aeronautica squadron, on which his Italian comrades had painted "Otto" (Italian language: Otto = eight). This was the most aircraft from Western Allied air forces shot down by a single pilot in one day. Only one pilot, Emil "Bully" Lang, on 4 November 1943, would better this score, against the Soviet Air Force on the Eastern Front. On 3 September 1942 Marseille claimed six victories (nos. 127 – 132) but was hit by fire from the British-Canadian ace James Francis Edwards. Der Adler, a biweekly Nazi propaganda magazine published by the Luftwaffe, also reported his actions in volume 14 of 1942.
