 To counter German fighter attacks, the Allied pilots flew "Lufbery circles" (in which each aircraft's tail was covered by the friendly aircraft behind). The tactic was effective and dangerous as a pilot attacking this formation could find himself constantly in the sights of enemy pilots. Marseille often dived at high speed into the middle of these enemy defensive formations from either above or below, executing a tight turn and firing a two-second deflection shot to destroy an enemy aircraft. The successes Marseille had begun to become readily apparent in early 1942. He claimed his 37 – 40th victories on 8 February 1942 and 41 – 44th victories four days later which earned him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) that same month for 46 victories.
