On 6 November 1939 Pilot Officer P.V. Ayerst from 73 Squadron was the first to clash with a Messerschmitt Bf 109. After the dogfight, he came back with five holes in his fuselage. Flying Officer E. J. "Cobber" Kain, a New Zealander, was responsible for 73 Squadron's first victory on 8 November 1939 while stationed at Rouvres. He went on to become one of the RAF's first fighter aces of the war, being credited with 16 kills. On 22 December the Hurricanes in France suffered their first losses: three of them, while trying to intercept an unidentified aircraft between Metz and Thionville, were jumped by four Bf 109Es from III./JG 53, with their "Gruppenkommandeur", Spanish Civil War ace Captain Werner Mölders, in the lead. Mölders and "Leutnant" Hans von Hahn shot down the Hurricanes of Sergeant R. M. Perry and J. Winn for no loss.