Re-grouping at 6,000 feet another German formation was spotted. McCudden was about to attack, but noticed ahead, an SE5 spinning down with a German fighter on its tail. The SE5, from No. 609 Squadron RFC, was piloted by a Lieutenant Harold A. Hamersley. His aircraft mortally wounded, he spun downwards hoping to throw the German off and get closer to the ground. The German stayed behind, firing all the way. A fellow member of 609, Chidlaw-Roberts, attempted to assist, but was shot up by the German Fokker F.I pilot and retired from the fray. Squadron leader Caldwell, 609, saw the approaching SE5s of 56 Squadron. Believing odds of seven-to-one to be good odds, he "left them (the SE5's) to it".