When the exercise resumed shortly after that, the rangers decimated the soot-covered Van Doos - who were clearly visible against the white snow - from their hidden machine gun nests. The umpires announced the rangers the victors of the second battle. The rangers were so successful that the umpires ordered them to retreat beyond the airport road, so that the Van Doos could finish unloading and set up camp. When the Van Doos were ready, the exercise was restarted, and the Van Doos were making their way slowly to the airport road when the Royal Yellowknife Air Force (RYAF) struck again. A pilot in a Stinson bush plane was in the process of pulling down the Van Doos radio antenna with his wheels, when he saw three of the Van Doos in a huddle and dropped a bag of lamp black on them. One of the people in the huddle was the Van Doos commanding officer, so they were now without a leader and without communications equipment, leading to the rangers' third win in as many hours. The umpires evened the odds by grounding the RYAF, declaring John Anderson-Thomson a casualty, and making the rangers retreat even further away from the airport, telling them to prepare for a night attack, which was also declared as a victory for the rangers.