Leaving his fiancée in Rome, Marseille returned to combat duties on 23 August. 1 September 1942 was Marseille's most successful day, claiming to destroy 17 Allied aircraft (nos. 105–121), and September would see him claim 54 victories, his most productive month. The 17 aircraft claimed 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 three pilots would ever match this score, while only one pilot would ever surpass it; Emil Lang, on 4 November 1943, scored 18 fighters of the Soviet Air Force on the Eastern Front. The post-war analysis shows that the actual results of the day were probably eight to nine destroyed by Marseille with three or four more damaged.