Prior to the Italian invasion of Egypt, under Air Commodore Raymond Collishaw, the RAF in Egypt—which comprised nine squadrons—focused its activities on ground support, reconnaissance, and only when necessary aerial combat with the Italian "Regia Aeronautica". The force at Collishaw's disposal consisted of No. 33, No. 80, and No. 112 Squadrons with Gloster Gladiators, No. 208 Squadron RAF with Westland Lysanders, four Blenheim squadrons (No.s 30, 55, 113, and 211) and No. 216 Squadron RAF with Bombays. With this small force, the RAF had to "equate its attempt to dominate the front line with avoidance of unnecessary losses". Aggressive actions induced a "defensive mentality among the Italians", aided by expedients such as using the single Hawker Hurricane in the Middle East, rapidly switched between landing grounds, to provide an exaggerated picture of British strength in the eyes of Italian reconnaissance aircraft. There were occasional single successes as well; on 17 August 1940, Gladiators covering the Mediterranean Fleet shot down eight Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers without loss.