Marseille claimed all but seven of his 158 victories against the British Commonwealth's Desert Air Force over North Africa, flying the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter for his entire combat career.

[7] Marseille attended a Volksschule in Berlin (1926–1930), and from the age of 10, the Prinz-Heinrichs-Gymnasium [de], a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university, in Berlin-Schöneberg (1930–1938).

By pushing his aircraft into a steep dive, then pulling up metres above the water, Marseille escaped from the machine gun fire of his opponents: "skipping away over the waves, I made a clean break.

[15] While returning from a bomber-escort mission on 23 September 1940 flying Bf 109 E-7 Werknummer 5094, his engine failed 19 kilometres (10 nautical miles) off Cap Gris Nez after combat damage sustained over Dover.

[16] According to another source, Werknummer 5094 was destroyed in this engagement by Robert Stanford Tuck, who had pursued a Bf 109 to that location and whose pilot was rescued by a Heinkel He 59 naval aircraft.

[Note 4][22] On 9 December, Oberleutnant Rudolf Resch confined Marseille to his room for five days for calling a fellow pilot a "goofy pig" (dußlige Sau).

[23] As punishment for "insubordination"—rumoured to be his penchant for American jazz music, womanising and an overt "playboy" lifestyle—and inability to fly as a wingman, Steinhoff transferred Marseille to Jagdgeschwader 27 on 24 December 1940.

On 20 April on his flight from Tripoli to his front airstrip, Marseille's Bf 109 E-7 (Werknummer 1259) developed engine trouble and he had to make a forced landing in the desert short of his destination.

[29] In a postwar account, Denis wrote that he waited for Marseille to close on him while he feigned ignorance, then skidded [side slipped], forcing the faster German to overshoot.

[36] His tactic of diving into opposing formations often found him under fire from all directions, resulting in his aircraft frequently being damaged beyond repair; consequently, Neumann grew impatient with him.

Marseille nonetheless often dived at high speed into the middle of these defensive formations from either above or below, executing a tight turn and firing a two-second deflection shot to destroy an enemy aircraft.

[45] Marseille attacked under conditions many considered unfavourable, but his marksmanship allowed him to make an approach fast enough to escape the return fire of the two aircraft flying on either flank of the target.

[50] In combat, Marseille's unorthodox methods led him to operate in a small leader/wingman unit, which he believed to be the safest and most effective way of fighting in the high-visibility conditions of the North African skies.

[65] His wingman Rainer Pöttgen, nicknamed Fliegendes Zählwerk (the "Flying Counting Machine"),[66] said of this fight: All the enemy were shot down by Marseille in a turning dogfight.

His expenditure of ammunition in this air battle was 360 rounds (60 per aircraft shot down)Schröer, did however, place Marseille's methods into context: "He was the most amazing and ingenious combat pilot I ever saw.

[70] While in Italy Marseille disappeared for some time, prompting the German authorities to compile a missing persons report, submitted by the Gestapo head in Rome, Herbert Kappler.

But the same day, Marseille borrowed the Macchi C.202 '96–10' of the Italian ace Tenente Emanuele Annoni, from 96a Squadriglia, 9° Gruppo, 4° Stormo, based at Fouka, for a test flight.

Marseille, according to his own post-battle accounts, had been engaged by a Spitfire pilot in an intense dogfight that began at high altitude and descended to low level.

[90] While returning to base, his new Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2/trop's cockpit began to fill with smoke; blinded, he was guided back to German lines by his wingmen, Jost Schlang and Lt Rainer Pöttgen.

The left side of his chest struck the vertical stabiliser of his fighter, which either killed him instantly or rendered him unconscious to the point that he could not deploy his parachute.

opened the zipper of his flight jacket, saw the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Marseille never actually received the Diamonds personally) and I knew immediately who this was.

Marseille's funeral took place on 1 October 1942 at the Heroes Cemetery in Derna with Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring and Eduard Neumann delivering a eulogy.

The deaths of two other German aces, Günter Steinhausen and Marseille's friend Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt, just three weeks earlier reduced spirits to an all-time low.

[97] Historians Hans Ring and Christopher Shores also point to the fact that Marseille's promotions were based on personal success rates more than any other reason, and other pilots did not get to score air victories, let alone become Experten themselves.

[110] Magda Goebbels found the prank amusing and Artur Axmann recalled how his "blood froze" when he heard this "Ragtime" music being played in front of the Führer.

Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff, of Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS, confirmed that during his visit Marseille overheard a conversation which mentioned crimes against the Jews and other people.

Scheck published Hitler's African Victims: The German Army Massacres of Black French Soldiers in 1940 and is an acknowledged expert on racial theory and in Nazi Germany.

[117] Letuku, alias Mathias to everyone in JG 27, was a black South African soldier taken prisoner of war by German troops on the morning of 21 June 1941 at Tobruk fortress.

[Note 8] By mid-1942, Allied bombers were having a highly damaging effect on Axis ground units and convoy routes reducing the flow of vital fuel.

Bungay pointed out the relatively low military value of shooting down Allied fighters, rather than bombers saying that "most of the pilots of JG 27 milled about watching in awe as Marseille exhibited his graceful if gory skills".