While its name derives from the name of Raoul Lufbery,[1] the leading fighter ace of the Lafayette Escadrille, he did not invent the tactic; how it acquired this name is not known, although it may be from his popularization of it among the incoming U.S. pilots he trained.
The tactic, evolved in the context of trench warfare, was not used purely defensively: As the state of the art advanced the technique was increasingly used to enable slower, less capable fighters to cope with attacks by an enemy flying superior types, although it has also sometimes been used by light bomber formations.
As a counter measure to such circles, Hans-Joachim Marseille 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.
[3] Lundstrom, in chronicling the operational history of US carrier-based activities in the Pacific from Pearl Harbor through the Battle of Midway, provides an extensive discussion of fighter tactics of the time.
In the Battle of the Coral Sea, US Grumman F4F Wildcats defending the USS Lexington against Japanese dive bombers adopted a Lufbery Circle when attacked by A6M Zeros.