Vic formation

It has three or sometimes more aircraft fly in close formation with the leader at the apex and the rest of the flight en echelon to the left and the right, the whole resembling the letter "V".

Groups of fliers, drawn from the various nations' army or navy, would fly in columns, or line, ahead as if they were troops of cavalry or flotillas of ships.

Luftwaffe related to them derisively by calling them Idiotenreihen ("rows of idiots")[2] Bob Oxspring, a pilot officer in 66 Squadron and a future ace, commented: "We knew there was a lot wrong with our tactics during the Battle of Britain but it was one hell of a time to alter everything we had practiced.

Moreover we were getting fresh pilots straight out of Flying School who were trained - barely - to use the old type of close formation – they simply could not have coped with anything radically different".

When faced with USAAF bombers in their box formations of massed Vics, German pilots reverted to the Kette to tackle them.

Pilots learned to open the formation, and the rearmost Vic in a Squadron was tasked with weaving to improve observation, but casualties from the weavers remained high.

When the campaign was over, Fighter Command experimented with and adopted the pair and four arrangements, but they could fly in echelon or in line astern to aid in identification.

The combat boxes, involving full squadrons, groups or entire wings, could produce huge firepower and offer mutual support, but casualties remained high without fighter escort.