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The relative inactivity of these days ended on the 18^th when the Squadron had "a field day" in the Falaise Gap, harassing the retreating enemy. In all, during that hectic day, nine formations were sent out for a record total of 65 sorties.! W/C Judd led the first show at 9 a.m., on an armed recce over Lisieux, Orbec and Bernay where 3,000 vehicles were jammed on the roads trying to escape through the Gap. Over the target area the ten pilots split up to search and strafe individually; when their reports were collected at interrogation the total result was two flamers, five smokers and ten damaged. They reported that most of the enemy's MET was well camouflaged and many bore red cross markings which necessitated close scrutiny before attacks could be made .

Another formation went out at 1250, and then the pace quickened, the aircraft going off as rapidly as the sweating ground-crews could re-arm and refuel them; twelve at 1515, eight at 1705, eight more thirty minutes later, another eight at 1930, four at 1945, and the last six at 2100. Every pilot on the Squadron got in at least one trip. F/L Fiset led with four, and seventeen others had three each. Even G/C Davoud  joined in the festivities with No. 439. The Squadron's seventeen serviceable aircraft were hard worked. Tiffies "C" (MN352), "G" (MN401), "K" (MN969) and "T" (MN796) were in on no less than five of the day's eight operations, and all the others, with one exception, made three or four trips.

No attempt was made to keep separate records of each sortie; things were happening too fast. Over the "jack-pot" area around Vimoutiers the sky was so congested with aircraft that the pilots had to maintain a left-hand circuit. There was more danger from air collision than from enemy resistance. Most of the pilots indeed were too busy to notice if there was much flak, but two returned with visual evidence that the Jerry gunners were in action. F/O Ray Brown returned from his second sortie with a damaged aircraft and a leg wound that required hospital treatment. On the same show Jimmy Hogg had a narrow escape when a 20 mm. armour-piercing shell crashed into the barrel of one cannon, tearing the cap off a shell in the breach without exploding it.

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