On 8 August, Malan was given command of 74 Squadron and promoted to acting squadron leader at the height of the Battle of Britain. On 11 August, action started at 7 am when the squadron was sent to intercept a raid near Dover, which was followed by three more raids, lasting all day. At the end of the day, 74 Squadron had claimed to have shot down 38 aircraft, and was known from then on as "Sailor's August the Eleventh". Malan himself commented, "thus ended a very successful morning of combat". He received a bar to his DFC on 13 August.
