Swallisch never came back from his maintenance flight. Neumann canceled the meeting. The next day, on the shores north of Quotaifiya, German sentries found Swallisch’s body, carried to land by the tide. Some said his plane had malfunctioned. But Franz knew otherwise. Swallisch had wanted to disappear—that’s why he had flown out over the sea. There he had committed suicide, diving into the water rather than live to see his victories and honor wrongly stripped from him. On the day Swallisch died, Voegl and Bendert landed from their scramble. Voegl claimed one victory and Bendert another two.
