They were there (Ils étaient là)

The first aerial combat victories on the Western Front in World War II were claimed by French Armee de l'Air pilots in their US-built Curtiss Hawk 75A-1s of the SPA 160 "Red Devils" squadron of GC II/4 on 8 September, 1939. Six Hawks had come under a barrage of anti-aircraft fire in the Landau-Sarreguemines area and were then attacked by four Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3s from I./JG53.

In the ensuing dogfight, Adj Pierre Villey and Sgt Chef Antoine Casenoble both claimed to have downed a 109. In the event it seems only one was damaged - but it was quite a coup. The pilot was no less than Oblt Werner Mölders, who crash landed in a meadow, injuring his back. Molders, already a Spanish Civil War ace, went on to become the first pilot to claim 100 aerial victories.