Defensive circle

Greetings All,

I wondered if anyone could provide some comment on the use of the
defensive circle in WWII? (Apologies if this was ever covered in detail
in the past - if so, I missed it.)

It occurs to me that the use of the defensive circle (or Lufbery) might
have been somewhat limited as it implies a particular set of
circumstances:

1. You are outnumbered
2. The opposition can outperform your own aircraft type in all but
rate of turn, which makes escape difficult
3. You have the time, fuel and the inclination to sustain the
manoeuvre but the opposition lacks some or all of these to make serious
attempts to break it (this should be true if you are over home ground
and the opposition is remote from its base)
4. Your flight commander made an early decision to enter the manoeuvre
- before the flight got broken up into a dogfight which would have made
it impossible to form up

Given the normal impulse of fighter pilots (other than novices, who have
yet to gain confidence and experience) to mix it, adopting the defensive
circle would actually take a degree of discipline and an acceptance that
this was the best response to make in the prevailing circumstances.

Would it be right to assume that the defensive circle would be even more
effective at low level as it would inhibit one circle breaking method,
sideslipping inside, more difficult?

Would it also be right to assume that there is an effective limit to the
number of aircraft in the defensive circle - too many and would it not
be too big to be effective?

Actual scenarios for usage:

Possibly a flight of patrolling Spitfire Vs (containing some novices)
meeting a strong force of FW190s in 1942?

Possibly a flight of older Russian fighters meeting a strong force of
Luftwaffe fighters?

Any comments (including any actual reported situations) would be very
welcome.

Thanks in anticipation,

Cheers,

Dave

--
Dave Eadsforth