Mission 5: Stuttgart
Aircraft - Third Times the Charm
We made it past the coast of Holland safely, but encountered Gerry as we skirted the Belgian border. Art Smith saw the fellow coming in from below and called “Corkscrew Port!” Bob got a solid hit on him. The 100 missed, due to the damage inflicted by our tailgunner.
Crossing into Germany we were still unmolested.
As we approached the IP, we expected a warm reception, but it as still quiet.
Entering the target zone we still did not encounter any 110s. The searchlights also missed us, but a 109 did stumble upon us, coming in from 12 high. So close to the target, still “Skip” kept her steady and true. Fortunately, our foe was as cockeyed as his predecessors were, and he missed his run on us.
Skip held course, and Chappy emptied the basked below. Eggs were on target, with an estimated effectiveness of 40%.
Skip turned us around, and headed us for home. We made it to the Channel before Gerry picked us up again. This time Smitty did not pick up on him. He got two hits on us, one in the bomb bay, and one in the waist. Both were superficial. He made his second pass from head on. Chappy and Neil targeted him, both missing. Fortunately, so did he. He made a third pass, and again everyone missed. He continued into the dark, and we proceeded to complete our Channel crossing.