The night-fighters found us pretty early. We were still over the North Sea when a Me-110 surprised us. He hit us pretty hard, but all the real damage was in the tail—port rudder, port elevator, and Ken Boatwright all taking hits. (Ken was able to stay at his post.) A second Me-110 found us a bit later, but he wasted his surprise making just a couple of minor holes. I was able to shake him off without getting in his sights again.
Deep over Germany, Ken spotted another 110 coming up behind us. We took a solid hit on our starboard wing, along with another bunch of minor holes.
Berlin's searchlights were on the job, and we were quickly coned. We attracted more than our share of flak after that, but the searchlights were aimed better than the guns. We also attracted the attention of a single-engined fighter who made a couple of head-on passes at us, taking out our intercom. He missed us on his final pass from behind, even though I was holding Wasat steady for our bomb run. Cabot was able to take advantage of that and put a third of our load on the target indicators.
As soon as we got out of searchlight range, a 110 snuck up on us. He finished off our port rudder, hammered our starboard wing (including shredding our raft), but mostly gave our skin even more little holes.
It was a long, tense, ride home, with every crewman knowing that even if he spotted a night-fighter, there was no way for him to let me know about it. But there were no more night-fighters, and we got home safely.
Flight-Lieutenant Jonathan Bacon
Pilot, Wasat
September 26, 1943
166 Peckham Damage Points