Good afternoon gentlemen! As you were! Our target for tonight is Stuttgart again. Yes I know, but their flak is light and the Met. officer says it should be good weather over there
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We joined the bomber stream and headed out over occupied Europe. An untroubled flight until we approached Ludwingshaven when suddenly out of the blue the crate was full of loud crashes and bangs. Bilimy who left the door open!
shouted Walpole from the mid-upper, wakeup, Catseyes!
The 110 came around for another squirt at us potting the waist and port wing, we noticed most of the port flap hanging loose in the slip stream.
Over the target Catseyes
lived up to his name, a stream of .303 tracer knocked lumps of a 110 sneaking up on us. At the same time the 110 shredded our starboard aileron and to the horror of the crew blew the cowling off the port inner engine, we waited with baited breath for the fire to start but the mighty Merlin continued its full throated roar, phew!
Next L for Leather was caught by a blue searchlight beam and quickly coned by white ones. The intense light looked strangely odd shining through the many ragged holes in each wing. A 109G came out of no where luckily missed us and vanished into the gloom. Flak was announced by a sudden loud bang in the radio room as flak splinters bounced around inside, then another large hole in the starboard wing appeared everybody all right
I called they signalled they were.
Fluke
Chamberlain picked up the red TI’s and called back Right a bit, steady, steady, right a bit, steady
Get on with Fluke! I thought looking at the irate flak outside. steady … bombs gone!
This time we were on target.
Turning for home we were attacked by a tenacious Me 110 who despite our best endeavours peppered both wings and the entire fuselage apart from the nose with cannon and machine gun shells. Eventually or because he ran out of ammo he disappeared. Pat Garside went back to examine the damage, when he returned I asked it how it looked … like ten thousand holes flying in loose formation!
he said coolly.
Over Belgium a dark shape was seen to port, difficult to see clearly but it looked like a Ju88C, glad to say it didn’t see us and vanished into a cloud.
After taxiing up to dispersal and switching off I noticed the ground crew staring at poor old L for Leather with open mouths. Ran into some holes on the way 'ome did we sir!
said the crew chief Er … yes, one or two
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Regards
P/O H. Wilson
314 Squadron
L for Leather
Tail Gunner F/S Catseyes
Johnson 1x Me110 damaged