Damn! That was the stupidest thing I've ever done. We weren't more than halfway to Berlin, still out over the North Sea, when Clarke spotted a Me-110 coming up behind us. I managed to evade his first pass, but he took out the #2 engine on his second. Right there I should have dumped our bombs and headed for home. But I really wanted to get those bastards who gave the orders for Coventry, so we ploughed ahead, falling further and further behind schedule. I figured we'd make it up on the trip back when the crate was lighter.
It was like we had a radium target painted on our tail. Four more 110's attacked us before we even reached the German shore. They were the worst shots you could imagine — not a one hit us. For our part, Clarke and Dahlgren each damaged one, and Daily (Chamberlain's replacement at Mid-Upper) shot one down.
Just after crossing the coast, another 110 surprised us, and took out Clarke's tail guns. This would have been another good time to turn back. But no.
Three more terrible-shooting 110's came at us as we lumbered across Germany. Dahlgren shot down one and damaged another as my evasive maneuvers brought them across our nose.
Approaching the Berlin, a 110 did hit us, but caused no noticeable damage. Clarke spotted another one, and despite my throwing Alcyone around the sky, it hit us, knocking out the #3 engine. I could see the fires of Berlin burning on the horizon, but we weren't going to make it. We were losing altitude fast, and our only chance was to jettison our load and head for home at low altitude. And were weren't going to make up any time.
Searchlights caught us right after we turned back, and we took some light flak damage. Clarke spotted another 110, but all we could do was hope he was another bad shot. Clarke's guns weren't operating, and I couldn't maneuver enough on two engines to bring any of the other guns into play. The 110 hit us, but we kept on.
A couple more searchlights found us before we made the coast, and we took some more light damage. Crossing back over the coast, another 110 was spotted, but this one was a better shot than most of the others. Daily was wounded, but not too badly, and his guns knocked out.
Just over the water, a 110 took out our starboard brakes, and further out another one destroyed those on the port.
With two engines and no brakes, landing wasn't pretty. Fortunately, we still had one aileron, one elevator, and one flap. We were damn lucky that Daily's flesh wound was the worst we came away with.
Pilot Officer Kenneth Cahill
Pilot, Alcyone
October 4, 1943
272 Peckham Damage Points