The first German night-fighter came up on us while we were over the Helgoland Bight. Fitzgerald hadn't spotted him, so he was able to pound our starboard wing pretty good. We'll never know what damage he may have caused. He managed to jam Fitzgerald's turret right before we shook him off. I thought about turning back then, which would have been wiser.
We'd just turned for the German coast when another one snuck up on us. This one holed our #3 port petrol tank before we got away. It was a slow leak, but Finney said that if we continued toward Berlin we'd have to come down in Germany, but if we turned back immediately, we'd have a chance to get home. I toggled our load and turned us around.
We hadn't gotten far when yet a third night-fighter got on our tail. Gaines, in the mid-upper turret thinks he got a hit, but it didn't seem to discourage him any. I think he finally gave up because we were already heading back, anyway.
Our petrol didn't last quite as long as Finney hoped, and I put us down off just off the English coast. Epstein had a good fix on our position, and Chris English was in contact with Air-Sea Rescue, who came out and picked us out of our raft as nice as you please.
Pilot Officer Leo Feldman
Pilot, Tisiphone
January 1, 1944