Post-war interview conducted with A. Hedgewood, pilot of PM009: Our first mission was a bit of let-down, what with having to turn back from Frankfurt due to jammed bomb bay doors, so the lads were looking forward to getting stuck in on New Years, 1944. We made it to the western suburbs of Berlin without incident, where a 110 ripped us a new arsehole. He made three passes, killing Malcom in the tail, seriously wounding Invergordon, our engineer, knocking out the mid-upper gunner's oxygen and holing the #4 fuel cell. We managed to avoid the flak, so Lincoln was able to get us a bit of revenge, putting 30% on target. After turning for home, and beginning our descent to 10,000 feet, we got jumped by another 110. On three passses he knocked out the mid-upper gunner's heat and the #1 engine, and killed Invergordon. From there it was a slow descent until the Dutch coast when I rang the bailout alarm just west of Alkmaar. The five of us remaining got out ok!
ay, but were quickly picked up by Jerries. One last thing — Before he died, and despite severe pain and blood loss, Invergordon remained at his station, transferring fuel from the leaking tank, and also calculating the how much we had remaining. Without that vital assistance, we would have crashed in the North Sea and, lacking a serviceable raft, perished. Invergordon is therefore recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal. (29 hits, 200+ Peckham Points)