German night-fighters picked us up over the Netherlands. There were three of them on the trip in, and Fitzgerald didn't spot a single one of them. The first one knocked out our starboard aileron before we got away. Haas, our new mid-upper turret gunner, hit the next one, but that didn't stop it from damaging one of the tail ammunition boxes and holing one of our starboard petrol tanks (fortunately, it sealed itself). Haas hit the third one hard — Fitzgerald saw it spinning and shedding pieces before it disappeared.
Searchlights caught us over Schweinfurt, making us a prime target for the flak. Only one burst was close enough to do damage, but none was serious. We also attracted a single-engined fighter which made head-on pass but missed us. Despite the shaking we took from the flak, Geist, on his first mission with us, got us a good run on the TI's.
One more night-fighter surprised Fitzgerald on the way home. This one smashed the flap controls on its first pass, but we managed to stay out of his sights after that until he gave up on us.
Landing with flaps up took the full length of the runway, but looked worse than it really was.
Pilot Officer Leo Feldman
Pilot, Akaste
January 18, 1944