Outbound
Clear sailing until near Brandenburg where attacked by Me-110: on his third pass 'Freebie', mid-upper, sent him down in a ball of flame. The only real damage was to our raft. (Me-110 Destroyed – Sgt. Basil Freeborn).
Over target
No opposition whatsoever until after we bombed. Ol' Guy, bomb aimer, hit bang on – his first bombing, no less – what he thinks was 96%! A Me-110 attacked as we left the area. It was Jerry’s mistake because he missed us on his first attack and on his second Guy got in some good shots and blew part of his wing off. The Kraut didn’t come back for more. (Me-110 FBOA – Sgt. Guy Leighton).
Return
Soon after attacked by a night fighter (Me-110?) which Clive, picked up before he could attack and sent him packing with hits on the cockpit and probably a helluva headache. Me-110 FBOA - Sgt. Clive Southgate. Remainder of the flight was quiet and landing was okay.
It was our first mission and the whole bloody crew did a bang-on job, especially Guy with his bomb aiming and getting a FBOA. (The lad doesn’t know it yet, but it's his shout for the whole crew at the Bear at Bay!) Only hits were the raft and some holes in the bomb bay; no crew casualties.
No Mice
F/O Arthur Blackwell (Pilot)