We are all deeply saddened by the loss of our Tail Gunner, Danny Valinski. He was a popular crew member and we will miss him greatly. He was a great gunner and really kept cool under pressure. He was such a warrior and fighter that it took two hits to kill him — he did not go easy …
Our trip out was mostly uneventful as we did not see any Huns until zone 7. There we saw an ME-110 on a vertical climb, but it missed us and kept on going.
It was over the target zone that we began to get in a bit of a stickey-wicket. Two flak bursts went off near our ship resulting in 4 hits to our aircraft. Two of those hits struck our crew members. Bomb-aimer Colin Blythe received a minor wound to his left leg and arm but tail-gunner Danny Valinski received a serious wound to his upper-torso. Colin was able to continue his duties but Danny remained unconcious in his tail turret. Luckily for us, Colin was able to still put our bombs on-target although wounded, and we had a 40% bomb-run.
On our way back, in zone 7, we really took a beating. We were surprisingly attacked by an ME-110 at 6 Low. He registered 3 hits, all of which caused no effect except for the superficial damage to our port wing. However, he was not done. He came back at 6 Low and registered another 3 hits. This time only one caused damage, but it was a costly hit as it struck the already unconcious Danny and finished him off. We were attacked again by either the same or another 110 from 9 high, which registered four hits. It shot-out our port wing rudder and caused other superficial damage to the starboard wing. Then, once again, a 110 from 12 Level attacked and scored three hits. It disabled our port-wing landing gear and hit our port wing root. Luckily for us, we did not see any enemies the rest of the way home.
We made an emergency landing with only the tail and starboard wing landing gear operating. We all held our breath as the plane skidded to a halt without breaking apart or exploding … Avro really knows how to build a durable ship …
We followed Danny to the hospital where they gave us the information that we already knew … that he had expired. He fought bravely for the Crown and I will let his wife and daughter know that his death was not in vain … If our replacement is half the man that Danny was, we will be just fine.
Roger Bartlett