Report acquired through the debriefing of Louis Sedwick and Eric Ashley-Pitt …
It was a complete disaster!!! We were fine one second, and diving through the air uncontollably the next … We didn't have time to think or even help each other … We just had to try to get out of that burning ship …
It was a relatively uneventful trip to target until zone 4 where we encountered a surprise attack from a ME-110 at 6 Low. We received 6 hits, but luckily (for the time) all of them were superficial. That same plane returned for another attack from the same spot, but this time our new Rear-gunner Lawrence Haynes got a piece of it. Unfortunately it continued its attack and hit us twice putting holes in our rubber rafts and causing a serious wound to Haynes.
It was in Zone 7 that all Hell broke loose. Another 110 surprised us, only this time it was from a vertical climb. We could not get any guns turned on it from that position and it struck us twice in the Starboard Wing. Our fuel tank exploded and the wing ripped right off of the ship. The next thing we knew, we were spiraling towards the earth. We were the only two (Ashley-Pitt and Sedwick) who made it out. The rest of our crew went down with the ship. We were extremely lucky. First, we were lucky just to get out of the plane. Second, we somehow landed in a farmer's field who was originally from Poland. He hid us ************************************(Censored)
That's how we made it back here … the only way.