We were picked up by a nightfighter on our way out over the Netherlands. He hit us before we knew he was there, but I managed to stay out of his sights after that. There didn't seem to be any serious damage.
The TI's were easily visible over the target, but unfortunately, so were we. Searchlights coned us, which attracted a lot of flak. Most of the splinters passed harmlessly through Tykhe, but a chunk was taken out of the port rudder, and the #3 engine was hit and began to run away until Irwin feathered it. A single-engined fighter made a head-on pass just before Keck dropped the bombs. Or tried to drop them, anyway. The automatic release had been damaged at some point, so Keck toggled the bombs manually, but with the late drop, we were nowhere near the TI's.
We weren't hit again until we were heading back over the Netherlands. Joyner was hit right away (not too bad, luckily, and maybe that will remind him to keep a sharper lookout). Once again, I was able to keep out of the nightfighter's sights until he gave up on us.
F/L Mark Ivey
Pilot, Tykhe
March 22, 1944
86 Peckham Damage Points