Mission 59 — 19/20 April, 1944
Berlin — Industry
Outbound. We encountered no enemy a/c until north of Brunswick. A Me-110 came at us and on the third pass the starboard rudder was damaged, but the real damage was to our instruments which eliminated any connection to the engine extinguishers and left us with the possibility of a real disaster if one of the engines should be hit. The next attack, again by a 110, came just before entering the target area. Fortunately before he could cause problems our tail gunner shot him down (Me-110 Destroyed — Sgt. Morris Langley).
Bomb run. Except for a flak hit which knocked out the tail guns we had no opposition. The new bomb aimer, Sgt. Hill put us over the objective with what he estimates was at least 20% on target.
Return. The only encounter on the return was when we were attacked over western Germany close to the Belgium border by a 110. He was not hit and he caused no damage.
Landing was fine.
(Signed) F/O Tony Clearing, Pilot
After the last disaster this was an exceptionally uneventful mission; it was fortunate as we had a new plane and a new untried crew.
THUNDER BAY II
Pilot: F/O Tony Clearing
Bomb aimer: Sgt. Nigel Hill
Flight engineer: Sgt. Ramsey Pearl
Navigator: P/O Ralph Baylor
W/O operator: Sgt. Charles Darling
Mid-upper gunner: Sgt. Charles DeWitt
Tail gunner: Sgt. Morris Langley