This was a heck of an introduction to operations! McBride spotted a Me-110 coming up behind us while we were still over the Channel. Our starboard wing was hit, and the feel of the controls changes, although everything seemed to keep working. We'd barely reached France when our starboard wing was slammed again. Quaife, at mid-upper, finally drove this Me-110 away.
Shortly after that, Quaife called in that his heat was out. I brought us down to 10,000 feet, and we were picked up by a succession of searchlights the rest of the way across France. The flak with them, fortunately, was ineffectual. Another Me-110 surprised us eventually. Oates, our bomb aimer, damaged it, and then Quaife finished it off.
By the time we reached the target, the searchlight finally seem to have given out. Shellfire rocked us without warning, then Oates and Quaife simultaneously spotted a huge nightfighter. Both hit it, and it disappeared into the night. Oates moved to the bombsight, and gave us a run as smooth as training flight.
We were harried by searchlights and flak on the trip home, but were only hit once, taking no serious damage. About halfway across France, McBride managed to spot yet another Me-110 trailing us. He hit it, but it pressed its attack, severing the cables to the port rudder, and giving Kurtz a bloody head wound that knocked him out. Quaife drove this one off (his fourth hit of the night) but not before our port flap was destroyed.
I was a bit worried crossing the Channel without Kurtz to report our position if we went down, but we saw no more hostile aircraft. Kurtz wound turned out to look worse than it was, and he'll be back flying with us by the next mission.
F/Lt David Mann
Pilot, Pug-Nosed Dream
June 26, 1944
146 Peckham Damage Points