A very long night over France.
We were hounded by nightfighters all the way to the target. Our gunners claimed a total of three kills between them with a further fighter driven off trailing smoke. Over Dijon were hit by both flak and a single engined fighter. Combine this with the stinking weather over the target and it is no surprise that the bombs were scattered far and wide.
On the return leg all was quiet until we crossed the Channel where another tame boar had a final crack at us. He was a pretty poor shot which was just as well because by that stage we had no mid upper guns, the tail gunner was struggling with his ammo feed and we were down to three engines.
It was the pilot compartment that took the heaviest damage; Flt Eng Sgt Mike Embrey was hit in the hand but looks fine for future trips. Our pilot F/O Bruce Owen however received multiple hits in the chest and will not be out of hospital for some time.
P/O Ralph Hunt (Navigator: Strawberry Girl II)