The new crew of E-Emily, all brawny sunburned men of South African or Rhodesian stock laughed and engaged in horse-play on the way to their aircraft. Their return journey is very different. Each seems to have aged years in the hours they've been away, now pale and gaunt they climb stiffly down from the rear door and shuffle to the bus with their heads down. Clive Garside has a field dressing on the side of his head where a splinter has nicked one of his enormous ears. "Winged the wing-nut did they!?" The WAAF driver asks, with a tone of concern underlying the light-hearted comment.
The mid-upper shows no sign of hearing her.
A very long trip, but one that could have been much worse, though E-Emily was dogged by a night-fighter for a couple of zones and buzzed over the target by a single-seater which was seen to explode, raked by the mid upper turret guns but damage was light and the only casualty light. A 40% bomb run made the trip worthwhile.