We were over half way to the target before the first fighter showed up. Judging by the size of him and the amount of shell hits that resulted, it must have been a Ju88. The bomb bay and rudder controls were hit and Sgt Penley in the mid upper turret took a round in his hand. Worse news was that our rear gunner Sgt Hankins was killed outright.
As our w/op tried to gain access to the rear guns, a Me110 commenced an attack on us. His missed on his first pass and as he approached for a second run Sgt Boatman in the nose hit him and set him alight.
Finally with the target in sight, some unseen enemy punched a series of holes in the starboard wing. Fuel could clearly be seen leaking from the starboard inner tank but we commenced our bomb run. We were mercifully spared by the searchlights, flak and wild boars and managed a pretty good run.
On the way home fuel was our major concern. A twin engined fighter put in an appearance but failed to add to the damage already sustained. Sgt Boatman recons he hit this fighter as well, but there was no obvious damage.
As the English coast passed beneath us, the engines started to fail one by one. We put down safely at an emergency airstrip just inland. Not until Sgt Hankins body was removed from the aircraft did we all clamber out ourselves. The crew's complete silence will be my overriding memory of those first few minutes back on the ground after this trip.
F/O Steve Wilkinson [pilot: Strawberry Girl II]