Halfway across France we were surprised by a Me-110 that caused some minor damage before we got away. Quarterman and Rafferty both fired on it, but do not claim hits.
Another Me-110 surprised us as we approached Dijon. This one revealed it presence with a solid hit on the port tailplane. As I took evasive action Quarterman managed to damage it and drive it off.
Although the clouds foiled the searchlights, a lucky (or unlucky, I suppose) flak burst sent a fragment through Candy's nose, severing an oxygen line, and starting a fire. Quarterman had just moved to the bombsight, but as he had a front-row seat at the blaze, he scrambled for an extinguisher, and then another, and put it out. He was able to get back to the bombsight just in time to line us up on a sky marker. If the marker was on target, so were we.
With no oxygen in the nose, I took us down to 10,000 feet for the return flight. Shortly after than, we felt shells slam into our port wing. Fortunately, none of them caused any significant damage, and we got away without getting hit again.
At our altitude, we were dodging flak and searchlight all the way back across France. Searchlights only caught us once, flak never even came close, and we landed safely at our base.
W/O Michael Nelson
Pilot, Candy
July 25, 1945
120 Peckham Damage Points