Target for Tonight: Ghent, Belgium.
Percentage on Target: 50%
Tonight's sortie to the skies over Occupied Belgium, is my crew's maiden operation with both No.314 Squadron, and Lancaster Lady-X.
Take-off:
Turning onto the runway, I received the flash of green from the aldis lamp, as a smiling band of WAAF's — watching dutifully on from the side — seeking to give myself and the crew of Lady-X, a hearty thumbs up. Duly dispatched by base, I then carefully steered Lancaster SY-X, at full power down the darkened strip, before carefully lifting her off to begin the long steady climb upwards, into the night, destination — Belgium.
Outbound:
Lady-X, as to be expected with a new aircraft, handled beautifully, and our sortie outbound was very straightforward, with nothing untoward to report. With the English Channel tucked in behind us, and the sleepy contours of Belgium creeping past below, it came as a genuine suprise to find the enemy 'conspicuous by it's absence' — with none of the crew spotting any enemy aircraft.
Target Area:
The veil of calm as we commenced our run-in to the target area, was however suddenly lifted by a brilliant, yet violent explosion. My Bomb-Aimer; F/Sgt Michael Styles, is adamant that from his vantage point in the nose, the said explosion was that of a sister aircraft- though no positive identification could be made, regarding squadron code letters, or parachutes seen, et cetera.
(Note: The Station Intelligence Officer, present at de-briefing; S/O Jennifer Hunter, has since said that the explosion could well have been the Amy Lynn III — the aircraft now presenting as an F.T.R., given the timing and grouping over the target area?)
Target Area:
Tonight from a searchlight perspective, it appears we were not the 'flavour of the month', as we thankfully avoided their attention, though Ghent's busy blue master beam was nonetheless, unquestionably very busy, no doubt spurred on by our loss of at least one sister aircraft. Alas, the same could not be said for jerry's flak crews; whose 88mm guns were hungry for supper, and succeeded in showering us with medium flak on two occassions. A quick inspection by my Dutch Flight Engineer; F/O Dirk van der Boom, deemed the enemy to have only impacted superficial damage on the airframe, as all the major systems were to the eye, still present and fully operable.
As promised at briefing by a studious looking met man, we found the weather over the target to be clear, though the clarity of the night sky may have unwittingly helped to aid the enemy, as we were swiftly bounced upon whilst readying ourselves for the bomb-run, by a Wild Boar FW-190. This enemy aircraft, strafed Lady-X across the nose and mid-section — sending hot tingling sparks everywhere — though I'm happy to report that we came away from the engagement suffering only superficial damage.
Whilst engaged in the bomb-run, my Bomb-Aimer; F/Sgt Styles, is confident that we hit the target with 50% of our Lancaster's payload, securely dropped over the aiming point.
Return to Base:
My Air-Gunners, were kept busy watching for the foe, after a roaving Tame Boar Me-110, sought to pounce upon us from 6 O'clock-low. The enemy's brutal action took us quite by suprise, and my Rear-Gunner; F/Sgt Antony Valentine, next called for a corkscrew to port. A corkscrew manouvre was duly carried out, and we eventually escaped from the foe. F/Sgt Valentine, believes that the enemy pilot was probably a veteran — owing to his neat flying skills — though how the fellow failed to hit us (just as well too), remains a mystery. Perhaps jerry, was either somewhat fatigued, or maybe we were just genuinely very lucky?
Homeward bound — toward the Channel — we were again bounced on by a couple of Me-109's, who first sought to strike SY-X's rear-turret; minorly injuring F/Sgt Valentine, before looping round and returning to seriously strafe the Lancaster's mid-section; badly wounding F/Sgt Harry White as a result.
Thereafter however, I'm glad to report that the return leg to base was uneventful, and that there was good weather to be found when finally touching down.
Signed: F/Officer Green
Captain of Lancaster SY-X Lady-X