AAR Mission: 114
Date: 19/20 November 1944
Target: Freiburg, Germany, Railway
Aircraft: Ferocious Florrie (5th mission)
Pilot: Peter Mason
This mission was the 5th for this crew and was a long run into Germany that would traverse five countries. The bomber managed to get to the target without encountering any enemy aircraft. As it entered the bomb run on the Freiburg rail system a Ju88 appeared under the tail but it was spotted by George Taylor the tail gunner whose fire pattered around its wing surfaces causing some damage but disrupting its approach enough that its fire missed Ferocious Florrie. The pilot, Peter Mason, didn't use evasive action so that the bomb aimer could have a steady bomb run and this give George a better shot at the fighter. George missed the fighter on its second pass and on its third, but the fighter hit us on his third pass causing a number of superficial holes, damaged Florrie's wing root and knocked out the port rudder control. The searchlights didn't lock on to the bomber but flak was fairly heavy. This was Ferocious Florrie's undoing; a nearby burst sent a single large piece of shrapnel into the starboard inner fuel tank making a severe leak which wouldn't self-seal. In spite of the blast, which was offset by Oboe, the bomber kept on a steady run and Stan Bates the bomb aimer was able to hit the target for an estimated 30%. No other enemy fighters were encountered and the pilot directed Tony Pettigrew the navigator to set a course directly across France to the Channel before turning for England as a more direct route and providing a little extra cushion for fuel use. However, the bomber had not gone very far before Alan Smith the flight engineer calculated that they would only be able to get back to the French coast before having to abandon Florrie. As the engines began to fail the aircraft was over French farmland and Peter Mason ordered to crew to bail out. This was conducted quietly and quickly and the last they saw and heard of Ferocious Florrie was the sputtering exhausts, then silence. The crew members came down spread out and were unable to make contact with one another. All were quickly rounded up by the German military and local collaborators except for the tail gunner George Taylor whose body was found in a wood several weeks later with a partially opened 'chute.
Bomb run: On 30%
Claims: 0-0-1; Fighter hits: 5; Flak hits: 1; Damage points: 48 before abandoning.
[The above report was compiled by Group Intelligence from radio transmissions during the flight and the Red Cross whose representatives had access to the crew members in prison camp]