Things went routinely enough until we reached the enemy coast at which point a Ju 88 flown by an ace managed to sneak up on our tail. The Hun was equipped with their devilish weapon, I believe it's called schrage musak.
The first indication of Jerry's presence was when the #3 engine begin to runaway. I managed to feather the prop, but then had to decide to jettison the bombs in order to engage in evasive maneuvers or continue on to the target, albeit more slowly. I chose the latter. Jerry came around for a couple more passes, taking out the dingy and damaging the starboard rudder as well as inflicting some superficial hits. Despite the extra time it took to reach Bremen we encountered no further enemy activity until over the target.
Approaching Bremen the heavy overcast helped an Me 110 catch Country Lass by surprise, Jerry seriously wounding Sgt Parks and turning engine #1 into a runaway. Again I managed to feather the prop, but with #1 off line the rear turret was on manual traverse. With two engines out, we had to jettison the bombs; a frustrating experience with the target in sight! Even without the weight of the bombs, with two engines out Country Lass was incapable of taking evasive action. Jerry continued to press the attack, even his rear gunner hitting. In the process the port wing root was hit and the tail O2 took a hit. Despite descending to 10,000 Ft the German searchlights did not find us, though an FW 190 Wild Boar did, severing the aileron controls. Unable to bomb, F/Sgt Smythe shifted to the tail gun position. With only two engines working, Country Lass loitered near Bremen. Another Me 110 tried to sneak up on us, but George detected the blighter and sent the Hun down on flames. Pasing over the city outskirts we were caught in the glare of searchlights, though the light Ack-Ack missed.
The return flight was a slow painful experience. Several times Country Lass was lit up by the glare of searchlights. However, the German ground fire was half-hearted and ineffective. Over the North Sea another Me 110 caught us by surprise. An ace, Jerry made several passes. Along with numerous superficial hits he took out the tail turret guns. The 110's tail gunner in a parting shot did for Sgt Lee, leaving James to slowly bleed out with a painful gut wound as we labored to reach home.
Between the low ceiling at Lincoln, no aileron controls, and only two engines, the landing was a bit dicey, though successful. Unfortunately, with the delayed arrival it was too late for Sgt Lee. The MO says that despite his serious injury, Sgt Parks will be fit to return to duty. The ground crew expects to take a few days to repair Country Lass (185 Peckham points).
Respectfully submitted,
F/O Reginald Pope, Commanding
Country Lass