AAR Mission: 123
Date: 7/8 January, 1945>br>Target: Munich, Germany, Industry
Aircraft: Tailblazer (2nd mission)
Pilot: Stan Burton
Bomb run: Did not bomb
This report took longer to write up than we spent on the mission. As we approached the Dutch coast four shells slammed into Tailblazer from an unseen Me110 night-fighter; I could tell from a jerk on the pedals that we must have sustained some damage to the control cables in the Bomb Bay and another put a large hole in our starboard inner fuel tank; thankfully it didn't ignite but we could see the stream of fuel vapourising. I went into evasive action and the aircraft missed on its second pass. But a third pass found us hit again by four shells one of which hit the waist oxygen system; the rest were superficial. As the fighter disappeared the flight engineer did a quick calculation and said, "Shipper, we’ll hardly have enough fuel to get us back to the English coast". I had no option but to turn around, jettison the bombs, nose down to a lower return flight height, and retrace our path across the Channel. I didn’t try to reach Base but landed at the first emergency field I was able to raise. A quick patch job and some fuel and we returned home in a couple of hours. Repairs will be easy and Tailblazer should be ready for the next mission.
Claims: nil; Bomber Damage: Fuel tank leak; control cable hit; waist oxy hit, five superficial.