AAR Mission: 124
Date: 11 January, 1945
Target: Krefeld, Railway, Industry
Aircraft: Tailblazer (3rd mission)
Pilot: Stan Burton
Bomb run: ON; 60%
Different experience seeing our friendly squadron mates around us. Tucked into the middle, we saw a wave of enemy fighters forming over the Netherlands but it was driven off by the rest of the squadron. That did not save us when nearing the target as four Bf109 came at our bomber. One was hotly pursued by some friendly fighters, but we missed the other three and two of them scored hits on Tailblazer; one made a superficial hit on the bomb-bay doors, and three hits from the other were all superficial. The flak appeared pretty dense in the daylight but none were near enough to hurt us. This meant Alex Turner had a clear run to the target and did a great job with an estimated 60% on the railway. As we left Krefeld, two Fw190 tried their luck but one was ambushed by P-51's. The other was hit heavily by the nose guns and is being claimed as a probable but it still managed to slam three shells into Tailblazer — luckily all superficial. Nothing was encountered over the Channel and we made a safe landing at base in spite of the lousy weather.
Claims: 1-1-0; Bomber Damage: Bomb-bay doors hit no effect; Port wing two hits superficial; Fuselage 4 superficial.