AAR Mission: 125
Date: 16/17 January, 1945
Target: Leipzig, Oil
Aircraft: Tailblazer (4th mission)
Pilot: Stan Burton
Bomb run: ON; 40%
Tail-gunner Lloyd Wright was very upset that he missed all four Tame Boars that attacked us on the Liepzig mission. Lucky for us their marksmanship was little better than ours hitting us only twice on all their passes. On the way to the target a Ju88 put two shells into us and a clang from the bomb bay doors sent our hearts into our mouths but it was superficial. An Me110 attacked as we approached the target and despite my not using evasive action so as to steady the bomb run he continually missed us; Lloyd managed to severely damage him on his last pass. The searchlights never found us and the flak was ineffectual, so Bomb-aimer Alex Turner had a good drop and we reckon 40% on target. One last Me110 managed to harass us on the way back and nearly caused our downfall by hitting our port-outer fuel tank causing a leak. Flight-engineer George Testor estimated we had just enough to get us across the Channel. I did consider looking for an emergency field in France behind the Allied lines but I decided on getting to England to avoid time searching at night over unfamiliar territory. We arrived over England ok and I landed at an emergency field near the coast from where we roughly patched the tank and returned to base. All damaged will be repairable within 24 hours.
Claims: 0-1-0; 1 x Ju88 Probable;
Bomber Damage: Fuel-tank leak, Starboard elevator inoperable, Bomb doors superficial hit, one other superficial hit