We were picked up by a Me-110 as we crossed the coast. Unger spotted it and drove it off.
The next one was sneakier. It got by Unger, so the sound of cannon fire triggered our evasive action. We took some minor damage, and our starboard flap was rendered inoperable before the Me-110 gave up on us.
The target was nearly beneath us when searchlights coned us, attracting flak and a head-on pass by a FW-190. The 190 missed, but the flak tore up our rafts and knocked Yanacek's run off target.
As soon as we turned for home, Unger spotted another Me-110 behind us and poured machine-gun fire into the cockpit, sending it down out of control. It was over before I could even begin taking evasive action.
At about the same point we'd been surprised by a Me-110 on the way in, we were surprised by another. We were hit, but as soon as I started evasive action, Unger set this one on fire. Upon landing, we found the bay doors jammed. It obviously hadn't happened on the way to the target, so it must have happened in this exchange.
P/O Jonathan Uhl
Pilot, Moonlight Cocktail
February 9, 1945
49 Peckham Damage Points