With the length of this mission there was still some sun to aid in our takeoff. Belligerent Bulldog rose up into the clear skies over Lincoln and took up our assigned position within the bomber stream, which stretched as far as the eye could see.
The trip was quiet until we neared Kiel when our new tail gunner, Sgt Roger Bandman, noticed an Me 110 trying to sneak up on us. Roger fired and then I threw Belligerent Bulldog into a series of wild jinks and yaws. Even so, Jerry managed to hit us, putting a dent in the port ammo box and another in Ned's (F/Sgt Jones) right shoulder. Ned must have a cloud over his head, having just recovered from an injury on the previous mission. F/Sgt Jones insisted he could carry on, as did Jerry. The Tame Boar chewed up the starboard wing root before finally breaking off the fight.
No sooner had the first Tame Boar left than Roger spotted another. This time Fritz had to end the fight early as Arthur (W/O Thomas) set one of Jerry's engines afire, not that Jerry hadn't tried to do the same to us.
The clear skies over Politz let us see the fires from the previous bombers, though the resultant thermals made flying a bit of a touch and go affair. The GAF must have felt the same way as there wasn't an enemy fighter to be seen over the target. W/O Thomas called, "Bombs gone" and we turned for home. Due to the aforementioned thermals, only 30% of the eggs fell on target.
Once again the skies were clear of EA until approaching Kiel when a Ju 88 Tame Boar managed to catch us unawares. Jerry missed his initial shot and I put Belligerent Bulldog thorugh her paces as Sgt Bandman discouraged further contact by flaming one of the 88's engines.
A little further on and another Me 110 put in an appearance. This one must have been new to night operations and despite repeated passes scored no hits on Belligerent Bulldog. On the other hand, our return fire was no more effective.
The remainder of the flight home was uneventful and the clear skies over Lincoln made landing a piece of cake. The mechanics say they'll have Belligerent Bulldog ready to fly by the next mission (79 Peckham Points). Ned's going to take a bit longer, not expected to recover from his third wounding until 13 Feb.
F/O James Tewsbury, Commanding
Belligerent Bulldog