AAR Mission: 133
Date: 19/20 February, 1945
Target: Böhlen, Oil
Aircraft: Burke and Beyond (4th mission)
Pilot: William Farnham
Bomb aimer Henry Prentise, Navigator David Bristow, Flight Engineer John Denham, Radio Operator George Harris, Mid-upper Gunner Dennis Tryon, Tail Gunner Anthony D'Witt
Three "duds" in a row. They'll be sending us back to bombing school at this rate. On top of that, three Ju88's surprised us and put a lot of holes in Burke, but luckily none in the crew. The first fighter struck as we were approaching Bohlen; it put five shells into us, all superficial except for one that damaged the starboard tail ammo track; I evaded and a second pass failed to hit; but a third pass hit our starboard wing root, cables, the #2 oil tank which self-sealed. The second Ju88 surprised us at the target and missed; I couldn't evade because of the bomb run and on another pass the tail guns seriously damaged the night-fighter and it broke off.
We were not picked up by the searchlights and the flak, although moderate, didn't cause us any harm. But in spite of a clear run to the markers Henry was off target. No other aircraft bothered us in the target zone but a third Ju88 jumped us north of Hamburg on our flight home. Three shell hits took out the starboard brake and the #2 engine, and put another hole in the starboard wing root. I evaded and there were misses all round on its subsequent passes. The landing was safe in spite of one brake out.
Bomb run: Off; 0%
Bomber Damage: 11 hits (0 from flak); damage should be repairable by next mission