Fighters! Coming down … Now!
They were all over us from the word go. Despite the fighter cover we were attacked in every zone on the way to the target. While damage initially was light the third wave came at us from head on and we suffered walking hits that smashed the greenhouse and mortally wounded the Skipper, God! Half his head just disappeared and he started to have fits. Gittings was able to pull him out of his seat and take over the controls while Frayne and Stanley tried to keep Macallister alive.
Thanks to the autopilot we were able to keep up with the formation and bomb with reasonable accuracy.
Forster bagged our next attacker with the mid upper guns and Mick Seely shot up another causing it to break off before it could line us up and knocking off its aim.
Returning, the fighter cover improved and we got back over the channel and back over Blighty with little fuel left due to a leak caused by flak over target.
With little chance of a safe landing and with Macallister now dead of his horrific wound the crew bailed out over Manston. Jam was seen to crash in the Thames Estuary.