Mission 136 Debriefing
Target: Mainz (Daylight)
This was our first mission, and most of my crew had just finished their training. Given this it came as quite a shock when we learned we were flying a daylight mission. We managed to take off on time and had few difficulties rendezvousing with the rest of the squadron. The flight was uneventful until we were well into Germany when a group of 109s and 190s swarmed us. Luckily our fighter cover drove off a couple of the bandits. Tail Gunner Sgt Rockwell 'Rocky' Borton quickly dispatched a ME 109 registering his first kill. Sgt John Houston managed to inflict serious damage to a FW 190 causing it to abort its attack against us.
We continued our flight to the target where heavy flak seemed to encase us in a wall of metal. The Jenny Bryce was hit by two shell fragments: the first to the port tailplane root, and the second to the tail section, seriously wounding Tail Gunner Sgt Rockwell Borton in the right leg. It is a miracle anything could fly through that flak corridor and come out the other side in one piece. I expect we have weather to thank for our survival. Unfortunately, the weather made it impossible to see anything on the ground. If there were green markers, they were well hidden by the clouds. We dropped our eggs on what the navigator figured was the centre of the factory district, but I will be damned if we hit anything. Really impossible to say!
It was a relief to turn for home and get out of that soup of clouds and flak. Just as we were approaching the German border, another group of enemy fighters found us. Again, our fighter cover was excellent driving off three of the four bandits. A lone ME 109 slipped past them and came upon our tail. Mid Upper Turret Gunner Sgt Billy Tubbs and the enemy opened up at each other almost at the same moment. The enemy plane was damaged and driven off, but Sgt Tubbs sustained a serious wound to his abdomen.
We landed safely, and our injured crewmen were rushed to hospital. Sgt Borton lost his leg, putting an end to his flight career. Sgt Tubbs' wounds were too severe to treat and he died on the operating table. The Jenny Bryce will be fit to fly the next mission pending the receipt of replacement crewmen.>/p>
Joseph A. Campbell
Flight Officer RAF Bomber Command
February 27, 1945