An eventful night for End Game's first and as it turned out, last trip to Germany.
We has a clear run into the target with no sign of any enemy fighters. Over Nurnburg a Ju88 slid past and the sky was filled with tracer rounds. He scored a couple of damaging hits one of which wrecked the tail guns.
The searchlights were wide of the mark but it appeared that the flak gunners didn't need them anyway. Two massive hits rocked the plane. Fires were started in the tail oxygen supply and the starboard outer fuel tank. Nevertheless Sgt Trolley succeeded in putting a good percentage of our bombs down on the markers. Meanwhile in the tail Sgt Brown extinguished the oxygen fire at the third attempt.
Turning for home we descended to 10,000 feet and although the fuel tank fire also went out, it was clear we would not have the fuel to get back to England.
Even before leaving the target another Ju88 appeared and scored multiple hits all over the aircraft although none were too serious.
The third Ju88 of the night failed to score any hits. Light flak however killed the tail gunner outright and jammed the port elevator.
While climbing back to altitude one final Ju88 surprised us before Sgt Trolley drove him off.
We had only just crossed the Dutch coast when the engines one by one started to cut out. Thankfully the sea was calm and our rubber rafts were intact. After two comparatively quiet hours bobbing about in the North Sea we were picked up by an RAF rescue tender and the final leg back to England could begin.
F/O Tony Rice [pilot: End Game]