Witch O' the Moonlight took off and assumed our position in the bomber stream. The flight over was quiet, there being no sign of Jerry until we were over the target. Fortunately the clear skies made it easy for Roger (Sgt Bandman) to see the light from the fires below reflect off the wings of the Me 110 trying to sneak up on us. Roger fired his quad .303s and the Tame Boar spiraled to the ground below. One chute was seen, presumably the gunner's. The firelight must have reflected off Witch as well as Jerry had no problem coning us in his searchlights. An Fw 190 Wild Boar bore down on us. The man flew like an ace, which is probably why he got off with minimal damage. The Ack-Ack was heavy as promised. However, despite Witch being plainly visible it wasn't very accurate. Still, we did lose the number 1 engine. Despite all the fuss Arthur (WO Thomas) managed to place 30% of our bombs on the Tis.
We turned for home and south of Leverkusen were caught by surprise by another Me 110. Fortunately, Jerry missed. With the engine out, I couldn't employ evasive action and we had to fight the Tame Boar. The battle continued without effect until Jerry ran out of either ammunition or fuel. His rear gunner gave us a parting shot to no avail.
The weather had worsened over Lincoln by the time of our return. Still, I managed to put Witch O' the Moonlight down on the tarmac without incident. The maintenance crew tells me they'll have the engine replaced in time to fly another mission tomorrow (40 Peckham Points).
F/O James Tewsbury, Commanding
Witch O' the Moonlight