Blimey!
Will's (Sgt Innes) voice held more than a hint of awe as Pint O' Bitter took up position as formation lead. Not that anyone else would have been less impressed. Sitting in the tail turret of the lead Lancaster, he was in the perfect place to take in the spectacle of hundreds of bombers filling the sky; a sight we don't see slipping into the bomber stream at night. That, and the desire not to fly into the side of a mountain were inducement enough for the lads to accept that this was a daylight mission.
Things went along quietly at first. We picked up our escort over the Ruhr. The Yank Mustangs didn't look as graceful as a Spit, but they had more endurance and that as what we were going to need today. To top it, our American cousins were more experienced at the business of daylight escort, or so we were told.
Our first encounter with Jerry was south of Fulda when a pair of Tame Boars, sorry, Bf 110s attacked. One, flying like a green pilot fell to a Mustang. The other gave us what for, jamming the bomb bay doors and wounding Wally (FSgt Croft) before I (Sgt Pope) sent Jerry packing. With the bomb bay doors jammed tight, we weren't going to be able to deliver our bombs. Victor (F/Sgt Harris) made the decision to continue the mission all-the-same, eading the formation and so pressed on.
North of Munich three more Jerries attacked. This time the Yanks drove them all off.
We entered the Alps, encountering more Jerries. This time it was fire from the rest of the formation that held Goering's boys at bay. Leading the charge to the target we were subjected to heavy ack-ack. One 88mm hit the starboard wing, shearing it off and sending Pint O' Bitter into an uncontrolled tumble. I was the only one to make it out, ending up a guest of the Luftwaffe, the others perishing with Pint O' Bitter. I don't know who assumed formation lead for the flight home.
Post war debriefing of Sgt Arthur Pope of Pint O' Bitter, Regarding the mission to Berchtesgaden on 25 April 1945