Mission #1 - Augsburg - Sept 1, 1943

Mission #1 - Augsburg - Sept 1, 1943

Our flight was uneventful until we were about 80 miles north west of Ludwigshaven, then a Me110 attacked us without warning. The Jerry shot the stuffing’s out of us on the first pass; we suffered superficial damage to the Flight Deck, Bomb Bay (2), Port and Starboard Wings. The ship took additional hits to the port wing root, rubber raft and the number three-engine ran away and I was forced to feather it. Sgt DelGado reported that his oxygen supply was inoperative. The bugger came around for another attack and scored a hit on the port wing root and he also hit us on the starboard wing root and shot out the starboard aileron. Sgt Dunn fired back but the ammunition feeds jammed to his guns. At that point we were corkscrewing all over the sky in an attempt to lose Fritz. After entering a cloud bank Fritz was no longer with us. After conferring with the crew we chose to press on to the target. We were alone until about 50 miles from the target area when we came under attack again by another Me110. Danny Dunn traded a couple of burst at him and he broke off his attack (FAC) after causing some minor damage to flight deck and knocking out the starboard ammo box. Over the target the flak was fairly accurate and we were hit immediately prior to bomb release. The ship took some superficial damage to both wing, but the flak knocked out the port aileron. Officer Gardner was still able to put approximately 20% of our bomb load in the target area Shortly after our bomb run we encountered an Me109 coming in from 3 o’clock level. After a brief exchange of fire he left us alone. The remainder of our journey home we failed to encounter any other night fighters. Just after crossing the border of Belgium Sgt DelGado reported a fire coming for the number three engine, it appears the oil supply caught fire and with a little luck I was able to extinguish it. Even with the damage to the control systems we managed a safe landing at the station.

Flight Officer Art DeFilippo
314 Squadron
M is for Mary