Nightfighters were encountered around Berlin and just off the German coast, but they caught us going both ways. Joyner never saw even one of them. The first one hit us on his first pass, but the damage wasn't serious and I was able to shake him off before he could do more. The next one hit us a bit harder, scaring the heck out of me when the windscreen took a hit. He pushed his luck too far, though, and Keck got a good shot as he passed in front of us, and he shed a wing as he fell.
We stayed out of the searchlights easily, and no flak was aimed in our direction. Keck had us lined up on a sky marker that disappeared into the clouds just before dropping our load, so there's no telling where our bombs went.
Turning for home, we were surprised yet again by shells slamming into Tykhe, and once again I was able to get us away before the damage got too serious. And then there was a repeat performance shortly after reaching the North Sea.
Landing was a bit rough, as I discovered we'd lost the starboard brake at some point along the way. Joyner found that both his ammunition boxes had been hit, too, but since he never spotted any of our attackers, it didn't really matter.
F/L Mark Ivey
Pilot, Tykhe
March 24, 1944
70 Peckham Damage Points