Re-deployed after a record-fast 'pancake' F/Lt 'Riksen' Richards and I took off again from B-78 and headed back towards Nijmegen. After burning a decent amount of fuel, Riksen finally spotted an enemy bomber and we steered into it. This time we came in from head-on and I got some vital hits with my 20mm right away. I came around for another pass and was able to get a few more finishing rounds and saw it 'heading in'. Soon after F/Lt 'Riksen' Richards let me know on the R/T that he was chasing an Me 109 and I formed back up with him as top cover. I saw him score some good hits on the bandit, and then he forced it into a steep upward climb where he lost all of his energy - F/Lt 'Riksen' Richards had to break and so I asked him if he wanted me to finish off the hun. I got the O.K and I used my altitude to dive down at him. I got some accurate bursts with the 20mm mixed with the some .50 Cal shots and I saw his entire wing shatter into pieces! As soon as we regrouped after the action, Riksen was just telling me that his plane felt 'off' and I saw a piece of his plane fly off of it. He reported that he was bailing out and I saw his chute open successfully. I RTB'd at B-78 and as soon as I got back to base I called for a truck since he had gone down right outside of the city. F/O 'Zach' Z. Lamothe |
