Unit once again attempted to attack the enemy defenses over Zejderveld under the callsign KUDOS. Unfortunately, once again, the position was heavily defended by a formation of Me-109s, which forced us to drop our ordinance before the attack could take place. F/O 'Zach' Z. Lamothe managed to shoot one down in our first dive but again got a tail during the disengagement. I managed to shoot the bastard down, only to find myself with a 6. The enemy came in with excessive energy and could not follow me during a hard right-hand turn and overshot which gave me a great oportunity for a snap shot and destroy another 109. I turned my attention back to F/O 'Zach' Z. Lamothe but we found ourselves surrounded by 5-6 additional enemies as we attempted to regroup and assist each other. When I managed to get close to his plane, I was hit hard on my left wing by another Me-109 which forced me to bail. While I was in my chute descending about 15 miules south of our objective, I saw F/O 'Zach' Z. Lamothe manage, somehow, to fight the 109 horde and take 2 other down. When I finally reached the ground, I saw F/O 'Zach' Z. Lamothe Spitifire fly by my position on fire and crash a few meters from where I landed. No parachute was seen. About 30 min later, American troops approached the position and put away the fire. UNfortunately, my friend`s body was still inside ... A huge loss to me personally but also to your unit which loses another great pilot. F/Lt 'Riksen' Richards |
