The Gambler took to the skies above Poddington and formed up with the rest of her formation, slotting nicely into the middle once more. The flight to the French coast was uneventful and soon the bombers reached the French mainland.
The weather over the target was poor and again the flak was medium though this time fortunately for the Gambler they passed through unscathed. As they approached the airfield the Luftwaffe came up in strength to meet them. The first wave of fighters battled against the USAAF Mustangs and a Me410 got through to attack the Gambler. Making the mistake of attacking high above the Gambler tail the Me410 was peppered with shells from Adi Clark on the tail gun and Jason Coombes from the top turret. The 410 broke away and headed groundwards trailing black smoke.
The Gambler pressed on unmolested and began its bomb run. This time Pete Hanna managed to get his bombs reasonably on target scoring a 20% hit rate. Turning back towards home the Gambler ran the gauntlet of Luftwaffe fighters beginning with a wave of five Fw190's. Three of these were kept at bay by the American fighters but two made it through to ruffle the Gamblers feathers. Attached from front and back the Gamblers gunners filled the skies with lead and Adi Clark on tail guns again damaged one of the 190's though this time the Nazi fighter slammed his shells into the rear of the B-17 before he broke from combat. There was minor damage to both wings and a chunk blown out of the rudder but no significant damage. At the front the Gamblers gunners did enough to put the other 190 off without it scoring any hits and it flew off to find easier prey. The second wave of enemy fighters then arrived. These Me109's fought with the Mustangs and one passed close by but failed to hit.
Having survived fighting against the most enemy planes yet encountered the Gambler headed back to the saftey of British skies and landed with the rest of the squadron back at base completing their fourth mission.
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