Amber Gambler: Mission 5

Today's mission saw the Gambler return to Abbeville Airfield in an attempt to cause some damage this time.
The mission started off fine with the Gambler joining the rest of the squadron high above England and proceeding with their fighter escort towards the target. They had an uneventful flight to the French coast where the weather turned poor. Out of the gloom it seemed like the entire Luftwaffe rose to meet them. The USAAF fighters were swamped and couldn't keep the Hun fighters at bay.
The first wave to hit the Gambler consisted of three Me109's and the lead started flying. The 109's were eventually driven off but not before they sprayed the Gambler with canon shells causing a serious wound to Bombardier Peter Hanna and blasting several holes in the aircraft.
There was no respite for the Gambler as another wave of three 109's followed the first. One of them was brought down by the guns in the top turret maned by Engineer Dan Clifton. The other two again blasted the Gambler with shells, damaging the tail wheel and the front windscreen, knocking the heat out in the pilots compatment and knocking the ball turret guns out of action.
Bravely plodding on the Gambler endured a third wave of fighters, this time three FW190's which fortunately did little damage.
Reaching the target Navigator Adam Wright took over the bomb aiming duties but missed the target. With the bombs gone the Gambler turned round and headed back through the maelstrom of enemy fighters. All around them other B-17's were falling out of the sky and the Gambler found themselves in the tail end Charlie spot.
Another wave of enemy fighters bore down on the Gambler, this time consisting of a Me109, three FW190's and a Me410. The pasting that the Gambler took was relentless as their abilty to fire back was severely drained. More and more shells poured into the Gambler causing the tail guns to become inoperable. The Nazi fighters circled the Gambler like a bunch of sharks and as more shells ripped into her both waist gunners, Jason Taylor and Lee Owen were killed. The Gambler then took more hits to the cockpit causing a light wound on the pilot Chris Hopkins and a serious wound to the Co-Pilot Simon Hanna.
Still flying, the Gambler was forced to drop out of formation as the cold at 20,000 feet would have probably killed the wounded crew in the pilots compartment otherwise. Dropping below 10,000 feet over the channel a welcome sight of Mustangs awaited them and they were escorted home where the injured pilot managed to get the battered Gambler back down on the ground.
A nightmare mission was finally over, though too late for Jason Taylor and Lee Owen. The wounds suffered by Chris Hopkins and Simon Hanna were reasonably minor and both will be fit for duty in a couple of days with nice shiny Purple Hearts. Peter Hanna suffered more serious wounds, though he is expected to recover, but his flying days are over and he will be sent back to America with the Purple Heart.