A. Stewart MacDonald D.F.C., M.D. C..M. 
     
    
   
   
    
     not so good on the way home, as our Engineer was sick. 
     
     We had a spare Engineer, whose duty was the balancing of 
     
     the fuel tanks, and when we were about 100 miles from the 
     
     town, the bombardier told me he could see the fires, as the 
     
     Americans had bombed the town earlier in the day with 
     
     about 700 Fortresses. Although they carried a much lighter 
     
     load, they carried more Gunners — we had two. They 
     
     followed the lead Navigators who had all the most modern 
     
     equipment. They tried to keep as close as possible - the 
     
     German fighters would swarm up and try to pick them 
     
    

    
     off like ducks. Dresden was the communication centre of 
     
     Eastern Europe. 
     
    

    
     Dresden was our 29th trip and it was a clear night. 
     
     I note from my log book that we had a fighter attack which 
     
     lasted for two and a half minutes so there must have been 
     
     more than one fighter but that was a very small anxiety as 
     
     our Pilot was trained as a fighter Pilot and I think he was 
     
     at his best when on a fighter attack. I should be giving a lot 
     
     of credit to the Rear Gunner who would spot the fighters 
     
     on their approach and report by 100 yards their nearness, 
     
     until 600 feet, and then he would call for a corkscrew and 
     
     the Pilot would take evasive action. 
     
    

    
     On the way back, we had a second dickie (a Pilot 
     
     on his first active experience). I heard my Pilot telling him 
     
     to take over the controls, as he was coming back to show 
     
     me how easy my job was. I was ready for him and pulled 
     
     off some wires, and when he was looking for a signal, all 
     
     the engines stopped - the spare Engineer we had that night 
     
     let one of the tanks drain dry. I never saw a man move 
     
     faster than the Pilot. We were 17,000 feet but when the 
     
     engines took over we were only 1,000 feet and had to climb 
     
     up again, knowing that only a few of the planes could 
     
     make the trip with the limited gas. We were told to land in 
     
     the south of England if we had less than 400 gallons - the 
     
    
   
   
    
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