Page 32 - Peter Brown

On the evening of 12 December 1944 the crew undertook their first operation to the German city
th
of Essen. During the flight Peter spotted a German night fighter approaching their Lancaster stern
below and starboard (right side down) against the cloud at a range of 400 yards. He identified the
enemy aircraft as a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and ordered the Pilot to corkscrew port whilst at the
same time opening fire at a range of 300 yards with his Browning ·303 machine guns. No hits
were observed and the night fighter disengaged and flew into the darkness to hunt another
Lancaster. Peter fired 160 rounds from his four Browning’s. On returning to Fiskerton he was
debriefed by the Intelligence Section and a report recorded in the Squadron operational record
book. (See file opposite).

A corkscrew manoeuvre called by either of the Lancasters gunners would involve the pilot
putting the Lancasters nose down into a 60 degree dive, losing about a 1,000 feet in altitude then
climbing back up to the Lancasters original height and on the climb up turning the Lancaster in a
corkscrew pattern. If the crew were lucky they would lose the night fighter, the pilot not being able
to keep his sights on the Lancaster. Experienced German fighter pilots presented a problem as
they would expect the Lancaster to take this manoeuvre if spotted, and be waiting to move with
the Lancaster to maintain a firing position. The ME110 was also equipped with the 20mm upward
firing cannon known as Schräge Musik (Jazz music).The German pilot flying underneath the
Lancaster and firing his cannon into the Lancasters wings which held the fuel. If this happened the
Lancaster and its crew were doomed.