“Night Raider”

Night Raider, piloted by Captain Bud Fleenor, dropped out of formation near Dunkirk on the Group's first mission to Lille on October 9, 1942 after a gun malfunction; the bombs were jettisoned into The Wash, and British coastal batteries fired on the aircraft after it failed to signal IFF. On November 17, 1942, Colonel Timberlake flew aboard Night Raider for the St. Nazaire mission after an engine problem forced him off Teggie Ann.

The aircraft's hardest day came February 26, 1943, over Wilhelmshaven, where fighters pressed repeated attacks and crewmen were wounded manning the guns. Fleenor dove for a cloud bank to escape the fighters and brought the crippled bomber down in a dead-stick crash landing near the English coast as both remaining engines ran dry. Despite extensive damage, including burned-out guns, a shredded hydraulic system, a large hole in the tail, and dozens of cannon and machine-gun holes throughout the airframe, Fleenor set it down gently enough that one gunner said the landing felt smoother than on wheels. Night Raider was declared a washout and scrapped; it never flew again.