209248 Sgt. Anthony Patrick "Mac" McTeer Royal Air Force 150 Squadron from:Newcastle-Upon-Tyne My Dad, Anothony McTeer was shot down on the first night raid on Budapest Hungary on the night of the 3rd/4th of April 1944, he was a rear Gunner on LN858 Wellington MK X based at Amendola Italy 1944. His Pilot Sgt G G Pemberton, four of the crew survived although wounded. In my Dad's case his ear was shot off, and the bullet went into his head, which he carried until the day he died. He thought, at the time, he was keeping a bit of his flying helmet for a keepsake! The Wop lost an eye, he was Sgt Redpath RAAF, the other two Sgts Taylor and Bennett were uninjured. The pilot Pemberton pulled off a masterful landing on Lake Balaton however he bled to death from a leg injury as he was hit. I have no knowledge of Taylor and Bennett, which is a shame. I have been in contact with the German Pilot Hans Krause of NJG 101 based at Parnsdorf Austria, he was flying a Dornier Do 217N a converted Bomber, Hans told me that my Dad's aircraft was his last kill with Nose Guns as he then flew a Junker JU88. He said that he attacked LN858 from the rear but he got caught in the propeller back wash, causing him to use more ammo on this occasion than on any other. He hit the Port Engine and he waited for it to cause the aricraft to crash which he said happened more often that not, but the fire in the engine died out and all he could see was a red glow, he wanted to attack again but because of the hills all around Budapest he did not. He put in for a kill but the Luftwaffe Command said no as there was no proof. The next day he and his crew took off to have a look, and sure enough he saw LN858 in the water. Hans sent me more than ten shots of LN858 where I had only two photos of it, Hans also said that my Dad hit him quite a few times but no bad damage occurred. My Dad wound up in Stalag 344 Lamsdorf where he stayed until he went on the Death March eventually being rescued by the Russians, which is another story.
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