Flight Sergeant Peter Engbrecht, RCAF
Mennonite, born in Russia, ethnically Dutch, family moved to Canada when he was two or three.
In their Halifax III (HX316 then MZ802) the gunnery team formed by Engbrecht (mid-upper gunner) and Flight Sergeant Gordon Gillanders (rear gunner) accounted for 9 enemy night fighters destroyed and 2 probable. Engbrecht's personal tally was 5½ destroyed.
During the action in which he destroyed his first two aircraft he was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal.
Citation:
As mid-upper gunner this airman has participated in several sorties and has proved himself to be an exceptionally cool and confident member of aircraft crew. On one occasion during a sortie his aircraft was subjected to 14 separate attacks by fighters. In the ensuing fights, Sergeant Engbrecht defended his aircraft with great skill and 2 of the attackers fell to his guns. In June, 1944, he took part in an attack on a target in Northern France. On the return flight, his aircraft was attacked on 2 occasions by fighters. Sergeant Engbrecht engaged the enemy aircraft with deadly effect each time and his brilliant shooting caused their destruction. His feats have been worthy of the greatest praise.
Combat report excerpt:
The enemy fighter made a bow attack and the first warning received was his trace, the pilot immediately going into a corkscrew and the mid-upper firing at the trace. The aircraft itself was not sighted, consequently no ranges could be given but the bomb-aimer had a glimpse of the fuselage as it went down and is of the opinion that it was an Me110. The fighter appeared to drop off on one wing and went on down in flames, a petrol tank exploding on the way down and another heavy explosion upon impact with the ground which was witnessed by the pilot, engineer, and bomb aimer.
Continuous attacks followed, mainly by three aircraft operating together, a Ju88 with two Me109's on either quarter. On this first attack three guns of the mid-upper turret packed up and all guns in the rear turret. The one gun from the mid-upper turret was the only one serviceable for the rest of the sortie with the exception of one gun working from the rear turret towards the end of the trip and very few rounds were fired from this gun. The attack given on this pro-forma came after several sightings and through the corkscrewing, the aircraft was below the height of the main stream.
After further attacks after the above first mentioned attack, an Fw190 attacked from the port quarter up and started to break away on the port beam, the mid-upper gunner firing almost continuously and observing the fighter to blow up in his sights, observed by the pilot, engineer, and rear gunner. The attacks were kept until reaching the English coast. Types seen were Ju88, Me109, nearly all operating in threes. The mid-upper gunner had no time to clear his guns and used only the one to shoot the second machine down. Further hardship was caused by intercom failure from the turret, combat manoeuvres being passed on and given by the rear-gunner.
May 27/28 '44 - Me 110 destroyed
May 27/28 '44 - Fw 190 destroyed
June 10/11 '44 - Me 110 shared
June 10/11 '44 - Me 109 destroyed
Aug 7 '44 - Me 410 destroyed
Aug 7 '44 - Ju 88 shared
Aug 12/13 '44 - Me 210 shared
Aug 12/13 '44 - Ju 88 probable
Aug 16/17 '44 - Me 262 probable
