The remaining seven pilots continued on their way to the target which they straddled with good hits that damaged but did not cut the rails. The light flak here was "terrific", streaming up in sheets from a small forest nearby and another Tiffie was badly hit. Streaming glycol, F/O J.G. Martin tried to glide to our lines, but by the time he reached Roermond he had lost so much height that he decided to bail out. Unfortunately the parachute did not open fully and Johnny plunged into a clump of trees. In the seven weeks that he had been with the squadron he had done 32 operational sorties. 

Bob Hiltz was lost on his next sortie two days later when the squadron attacked the railroad between Bocholt and Borken. As the aircraft went into their dive the flak, medium and light stuff, opened intense and accurate fire. Bob's Typhoon received a direct hit that blew off the starboard wing. The pilot bailed out before his aircraft spun in, but like Martin his parachute did not open fully before he hit the ground. Bob had joined No. 439 about the same time as Johnny Martin and had 27 trips to his credit. It was "a tough break" to lose two good pilots under such tragic circumstances. 

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The attack on the rail line did not result in a cut, although one pair of bomb which hit the embankment may have caused some damage to the tracks. A second sortie later in the day made one good hit on the Haltern Dulmen line, some distance farther east, although the bombing as a whole was rather scattered. It is noteworthy that on this mission the formation of eight bombers had a fighter cover of two Typhooons because of increased enemy air activity along the front. Huns were reported during the outing and "the boys were kept on their toes." Fighter escorts accompanied most of the formations for the next month.

An Army support task that was attempted between the two rail jobs on the 21st was abortive because 10/10 ths cloud covered the target at Beek, north north east of Maastricht, and, unable to find an opening in the overcast, the pilots had to jettison their bombs. Another long period of inactivity then intervened, while the rain came down in torrents, flooding the only tents that remained standing and making the dispersal "an absolutely miserable muddy mess". The only consoling feature of this unhappy situation was that, with Christmas drawing near, parcels from home were beginning to pour in and from them came many tasty snacks to add to the morning and afternoon tea, coffee and toast.

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