I am pretty sure Aaron’s Stirling was shot at by the rear gunner of another Stirling
That's right. I'm not sure how/when they worked it out, but the citation was probably written in good faith, rather than covering up a friendly fire incident. If the VC has to be won for valour in combat with the enemy, there might be an argument that he should have received the George Cross instead, but I have no wish to detract from the man's bravery and determination to get his crew down safely - and the incident did take place on an operational flight. This incident probably spurred on the development of an infra-red recognition device ("Type Z", mounted in the two circles in the Lancaster bomb aimer's glazing) to prevent such accidents.