Lille, France
Anti-aircraft fire was a lesser problem than fighters for most bomber units on this raid, with little flak encountered over Lille itself; more was received in the St. Omer area and during the return leg to the French coast. Two of the participating bomb groups reported no flak at all.
On October 9, 1942, the 93rd Bombardment Group flew its first combat mission as part of an Eighth Air Force raid on Lille, France - VIII Bomber Command's fourteenth strategic bombing operation of the war and, at 108 heavy bombers, its largest to date. The raid also marked the B-24 Liberator's combat debut with the Eighth Air Force. Flying alongside the 97th Bomb Group, the 93rd's Liberators were assigned the locomotive works at Fives-Lille, one of several targets struck that morning by a force drawn from five bomb groups.
The Group's ten effective aircraft took off from Hardwick at 08:32 and, escorted by more than 400 Allied fighters, crossed the French coast east of Dunkirk before reaching the target area roughly two hours later. At 10:30, the 93rd's crews - new to combat - met German fighters for the first time: aircraft of III. Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 26, operating from Wevelghem and Moorseele under Hauptmann Josef Priller. The fighters pressed their attacks mainly from the rear over the course of the engagement, while anti-aircraft fire over Lille itself proved comparatively light.
Two 93rd aircraft were hit during the fighter attacks. Big Eagle, flown by Capt. Alexander Simpson, was struck in an engine, which caught fire, and went down; six of her crew were killed, three were taken prisoner, and one evaded capture. It was the Group's first combat loss, and the first Eighth Air Force B-24 lost in action. Lt. Joe Tate's Ball of Fire took cannon fire to the tail, bomb bay, and pilot's seat but returned to England, making an emergency landing at Northolt after its tail gunner stopped a severed fuel line by hand.
Despite its losses, the 93rd Bombardment Group completed its first mission and would return to the skies over occupied Europe many more times before the war's end.
Each ship that lifted off, and the men aboard her.
Lt Joe Tate (pilot). B-24 'Ball Of Fire' (41-23667, 329th BS) hit by FW 190 cannon - tail, bomb bay, and pilot seat. Cockpit oxygen lines severed; Tate used emergency bottles. T/Sgt Aaron Moses (tail gunner) found bomb bay drenched with fuel, stopped leak bare-handed and froze his hand. Emergency landing at Northolt. Co-pilot passed O2 bottles throughout.
Big Eagle (41-23678), the 93rd Bomb Group's first combat mission and first combat loss. Took direct hits inbound near/north of Lille - per Sgt. Arthur B. Cox's own account (corroborated by his NARA E&E Report No. 47 and by "An Ever-Increasing Might"), the number 2 engine was hit by cannon or flak fire and burst into flames, sending the aircraft into a severe, uncontrolled dive. (A separate secondary account instead describes the number 4 engine being hit with fire in the bomb bay; see the linked Fact for details.) Six crew killed, four survived (three POW, one - Sgt. Arthur B. Cox - evaded capture to Spain).
Original documents behind what this page says about this mission — reports, records, and histories the archive holds and is free to reproduce. Check the sources for yourself.