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Lyon Tanker Mission Fire by Ray Grew -- 764th Bomb Squadron Dear George, I will give you a few notes on the burning B-24 on page 35 of the June 1993 "Liberaider". I am sure you will get other information on this. The site would be the Bron Airport south of Lyons, France in September of 1944. After the invasion of Southern France, bomb bay tanks were installed in B-24's to bring in fuel for the RAF Spitfires that were shooting up retreating German troops. Bombs were also brought in. The fuel was transferred to drums and the drums along with bombs were alongside the B-24's that were parked nose to tail. One plane caught fire when the auxiliary generator was started up. I believe no one was hurt except the pilot who jumped off a wing. It took about 3 minutes for the plane to completely burn. In the meantime everyone got out of the area because of all the fuel and bombs nearby. There were a lot of old bomb craters to jump in for protection. In the meantime, pilots started engines to get some space between the planes. We had a Group Bombardier with our crew and, for whatever reason, the right wing tip ended up in the edge of a hanger while he was directing the plane. We went into Lyons for the night while we awaited the new wing tip section that was to be flown in the next day. Since the Germans had just left, there were celebrations all over the city including street dances. Also there was shooting all night which we were told was the Resistance doing their work. We rode into town on an Army truck. The bridge over the river in the city was temporary with one way traffic and we got priority to cross. The people in the city were very friendly. The next day we ate in the RAF mess and had real English tea. Two men were left to guard the plane and when we got back we found our flight engineer had taken good care of himself by finding an army motorcycle to travel around with. I remember there was a wrecked FW-190 in one of the hangers. For lunch, each plane was given Vienna sausage and a gallon of fruit cocktail. We found some wood and had a roast of the sausages. There is another thing that is interesting. There was a shallow grave on the airport where, we were told, the Germans had shot prisoners. Forty some years later I was in New York reading the book "An Uncertain Hour" by Ted Morgan about the war in Lyons. There was a description of the reason for the grave (p308 & 309). The Germans had, just before leaving the city, taken all Jews they had in prison out to the airport and shot them and buried them in the grave. I have some dates that might be of interest: 16 August - The airport massacre of the Jews 24 August - The Germans leave the airport area south of Lyons; 2 September - The Germans leave Lyons; 15 September - DeGaulle visits the airport; 10 - 15 September - The supplies were flown in by our people. The British Spitfires were interesting. We were told that because of their short range and their need to get down fast, they did not mind landing on the same runway in the opposite direction and at the same time as our B- 24's. They must have been early planes since, if I remember right, they had fabric covered wings and wooden propellers. The ground crew would ride on the wing while taxiing and then get off and pick up a wing if the plane had trouble on the rough ground, which included bomb craters. Ray Grew, 764th Bomb Suadron |
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