New eArticle Available: An Ever-Increasing Might - The 9 October 1942 Bombing Raid on Lille

[Morten Jessen]

Hej everybody

Now available from the Air War Publications website is our latest eArticle An Ever-Increasing Might – The 9 October 1942 Bombing Raid on Lille, the story of the Eighth Air Force’s raid on factories in northern France in the autumn of 1942. Based on extensive research, the article outlines the forces involved, then describes the USAAF raid, RAF escort missions, and the Luftwaffe response.

The Lille raid was the first major Eighth Air Force bombing mission of the war, after a series of smaller raids beginning in the summer of 1942, and it was a learning experience for both sides. For the Americans, it was a chance to demonstrate the value of their four-engine bombers, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. From the German perspective, it showed them how difficult it was to shoot down the big American bombers, and was a warning of what they would have to face in coming years.

Accompanying the article are nineteen photographs, an overview map, and many first-hand accounts, which give the reader a good idea of what the raid was like for the participants from both sides. The article about the raid on Lille by the Mighty Eighth Air Force can be purchased from our site in the category of frontline stories. We hope our readers enjoy it.

Have a nice weekend - take care and stay healthy!

On behalf of the Air War Publications Team
Morten

[James S.]

This sounds amazing. I love learning about studying early 8th Air Force missions. Having never done an eArticle or and eBook, my question is if I purchase this eArticle and look read it on my computer at work, can I also download and/or read it on my laptop at home?

Thanks,
James Sontag

[Andrew Arthy]

Hello James,

Thanks for your interest in our 9 October 1942 article. Once you purchase the eArticle you will be sent a link to your copy, which is valid for fourteen days. You can then access that link on whatever device you wish and download the .pdf.

Cheers,
Andrew A.
Air War Publications - www.airwarpublications.com/earticles

[Alfred.MONZAT]

Hello Andrew,

You told French readers that you will publish in the following month an article on this subject in Aéro Journal, is that the same?

Regards

Alfred

[Andrew Arthy]

Hello Alfred,

Thanks for your message and your question, which is a very valid one. I'm not sure how much editing will be done for the French version of my article, or what the final version of it will be like. However, I do know that in the five months since I submitted the article to the French magazine, the English version that is published as an eArticle has been edited and improved quite a bit.

I should point out that our eArticle versions will always be different to any articles that I have published in aviation history magazines. Generally, the magazines only want 2,000 or 2,500 words, or want to focus on a specific aspect of a story, whereas the full versions of the Air War Publications eArticles tend to be 5,000 to 10,000 words. Thus the eArticles allow us to publish complete, unabridged versions.

We became aware of this issue a few years ago when a customer mentioned it, after I'd had a couple of articles published both as eArticles and in German- and French-language magazines. We have no desire to 'short-change' our Air War Publications customers, and will ensure that they are paying for a unique version of the story when they purchase an eArticle. Not to mention that our eArticles almost always come with more photographs, maps and the like!

If you do buy the eArticle version, I hope you enjoy it, but if you wait for the French version, I hope you will enjoy it too.

Cheers,
Andrew A.
Air War Publications - www.airwarpublications.com/earticles

[Christer Bergström]

I can really recommend these e-articles - or rather, e-booklets: An astounding research work, great images, very readable, and a great layout.

[SteveR]

I took the plunge a couple nights (hadn't ordered one of these articles previously). Got the download link approximately 1.5 seconds after submitting payment.

Completely agree with Mr. Bergstrom's comments above.

One minor quibble regarding a point of editing: On page 16 under "Losses and Claims" the first sentence begins "The raid cost three B-24s and one B-17... " I believe (from the article) that's backwards and that it should read "The raid cost one B-24 and three B-17s... "

Very minor point though. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article and recommend it!

[Andrew Arthy]

Hi Steve,

Thanks very much for the kind words - we were glad to read that you enjoyed the article! And you are entirely correct about the B-24 and B-17 losses. I'm not sure how that basic error slipped past us, but we'll update the article to include the correct figures.

Cheers,
Andrew A.
Air War Publications - www.airwarpublications.com/earticles

[Siko54]

Yes these mini-articles are absolutely excellent! I ordered the Christmas in Courland one a while back and it was worth every penny...now I have he long wait for the book

Just out of interest - with the amount of information on Erich Bunge we have between us (mostly you I know!), would a future eArticle on him be an idea when the dust has settled? I’ve been amusing myself with the google translate app and reading Jahnerts autobiography, as Andrew mentioned to me before there are some very interesting snipes at Bunge by Jahnert!

[Andrew Arthy]

Hi Simon,

Glad you enjoyed the Christmas in Courland story. Between us we definitely have enough information to do an eArticle about Erich Bunge (and probably enough material to do a book!). The only problem would be finding enough photographs, because although he kept a lot of paperwork from his Luftwaffe service, he had very few photographs. Still, it is something to keep in mind once the Courland book is finished!

Cheers,
Andrew A.
Air War Publications - www.airwarpublications.com/earticles