Date:	Wednesday 20 September 1939
Time:	10:45 LT
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	88 Sqn RAF
Registration:	K9245
MSN:	F.2383
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Bitche, Moselle 57 -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Mourmelon-Le-Grand, France
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Fairey Battle Mk.1 K9242 ("RH-G") of 88 Squadron, RAF: Lost on combat operations on 20th September 1939; three Fairey Battle bombers of 88 Squadron based at Mourmelon-Le-Grand in France as part of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force (A.A.S.F.) took off at 10 am for a recce flight over Aachen. The aircraft were fired on by French anti-Aircraft guns before they crossed the border.

Over Aachen they were engaged by three Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. Battle K9245 flown by Flight Sgt D.A. Page with crewmen Sgt A.W. Eggington and AC1 W.A.W. Radford was shot down, quickly followed by Battle K9242 flown by Flying Officer R.C. Graveley with crewmen Sgt W.S. Everett and AC1 D.J. John

K9245 was shot down by Lt. Richert, in a Bf 109 D of 5/JG.53 at 10.45 over Bitsch, on the French/German Border, and came down near Saabrucken.

Crew of Battle K9245:
Flight Sgt Douglas Aubrey Page (pilot, Service Number 562673, aged 27) - killed in action
Sgt Alfred William Eggington (Observer, Service Number 563772, aged 25) - killed in action
AC.1 Edward Arthur William Radford (Wireless Op/Air Gunner, Service Number 534283, aged 24) = killed in action

All of the dead are buried at Choloy War cemetery, in adjacent graves: Section 2A. C. Graves 13, 14 & 15. Bitche (German and Lorraine Franconian: Bitsch) is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. It is the Pays de Bitche's capital city and the seat of the canton of Bitche and the communauté de communes du Pays de Bitche. The town belongs to the Northern Vosges Region of France at approximate co ordinates: 49°03′N 7°26′E. The town became part of Germany from 1871 until the end of the First World War, when it was given back to France. During the Second World War, it was annexed by the Third German Reich (1940-1944).

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft K1000-K9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain, 1976 p 76)
2. The Battle File, Sidney Shail, Air Britain 1997 p 132
3. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/14: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14141993
4. http://www.oldhaltonians.co.uk/pages/rememb/ROH/P.htm
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2319885/page,-douglas-aubrey/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2319716/eggington,-alfred-william/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2319904/radford,-edward-arthur-william/
8. http://www.dingeraviation.net/SkuaRoc/first_blood.htm
9. http://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=1837
10. http://boredhistorian.blogspot.com/2015/09/first-victory-fairey-battles-over-aachen.html
11. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?2814-First-RAF-victory-WW2
12. http://39-45.auzeau.fr/france/54-meurthe-et-moselle/54-choloy-war-cemetery/
13. https://www.wiltshire-opc.org.uk/Items/Durrington/Durrington%20-%20WW2%20Roll%20of%20Honour%20-%20Alfred%20William%20Eggington.pdf
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitche

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
01-Jun-2019 18:48	Dr. John Smith	Added
03-Jun-2019 09:38	stehlik49	Updated [Operator]
03-Jul-2022 15:30	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]