While serving as bombardier, on 26 November, 1943, a 20mm shell exploded in the nose, killed the navigator, seriously injured Lt. Spencer, and destroyed the plexiglass nose. The flight engineer removed Lt. Spencer to a position of safety, but Lt. Spencer, realizing that enemy fighters were attacking and thinking only of protecting his crew members and the plane, crawled back to his guns to ward off the attacks. Exposing himself to the extreme cold blast through the nose, and facing the possibility of being thrown out by evasive action, Lt. Spencer remained at his post until the attacks ceased. In doing so, Lt. Spencer sustained frost-bite so severe that only by the barest margin were surgeons able to save his life.