The Schweinfurt-Regensburg Mission of the Eighth Air Force - Animated

[Music] 20 b-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers of the American 8th Air Force take to the skies in heavy fog from RAF Framlingham they are the first aircraft to take off from the first air task force that will bomb the bf 109 fighter factories in the Bavarian town of Regensburg the 2nd and 3rd task forces will leave to hit the ball bearing factories of Schweinfurt deemed crucial to the German military vehicle production later in the day the mission has been delayed for fog but due to a series of miscommunications over the delay the Bombers taking off from Framlingham have taken off 45 minutes early at 7:15 a.m. the remainder of the Regensburg task force begin to depart from their bases across the East of England miraculously no aircraft collide in the low-level fog and the 146 b-17s from the 7 bomb groups begin their climb in their designated group assembly areas it will take 3 hours for the Bombers to climb to altitude and form up into three combat wings it's the 17th of August 1943 and the efficacy of the daylight self-defending strategic bomber formation remains in dispute neither Britain nor the US currently have a frontline escort fighter with the range to fully escorts a bomber force deep into Germany and back the RAF and the 8th Air Force have been ordered to focus on destroying the Luftwaffe in preparation for the planned d-day invasion in the following year the combined British and American bomber forces are hitting the Third Reich around-the-clock for sustaining heavy losses the original plan was for the Schweinfurt and Regensburg task forces to make their attacks simultaneously thereby saturating Luftwaffe fighter defences the morning fog has increased the danger of collision when forming up large numbers of heavy aircraft ideally Brigadier General Anderson responsible for the raid would have liked to have delayed both forces until the weather cleared but this was not possible for the Reagan's vote force the eighth Air Force are going to try something new instead of the Regensburg bombers turning back to England after hitting their target they are going to continue on over the Alps to land in North Africa a delay for weather would have meant the force running out of daylight to navigate to the Tunisian airfields they have had to take the risk and go now consequently the Luftwaffe fighters that attacked the Regensburg force will now have time to land reload and redeploy to hit the Schweinfurt force later the forward high wing of the three combat wings is led by Colonel Curtis LeMay LeMay would go on to become the US Air Force chief of staff during the Cuban Missile Crisis nineteen years later he isn't required to but regularly volunteers to lead the most dangerous missions during the form up 11 b7 teens have had to turn back for various faults with for airborne reserve aircraft replacing them just after crossing the Dutch coast 24 p-47 thunderbolt fighters rendezvous with the 139 fortresses they take up position 3,000 feet above and either side of the Bombers these fighters will only have fuel to stay for 20 minutes after which they will be replaced by a second group of fighters for a further 20 minutes approximately 50 Luftwaffe BF 109 and fw 190 fighters awaiting the majority maneuver to position themselves high above the bombers and towards the sun another group of fw 190s approached from the north of the formation and dive in to make their attack the p-47s engage and adult fights in cheese with the american fighters distracted the 190s and 109 s in the Sun began head-on attacks on the fortresses Gunners on the Bombers begin to call out fighters at the dreaded 12 o'clock high the first fighters scream in an unleashed - second bursts of cannon fire aiming for the Bombers cockpit or engines the first victim drops away from the formation and explodes the remaining fighters in the Sun hit the Bombers in similar fashion to 109s are shot down by defensive Gunners after the set-piece head-on attack the German fighters scatter and continue attacks in ones and twos each b-17 Flying Fortress defends itself with nine mounted machine guns that provide overlapping fire primarily towards the rear the frontal attacks are a clear weak point for gunner coverage and so the initial attack is the most dangerous for the Bombers the second p-47 escort group has reached the end of its range and turned for home the Bombers are on their own now major McCullen a p-47 pilot speaks of their guilt at having to leave the Bombers during longer raids into Germany I don't think there is a fighter pilot in England in the business of escorting bombers who wouldn't be overjoyed to have the capability to escort the Bombers to their targets and back we learned not to like it but to live with it as the force approaches the flak heavy area around the Rhind some heavily damaged b-17s have turned home and six have been destroyed there has been a brief lull only minor harassing attacks have been made by the Luftwaffe bf one one O's since crossing the German border unknown to the Americans a new unit of BF 109s has been formed under direct order of Goering with the aim of intercepting high-flying and fast RAF mosquitos on photo recon operations over the Reich the arcs group of 50 is dispatched at full strength with 26 109 s orders also go out for every available pilot an aircraft in the area to scramble an attack in a poorly organised force of mixed aircraft types as the onslaught resumes a b-17 navigator later recalls some of the 109 's came so close that I could see the expression on the pilots face I still shudder when I recall the big black crosses on the wings the only consolation was that the German pilots were just as in all of us as we were of them I couldn't help but think that they were as crazy as we to fly into a formation that had about 250 calibre guns pointed at them the heaviest casualties are sustained in the one hundredth bomb group in the lowest flying wing their losses throughout the war and then the nickname the bloody hundreth eventually after over flying the relieved cities of Mannheim Darmstadt and mines the Regensburg force finds itself alone nearly all fighters have expended their ammunition and returned to base with no replacement 14 b-17s have been lost after passing over the initial point of the bomb run into the target the force reorganizes into a column and descends to approximately 18,000 feet usually they would bomb from 28,000 feet but Regensburg is deemed such an important target that the height reduction is worth the increased risk from flak in the end the flak isn't fierce and the mighty bombers dropped their high explosive and incendiary bomb loads visibility is high and the weather is good they achieve a high level of accuracy and they observe the 109 fighter factories of Regensburg being smashed to pieces civilian damage is low and nearby hospitals are spared the people of Regensburg are relieved by the accuracy of the strike Colonel LeMay leads his force towards the Alps a further 10 fortresses will crash land on the route to Tunisia from damage sustained from fighters and flak on the run in to the West a force of RAF typhoons Michels and US b-26s attack Luftwaffe airfields along the Channel coast with Spitfire escort they're attempting to draw German units into action that would have otherwise been used against the Schweinfurt force there's now assembling over eastern England the raids prove a modest success with minor units being drawn into action and the turnaround of at least one major Luftwaffe unit being disrupted the 222 fortresses of the Schweinfurt force have crossed the Dutch coast with an escort of 96 Spitfires believing that the early Regensburg force was going to return to England the Luftwaffe has flown at short notice grouper from further afield across Germany these new growver will join the existing units who due to the delay to the schweinfurt force have had time to land refuel and rearm the first engagement is a success for the RAF Spitfires shooting down four 109s polish fliers from 303 squadron have further success and in total eight 109s are shot down before the Spitfires handover escort responsibility to the longer-range p-47s now arriving the replacement escorts have a less eventful time with only minor skirmishes before they to turn for home near the town of authen this time the Luftwaffe have timed their assembly perfectly the largest Luftwaffe force ever to attack an American bomber formation 300 fighters is waiting for the 222 bombers the first set-piece head-on attack smashes into the bomber force seconds after the last p-47s leave a ferocious and unprecedented air battle rages all the way to the target one airman recounts seeing what looks like flares on the ground leading them to the target they aren't flares they're burning fortresses another notes that the number of airmen bailing out from the burning bombers makes the whole scene look like a parachute invasion a co-pilot in one of the hard-hit leading groups says there wasn't much sense in calling out fighters everything was from 12 o'clock level for what seemed like eternity each time they came in you thought that one of those times it would be our turn to get it a German 109 pilot recalls when I first heard just how many planes they said were coming in I went absolutely potty I was scared when they finally reached the bomb run into Schweinfurt 24 b-17s and 18 german fighters have been lost after the intense fight to this point the groups are not as well organized as the Regensburg force was the three ball bearing factories of Schweinfurt are not concentrated in one area like the 109 shops in Regensburg they're also located in residential areas a new artificial ground smoke screen system is being deployed and if unable to find their target the groups are ordered to bomb the general center of schweinfurt if the factories can't be hit the factory workers are considered the next best thing in relation to its size Schweinfurt is considered the most flak defended town in Western Europe the Bombers take a pounding on their way in and drop their 1000 pound bombs they make a left turn for the journey home to England bombing results in Schweinfurt are poor residential areas are hit killing civilians the bombs that do hit factories do little damage to the valuable machinery within however unbeknown to the Americans they've destroyed a factory shop that's producing components for a secret new aircraft the jet powers me-262 ball-bearing production temporarily reduces by 38 percent but enough reserve stops exists for the effect on vehicle production to be minimal the u.s. bomber boys will have to return to schweinfurt the fortresses limp back towards home they eventually meet back up with air p-47 escort on the German border further fortresses crash from battle damage sustained on the way in the last notable engagements take place nearly aged under escort the survivors finally have an open route home throughout the day the 8th Air Force has lost 60 aircraft 16 percent of the force with 102 young men killed a further 60 to 100 bombers have been heavily damaged b-17 Gunners submit total claims of 288 German aircraft shot down the reality is that they have destroyed just 21 beyond the important morale boost of hitting the Third Reich back it is debatable whether the bombing results of the two rays have justified the 60 aircraft loss Regensburg 109 output has been reduced by an estimated eight weeks production an unknown delay has been brought against the dangerous new me-262 jet fighter that will terrorize the bomber forces a year later the Schweinfurt raid has been disastrous in its lack of effect and German ball bearing production actually increases in the following month the 8th Air Force will be forced to return to shrine fur two months later where the concept of daylight strategic bombing will again be cast into doubt [Music]

Channel: The Operations Room

Views: 823,398

Rating: 4.8964276 out of 5

Keywords: Second World War, ww2, aircraft, eighth air force, 8th air force, b17 flying fortress, b17, bomber, bloody hundredth, memphis belle

Id: tA0_h920_Dc

Length: 13min 40sec (820 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 24 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/jimibulgin]

That was the coolest thing I've seen in a while. thanks!!

[u/LydiasBoyToy]

Wow, this is very well done! It really puts the timing of these raids into perspective.

My dad was a pilot in the 385th (the Great Ashfield force), but didn’t start his missions until almost a year after this raid. Even in those later months of the war with diminished Luftwaffe presence he thought he was a walking dead man knowing another mission was inevitable.

The 385th was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for leading the Regensberg raid.

I can’t imagine what those guys on the Schweinfurt must have felt like watching B-17’s blow up at that rate.

[u/UsualWizard]

Excellent summary

[u/6ring]

Nice job, OP !!! Very cool presentation !!!