The Second Schweinfurt Raid - The USAAF's Black Thursday, October 1943 - Animated

[Music] a green flare is fired from the control tower at raf poddington the takeoff signal for the 21 b-17 flying fortresses of the 92nd bombardment group captain bud piesley and his pilot captain james mcloughlin roll down the runway in the lead aircraft and take off into a driving rainstorm piesley the mission commander orders mclaughlin to climb out of the cloud layer where they will rendezvous with the rest of the fortresses across eastern england 16 bombardment groups of the 8th air force are doing the same however when piesley and mcloughlin's b-17 breaks free of the clouds at 8 000 feet they find themselves completely alone the rain heavy fog and overall low visibility have caused chaos as different bombardment groups are having trouble finding each other it will take hours for the bomb groups to assemble and when they do the formations will end up loose and vulnerable over 300 american bombers will head southeast towards germany where they will attack a familiar target the date is thursday the 14th of october 1943 and the eighth air force is going back to schweinfert the second trianfort raid represents the 115th combat mission for the mighty eighth for the past four months the combined bomber offensive has been bombing germany around the clock with the eighth air force attacking during the day and the raf's bomber command at night as part of the point-blank directive the main priority for the daylight bombing raids is the destruction of the luftwaffe's aircraft production to ensure air superiority over europe however the precision daylight raids are sapping the eighth air force of its strength the first raid against swinford in august cost the b-17 fleet dearly and the bomb groups have lost 90 aircraft in the week prior to today's mission seeking a knockout blow an all-out effort against the ball-bearing plants in schreinfert is planned 291 b-17s of the first and third bombardment divisions will attack the target while 60 b-24 liberators from the second bombardment division will fly a diversionary mission the ball bearing industry has been identified as a key logistical bottleneck for the german war effort the german military is far more reliant on anti-friction bearings than allied nations due to the complex design of many of its vehicles it is estimated that nearly 40 percent of all german aircraft transport and tanks in 1943 are dependent on ball bearings to function properly the august raids briefly interrupted production but the rice minister of armaments albert speer has built large reserves of anti-friction bearings with help from the swiss and swedish governments the schweinfurt factories produce nearly half of germany's ball bearings and it is hoped that the destruction of these facilities will the enemy's war industry for up to six months to underscore the importance of this mission the eighth air force's bomber commander brigadier general fred anderson distributed a letter to air crews before takeoff this operation today is the most important yet conducted in this war the target must be destroyed it is of vital importance to the enemy your friends and comrades that have been lost and that will be lost today are depending on you their sacrifice must not be in vain good luck no unit has suffered more than the 100th bombardment group which has lost 27 of its original 35 crews so far in the war nonetheless the eight remaining bombers in the bloody hundredth once again take to the skies to do battle over germany many of the young airmen are nervous especially veterans who bitterly remember the first raid one of them is staff sergeant james harris who recalled his briefing when the route map was uncovered when i saw that damned red line led to schweinfert you could have heard a pin drop most of us secretly thought that this would be a one-way trip over the english channel the large formation is joined by squadrons of p-47 thunderbolts whom the bomber crews affectionately refer to as their little friends 44 p-47s of the 353rd fighter group will escort the first bombardment division and another 48 p-47s will cover the third division the fighters will escort the bombers to the limit of their fuel range over germany's western border before they must turn back then it will be up to the b-17s to fend off waves of enemy fighters for 370 miles unlike the first raid the bomber forces are not split up to hit two different targets instead both divisions will make the seven hour round trip split into separate groups flying on parallel headings with the first division flying to the north and slightly ahead of the third division however the mission has already started poorly the confused and disorganized process of forming up has left the first bombardment division strung out and some b-17s become lost in the dense cloud layer additionally many fortresses have already exhausted much of their fuel reserves and others have developed mechanical faults to make matters worse only 29 of the 60 b-24s have been able to join the formation and the diversionary force is instead instructed to bomb a target to the east where it will be less effective at drawing away enemy fighters altogether 64 bombers have been forced to return to base before the raiders even reached the dutch coast by this time german air controllers have been alerted to the incoming raid thanks to early warning from radar and radio listening posts in the occupied netherlands 50 minutes before the raiders cross into the continent the f-109 and fw 190 fighters and rocket-equipped bf-110 and me-410 twin-engined heavy fighters scramble from airfields across the low countries and germany every german fighter unit in western europe is about to take part in the coming air battle german command has also made adjustments in their defensive preparations since the beginning of the combined bomber offensive despite the devastating firestorms wrought by the raf on the cities of cologne and hamburg the daylight raids caused the most concern in the german high command in response luftwaffe chief hermann goering has issued harsh decrees which authorized the court-martial of any pilot who returns to base without combat damage or shooting down an american bomber general of fighters adolf garland adopts tactical changes which emphasize the need to break up enemy formations before attacking isolated bombers furthermore the fighter force has been greatly reinforced by october of 1943 65 of all german fighter strength is engaged in defense of the reich even at the expense of curtailing operations on the eastern front and in italy the first wave of 20 bf-109s and fw190s are waiting for the bombers over valkyrin island but they make a mistake rather than wait until the p-47 escorts have turned for home they dive straight into the attack on the first bombardment division at 105 pm the thunderbolts have the height advantage and peel off to meet the enemy at 31 000 feet a high-altitude dogfight commences with the p-47s immediately gaining the upper hand the thunderbolts are among the best-equipped fighters in the allied air forces with eight 50-caliber machine guns and an armored cockpit to protect the pilot in their haste the german pilots attack piecemeal which allows the american fighters to drive them off with ease ten german fighters are shot down and another five badly damaged for the loss of only one p-47 however most of the luftwaffe pilots do not make the same error at the instruction of their fighter controllers the rest of the german fighters hang back and wait for the american escorts to turn for home the p-47s are at their fuel limit with heavy hearts the thunderbolt pilots break off to return to base as the b-17 crewmen did farewell to their little friends it is not long before they are replaced by swarms of luftwaffe fighters as over 100 interceptors attack head-on against the bombers of the strung out first bombardment division the lead bombardier in the 379th bomb group captain ed milson is feeling anxious after the departure of their escort when he hears on his headphones bandits at one o'clock this is followed seconds later by fought down six shoots without fighter escort the american bombers defend each other in tight formations known as combat boxes which allow the gunners aboard each bomber to provide mutual support well-organized combat boxes offer supporting fields of fire which has proven effective against enemy fighters with 950 caliber machine guns on each flying fortress the combined firepower of the combat box is a formidable obstacle for german attackers yet the rocket-equipped bf-110g and me-410 heavy fighters present a new and dangerous weapon which can break up the heavily defended formations four of these bf1 monos attack the load box of 16 b-17s of the 305th bomb group whereas the single-engined fighters usually make their attacks head-on from the 12 o'clock high position these german heavy fighters instead approach from behind and slightly below the bombers each one carries four verfa granata 21 rockets that have a blast radius of 100 feet four times larger than that of the regular flak 88 guns the fighters close to within 1 000 yards of the box before launching their rockets and retreating out of range of the fortress's tail gunners the fuses are preset on the ground to burst in the middle of the combat boxes and so chaos among the american pilots the 16 rockets from the four bf-110s fly through the middle of the lower box and devastate the formation any bomber which takes a direct hit explodes in mid-air but the mere threat of the rockets forces the combat box to break up the b-17s which survive the rocket volley now find themselves alone and without covering fire from the other fortresses this process is repeated across the larger formation and the 305th bomb group loses many of its fortresses to the potent rocket attacks after the combat boxes are attacked by rockets the f-109s and fw190s prey upon the weakened bombers the well-trained yard griffon or fighter groups search out the most vulnerable formations and make repeated head-on attacks the german aircraft scream in from 12 o'clock high attacking towards the cockpit of the bombers where the b-17 has the least amount of guns to defend itself a german pilot gleefully reports back to base that the enemy bombers are in no recognizable formation some fortresses catch fire causing the bombs aboard to detonate leaving a red fireball where an aircraft used to be many american pilots are confused by colourful explosions ahead thinking that the german defenses have switched to using red coloured flack in fact they are seeing flying fortresses exploding in mid-air along the route staff sergeant philip taylor is a waste gunner on a b-17 in the 91st bomb group which is savaged by enemy fighters taylor watches helplessly as a flying fortress off the left wing is shot down and replaced by another the new fortress also takes multiple hits and spirals out of control the third b-17 to take its place is then strafed and catches fire taylor watches as the pilots keep the burning bomber steady while the crew bails out he recalled the co-pilot looked up and saw me watching he made no attempt to leave the ship or save himself instead he waved at me i waved back until she blew up a couple of hundred yards out that co-pilot knowing he was about to die did one of the coolest gestures i've ever seen in the tail gun compartment aboard a b-17 named tiger girl nineteen-year-old eugene carson is firing his twin 50 caliber machine guns with a fanatical desperation shortly after takeoff back in england he had realized that he had forgotten his parachute if the fortress is hit then he is certainly headed to his death all around him flying fortresses are being shot out of the sky by marauding fighters we were being mauled i could not see how we were going to make it home an anguished carson continues to fire and reload his guns while the heap of empty shell casings next to him continues to grow as the first bombardment division approaches the target area on the outskirts of schweinfert it has already lost 56 bombers either destroyed or too badly damaged to continue one of the lead formations the 40th combat wing is down to 16 fortresses after leaving england with 37. the leading 305th bomb group has just four of 16 b-17s left six minutes behind is the third division which has only suffered two b-17s shot down while the first division has taken the brunt of the luftwaffe's assault now the 224 remaining flying fortresses must press home the attack in schweinfert sixteen-year-old gerald belosa is an auxiliary in the luftwaffe who had been enjoying the perfect weather in bavaria shortly before 2pm a loudspeaker sounds the alarm several hundred enemy aircraft heading from maastricht southeasterly course schweinfurt in danger again velosa and many other teenagers in germany have been enlisted as flak helpers to operate 88 millimeter anti-aircraft guns during bombing raids at 207 pm the church bells ring across the town signalling anti-aircraft gunners to prepare for action unlike the august attack the german defenders do not deploy an artificial smokescreen to shield the town due to weather conditions which would make it more difficult for flat gunners to find their targets bellota and other flak helpers rushed to their flak batteries in the northwest of the city minutes later they spot the contrails of the flying fortresses approaching in the distance the fire control equipment quickly registers the massive formation using stereoscopic rangefinders and at 2 35 pm the first flat guns stationed around swinefert open fire belosa hears the deep rumble of aircraft engines approaching as more specs appear above him the rumble grows into a terrifying raw as hundreds of aircraft prepare to reap death and destruction on his city in the lead b-17 of the 305th bomb group major charles normand has handed over control of the b-17 to bombardier lieutenant joe pellegrini who will guide it over the target what remains of their squadron is being shot to shreds and normand wants to break off and bomb with a neighboring formation to get more covering fire with the target in sight bombardier pellegrini demands to finish the job major please let me continue this run visibility is perfect we can't miss nonetheless normand can't hold the bomber on target and pellegrini drops the one thousand pound bombs too late none of the leading 305ths remaining b-17s put their munitions on target and only three will make it back to england the first bombs from the first bombardment division fall on the industrial section of schweinfert at 2 38 pm but the bombing is mostly inaccurate and civilian neighborhoods are hit belos's crew fires their flak 88 for 20 minutes straight keeping their mouths open to equalize the pressure from the bomb blasts despite the heavy flak some german pilots make near-suicidal attacks on the fortresses while they're on their bomb runs veloso watches in all noting in spite of heavy anti-aircraft artillery fire and the constant attacks by german interceptors the bombers flew a well-disciplined and accurate mission further back in the group lieutenant ray bullock is at the controls of a b7 team named sundown sao bullock and his crew are on their 25th and final combat mission they are just six minutes away from the target when a 20 millimeter cannon shell sets a fuel cell in the left wing on fire but look calmly orders his men to bail out while he completes the bombing run alone although the fortress could explode at any second his crew refuses to leave and decide to stay with their leader all the way to the target immediately after bombs away the crew abandons sundown cell and parachute safely to the ground rather than returning home to the us bullock and his men become prisoners of war following its bomb run the first bombardment division turns south and makes a large sweep to the west before heading north towards the french coast meanwhile the third bombardment division makes its approach with most of its formations intact as a result the second wave of bombers is far more accurate in its bomb run before also following the first division by 2 56 pm the last of the american bombers have finished their run leaving schweinfert in flames aboard the lead b-17 captain mclaughlin tells his tired crew and colonel peaslee we've flown this far for uncle sam from here we fly for us with the bombers now on their return leg bf-110 and ju-88 knight fighters rise to fire more rockets into the b-17 formations by the end of the day luftwaffe fighters will fly 833 sorties against the raiders the third bombardment division now starts to take losses as more and more enemy fighters dive into the attack while exhausted gunners frantically call out targets lieutenant bill burdick's b-17 in the 96th bomb group is set upon by four bf-109s the first attacks head-on from the 12 o'clock high position but doesn't veer off instead crashing right through the vertical stabilizer the fortress falls out of formation while burdick's men fight for their lives one of the bf-109s is shot down by the navigator while trying to attack head-on another german fighter comes from the right but the waste gunner scores a direct hit on the fuel tank exploding the bf-109 in mid-air the final fighter breaks off but the bomber is now in a desperate shape two of the engines have been shot out and the aircraft enters a flat spin verdict struggles to keep control as the b-17 plunges from 23 000 ft to 5000 ft in a matter of minutes things looked quite glum indeed recalled burdick at the last moment he manages to use the autopilot to arrest the spin and level out at 1 800 feet against all odds the crew nurses the wounded aircraft all the way back to base mercifully the dense cloud layer which plagues the start of the mission returns as the b-17s begin to cross the french coast over the english channel preventing more german attacks the formations are also joined by two squadrons of spitfires to cover the final leg when the last enemy fighters break off to return to base eugene carson realizes that he will survive he remembers slumping over his gun compartment exhausted i began to shake and cry uncontrollably when the remaining bombers land at their bases across east anglia ground crews are shocked to see shot up skeletons of flying fortresses while ambulances take streams of wounded men to the nearest hospital black thursday is the largest air battle in history up to this time 321 american bombers and fighters have fought for control of the skies above europe with over 300 german aircraft in a battle that extended over 800 miles the costs of the raid are massive 60 b-17s are shot down 45 of which are from the first bombardment division and another 17 so badly damaged that they must be scrapped the 305th bomb group suffers the worst 87 percent of its fortresses are lost and 130 men are killed or wounded out of the original 351 bombers which took off on the morning of october the 14th just 33 land without any damage altogether 590 american airmen are killed and another 65 are captured despite its reputation all eight of the bloody hundredths b-17s miraculously survive the battle and no crewmen are killed however 22 percent of the bomber force has been lost an unsustainable figure 38 german fighters are shot down the results of the raid are disappointing only 88 out of the 1222 bombs dropped directly impact the schweinfurt plants and the production of ball bearings is halted for just six weeks furthermore minister of armaments albert speer concludes that only 10 percent of the factory machinery has been destroyed by the strike however they have paid a terrible price in the defense of their homeland in october alone the luftwaffe loses nearly 20 percent of its total fighter force on the western front intercepting allied bombing raids losses which cannot be easily replaced slowly but surely the enemy is being ground down in a war of attrition the cost of the raid is hidden from the public with army air forces commanding general hap arnold proclaiming the opposition isn't nearly what it was and we are wearing them down privately he and general dwight eisenhower acknowledge that a shift in the strategic bombing campaign is needed the leadership of the eighth air force is overhauled with brigadier general jimmy doolittle appointed as the new commander furthermore the bomber force is to be reinforced and escorting fighters will receive drop tanks to increase their range before the introduction of the p-51 mustang however these changes come too late for many of the young men who took to the skies in the first months of the combined bomber offensive in the entirety of 1943 just a quarter of 8th air force bomber crewmen complete their 25 mission tours the other 75 are killed wounded or captured you

Channel: The Operations Room

Views: 1,321,549

Keywords: Time-Lapse, History, Second World War, ww2, Documentary, aircraft, time lapse, animated, war, masters of the air, 8th air force, b-17 flying fortress, usaaf, bomber

Id: XZqdK0p2NzI

Length: 23min 11sec (1391 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 05 2022